Atheist Perspective?
Some atheists write that Christianity is incompatible with evolution. What do you think? How do you think we were made?
12 Replies
Contrary to popular understanding, I think that Christianity and evolution are entirely compatible with one another. In fact, I believe that God created the universe and life through the process of evolution! Since evolution is a scientific idea, it can be seen why there is some confusion here. We are often told that science can only be proven by science, which is very true; but people forget that it is possible to agree with science and still take a “leap of faith” and believe that there is “something” or “someone” (a Creator) behind that science. The more I studied biology in school the more I realized that evolution is an indisputable process. In fact, evolution is such a widely held theory that it is supported by almost every scientist today. As a Christian and science student, I found it impossible to abandon the idea of a Creator and ignore the strong evidence supporting evolution, so when I saw the opportunity to combine the two together I jumped on it! I believe we are made through the process of evolution and, ultimately, God is in control and in charge of that process.
Charles Darwin was initially seen as an atheist, however in 1859 he stated that creation and evolution coexist. This is an interesting point of view coming from one of the most well-known scientists in the world.
A true Atheist believes that creation and evolution do not coexist. What is interesting is that they are normally seen as a person that has no belief system. However, everyone believes in something, they just do not have faith in God.
I believe that the reason people become atheists is due to negative past experiences or the fact that they think the Bible is untruthful, so why believe in something that was written so many years ago? What always needs to be remembered when reading the Bible is that it written for the people of that era. What was written was based on the very minimal scientific proof of life in general. For example, it was said that the sun orbited the earth, which was later proved otherwise by Galileo. People may hear of this at a young age and think the Bible is fake and decide to become an atheist. However, they need to keep in mind that what is written in the Bible was written for people who lived during a time of very little creative knowledge and as believers, we must not take the readings of the Bible literally. Rather, we should try and grasp the main message that God is trying to portray.
Many atheists will never change their views, but as believers if we can come to terms and agree that God created evolution and creation, then there is a possibility that some atheists may adjust their belief system as well.
Could a loving God be in charge of an evolutionary process where there is so much death and suffering? How do you explain this?
I don't believe that death should be seen as a negative in life. Everything and everyone is put on this earth for a purpose and once that purpose is fulfilled then life moves on. If there was continuous survival of everything then our world would not be able to sustain itself for very long. I believe this evolutionary process allows for growth within the different types of species.
Yes death and suffering occurs, but I would say that people grow by having to deal with these changes. For example I had a classmate that just recently became a parapelegic (I realize that this doesn't have to do with evolution... but this is an immense amount of suffering that his family has had to undergo). Rather than becoming a negative person who wants to quit because life has become too hard, it has brought his family closer together and they are the most amazing people I have ever met. They are inspiring people everywhere, both people with disabilities and those without. This was a huge learning experience for all of us and to be honest, he has had such a drastic effect and this would not have occured had this suffering not been present.
I believe that everything happens for a reason and that God has a plan for all of us and with this plan comes death and suffering. It is how we choose to deal with these circumstances that determines our true personality.
jubb wrote:
I don't believe that death should be seen as a negative in life. Everything and everyone is put on this earth for a purpose and once that purpose is fulfilled then life moves on. If there was continuous survival of everything then our world would not be able to sustain itself for very long. I believe this evolutionary process allows for growth within the different types of species.
Yes death and suffering occurs, but I would say that people grow by having to deal with these changes. For example I had a classmate that just recently became a parapelegic (I realize that this doesn't have to do with evolution... but this is an immense amount of suffering that his family has had to undergo). Rather than becoming a negative person who wants to quit because life has become too hard, it has brought his family closer together and they are the most amazing people I have ever met. They are inspiring people everywhere, both people with disabilities and those without. This was a huge learning experience for all of us and to be honest, he has had such a drastic effect and this would not have occured had this suffering not been present.
I believe that everything happens for a reason and that God has a plan for all of us and with this plan comes death and suffering. It is how we choose to deal with these circumstances that determines our true personality.
I absolutely agree with what Jennifer says about death and suffering. As cheesy as it sounds, it reminds me of the movie A Walk to Remember, where the star of the show is a devote Christian and is diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. At one point, a friend asks her how she can believe in God when she has been given such a horrible disease. She replies to her friend by saying: "without pain and suffering we would not know compassion". I believe this ties into what Jennifer is saying here. I am sure we have all gone through experiences that were painful, and at the time we wondered why we were being dealt such a horrible fate, but afterwards we are glad we have experienced it because we had grown from it. In the same sense, I think Jennifer raises a great point that death and suffering are apart of God's plan, but are not meant to be solely negative experiences.
