Where do we come from?
Understanding our origins and the origins of all living things is a BIG deal. Where we come from relates to where we will choose to go in life.
What do you believe about the beginning of humankind? Who made us? Why are we here? These are big religious questions that scientists weigh in on, even though they might not be thinking in the same terms as regular folk.
When people disagree whether we were made by God or not, it's usually a heated disagreement.
Take a chance here to share your own stories or how you've experiences debates between people on the topic.
12 Replies
This is a profound question that can easily become a heated debate between people with conflicting views.
I myself believe that God created the Earth and every thing in our planet. I take the stance of what is referred to as "Intelligent Design" Intelligent Design means that the universe and all living things are too complex and perfectly mapped out to just be caused by chance and/or natural selection. Instead creation is lead by an intelligent cause, and everything was made with a purpose in mind. I still believe in evolution and that things have evolved through out many years on this Earth, but that ultimately everything is linked together by one Creator; God.
I also have an open mind and do not disregard other people who have differenent beliefs than my own, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. The only time I have a probelm is when someone says "I'm wrong, for believeing in God" I have been told this by many Athesits that I have met, and their close minded attitudes make it hard to have any conversations about creation with them.
I truly believe that the creation and design of human beings, and for that matter, all living things, has to be from a greater power. How can anything other than God be responsible for a beating heart, and all the intricate systems within the human body?
I feel that by believing and accepting that our design is a product of God makes me appreciate what I have been given, and to put the talents and advantages to good use and to live out God's intentions. By seeing that God is responsible for our design also makes me believe my body is a vehicle to carry out works of charity and kindness.
Human beings are far to complex for them to just "happen" because of some Big Bang Theory.My opinion is that there has to be a creatore behind our universe. I believe in science but I believe that God created science.Science is correct in many of its views but I really dont see how things like the creation of the universe or the creation of animals or the creation of human beings could just happen by chance. There must be a higher power behind these creations and that higher power is God. !!!
I really like the idea of "Intelligent Design" its how i kind of see things but never found a name for it, but then when i think far enough back it stumps me cause i think how did we first come to be. how were humans created? lets say we take the religious view on this and say adam and eve were how we came to be, it states that both adam and eve were almost completely identical. So then how did we end up with so many different variation in humans? i mean ecthinicty's, genes, traits ect. lets say that adam had brown eyes and eve had green, its physically impossible to have a person with blue eyes. I find it hard to believe that we all came from these two people and we have so much variation. Say we take the scientific way of things, did a bunch of particles and things just get together over amount of time and make a person? that I also find hard to believe.
God made us because he wanted humans to be on earth until there is no earth anymore.Another reason that god made us was because he wanted us to understand between good and evil. God made us because he was the only one of his kind.
The fact that the question of "how we got here" or " how we come to be" has not yet been anserewed, to me is proof of a higher power. Yes humans are able to reproduce by a female and a male but how did that female and male come about to by another male and female but how did they and their ancestors. There had to be a begining to the creation of people because the complexity of people could not just be from the big bang and even if it was... How did that energy become so powerful in the first place.
I believe that we did not come from God because in my opinion, there is no God. On the other hand, i do believe in a higher power. I believe that Earth was created by miniscule particles that took years to form into our world. Evolution to me, also has a part in where we came from. Because there is no God, we simply were created by evolution. Day by day, month by month, and year by year, different parts started to form in humans for different purposes. I do not mean to discriminate against others' perspectives because I am open to them, but this is also something i believe in. Hearing others' beliefs and views though, give a better understanding of how evolution has worked and changed the views of people.
well I believe the humankind started when god created the universe. Gods one day I think lastest more than 24 hours. its more of 1 day for him was what ever i have to go now
Wow, there are a lot of extremely intelligent insights going on here!!
Shannon mentioned the story of Adam and Eve, and that is definitely a confusing story to understand when you see all the evidence from science that completely destroys any chance of the story being true. I myself find this an extremely difficult topic to wrap my head around, since I was raised Catholic and I've been taught that Adam and Eve were real people who sinned in the Garden of Eden.
However, it is important to first realize that every story in the Bible is not to be taken as 100% truth. Stories in the Bible are meant to reveal certain religious truths that God wanted the world to learn. So when we take a look at the story of Adam and Eve, and see that Eve was created from the rib of Adam, it doesn't mean that God literally took out one of Adam's functioning ribs to make a woman.
This story in Genesis reveals religious truth about how man and women came to be; they were created by God to live amongst each other in a community. If you take a look at scientific proof for evolution, it is evident that that is the process how humans came to be, and this process is guided by a higher power; God had a purpose and a plan for creating the world and each one of us in it.
As many of you have stated, I too believe that God created the Universe, the earth, and everything in it by the process of Intelligent Design as discussed earlier and in other discussions. I believe that God set us forward on some sort of path that leads us individually and as a collective community to some ultimate meaning in life.
However, as Victoria has summarized well, I also do not believe that the Bible is completely factual. The Bible teaches us God's Word and how we should live our lives. It is important to note that the inspired authors of the Bible were writing with the knowledge and science of their day. They were not exposed to the modern scientific discoveries we have today that took years to develop. In this way, I believe that the stories of creation, although they not completely factual, are not entirely false either. For example, it could be said that the creation of the earth in six days reflects the evolution of the Earth over time as created by God. The Earth, in my belief system, was not literally created in six days by God, but rather it was created by God over time with some things created before others and things progressively changing over time.
However, I do recognize that many people have different beliefs spanning the spectrum from atheist to devout religious believers. As there is no definitive proof that any one idea is correct, I feel it is important to respect the opinions and ideas of others and to even seek further understanding from them.
Understanding the relationship between science (evolution) and religion (creation) is most certainly a complex issue to comprehend. I, myself, have difficulties in discerning whether or not our origins can be truly scientific or truly religious. As a Catholic, I do believe that God created humankind in His image, yet there are many modern scientific discoveries and evidence that we cannot ignore as they point to an evolutionist approach to the beginning of humans.
It was through reading Denis Lamoureux’s book, I Love Jesus & I Accept Evolution, that I was able to better understand a new outlook on this debate. In the book, the author introduces a central concept on bridging the gap between science and religion; the Lord reveals himself through Two Divine Books, the ‘Book of Words’ (Bible) and the ‘Book of Good’s Works’ (natural world). For instance, the ‘Book of Words’, suggests that we are all created in God’s image by a divine creator. The ‘Book of God’s Works’ implies that through studying modern sciences such a as biology, geology and cosmology, the structure and mechanisms of our origins can be examined through an evolutionist lens.
As previously mentioned, the concept of Intelligent Design directly correlates with the author’s theory of the Two Divine Books. Lamoreux writes, “The Two Divine Books complement each other in revealing the glory and character of the Creator…Scripture discloses the spiritual character of the world, while science reveals the divine method of creation.” This quote does an excellent job in illustrating how the gap can be bridged between the conflicting ideas of science and religion, and ultimately Intelligent Design. Thus, I have taken an Intelligent Design approach on the debate of the beginnings of mankind.
While the Bible is based in truth, every event is not meant to be taken as historical fact or literally. For instance, the Adam and Eve account has other valuable lessons aside from the ‘where do we come from’ dilemma. Another or further interpretation could be that God was encouraging us to live in a more Christian life and used Adam and Eve as an example to show that there are consequences for sins. In terms of genetics, Adam and Eve may not be the origin of humans but this does not mean that they are useless accounts. God put everything in the Bible for a reason and it is up to us to decipher the moral and discover the value.
Savannah, I think the powerful being is what is so miraculous about Creation, He is not a regular human and earth is proof of this! 
Alyssa, I think its great that you are open to educating yourself on various perspectives and respect that whole-heartedly. As a piece of information for you to ponder, consider that evolution does not disqualify the existence of God. Evolutionary Creationists believe in evolution and God’s creation of the world, (and not in 6 days.) If I could give any insight to the knowledge I have acquired through my readings thus far is that there need not be a dichotomy between evolution and God’s existence.
Amanda, I completely agree with you on Lamoureux’s book. It is a great source to gain knowledge on various perspectives!
Erika
Mar 2, 2012 at 11:11 AM