Kayla
Kind of tying this into the question about death - I like your comment about how pain and suffering through negative events can make you stronger, but do you think that the Creators plan for us involves things like murder which also causes pain and suffering?
This post was edited on: 2011-02-24 at 04:10 PM by: Tynell Peeke
tynellpeeke wrote:
Kayla
Kind of tying this into the question about death - I like your comment about how pain and suffering through negative events can make you stronger, but do you think that the Creators plan for us involves things like murder which also causes pain and suffering?
This post was edited on: 2011-02-24 at 04:10 PM by: Tynell Peeke
I'm glad you asked that Tynell! I just saw your response on the "what about death" post and I agree with what you said there. I don't think murder is apart of God's plan for us, even though we can deal with this pain and suffering in a similar manner as we can with natural death. We can still grow from this pain and suffering, although the act of murder itself is not part of God's plan.
Great answer Kayla.
Just to elaborate a little bit...
I think that murder is not part of God's plan, because murder is ultimately sin, and God does not wish for sin to occur. However, He allows it to occur because of His desire to give us free will. When one person murders another they of course hurt the victim and the victim's family, but they also hurt God, and separate themselves from Him. This is not His will. However, like I said, He does not step in the way of our free will because He loves us enough to give us the opportunity to have a choice between responding to His love or turning away from it.
That said, as Christians, we believe that even though death and suffering happen, God allows nothing to happen that He cannot bring about a greater amount of good from. Or in other words, even though many of us endure a great amount of suffering through life, God is able to bring about a greater amount of goodness (love, joy, peace) *through* that suffering. I think this is the important part. Because of Christ's death on the cross, He took ownership of death and suffering and sin, and is able to turn it into something beautiful. I heard a priest once say, "That must make sin so angry, that God uses it for a greater good."
THIS IS SPARTA!
After reading Lamoureux's book and getting a better understanding of terminology I can appreciate better what exactly we are talking about.
After separating Atheism from evolution its clear to see that an atheist that believes in evolution must further state if is it teleological evolution or dysteleological evolution they are talking about.
Because Christianity is compatible with teleological evolution but not dysteleological evolution.
Personally, I think we were made through evolution and that something made it possible, that something being a divine being. a.k.a God.
If I could offer a new perspective, on the question of how a loving God can allow for so much death and suffering in the world.
I believe that although God is the creator, he does not control the destiny of mankind. That is to say that we (humans) are in control of our own destiny, and God having created the world now takes a passive or observatory role. Therefore the root of suffering and death in the world, for the most part, can be traced back to man. However man was created in the inage of God right? and therefore wouldn't the actions of man therefore parallel the actions of ? Not entirely, we have been created in the image of God however lack the full divinity that is God. So, because God does not take an administrative role in the lives of man, and because man is not divine, the root of all suffering and death in the world can be traced back to man, in most instances.
I kind of see what you are saying, but I can't say I agree with it.
I believe that God truly has a plan for all of us and this ties into the saying "everything happens for a reason" I believe that God has control over our destiny and whatever happens in life is within His plan.
Death is a very unfortunate thing and it isn't something we can control! If someone gets in a car accident and they were driving normally and it wasn't their fault at all, then that is an uncontrollable circumstance. However, I strongly believe that there is always a reason as to why things happen and again, it is in God's plan.
We may not realize what our purpose or the plan is until later in life, and it for sure will not happen for all of us. But for those that are willing to accept that God has a plan and are willing to listen, then things will come together for them at some point in their lives, no matter how rough their lives were in the past.
But of course... this is just my opinion.
I strongly agree with Jennifer's post and what she says about everything being part of God's plan. As simplistic and corny as it may sound I believe that everything happens for a reason and that it is all part of a bigger plan. Even though it may seem incredibly unfair and we can't figure out why God would let something like this happen, it is still part of God's plan. We are human beings who are suspectible to death and all sorts of complex diseases and it is no accident but is part of God's plan.
Kayla Chorley
Feb 21, 2011 at 6:00 PM