[sword-devel] OT: can you be a Christian evolutionist?

[Leon Brooks]

On Thursday 20 December 2001 03:49, Barry Drake wrote:
> at risk of being off topic - are you saying that you can't
> believe in evolution AND be a Christian?

That depends on how long it takes you to run concepts through to their 
logical conclusions. In other words, it's a temporary state (but which in 
some people can last a lifetime).

Jesus is Lord... of what? He claimed that ``before Abraham was, I AM'' (John 
8:58) - so was he telling the truth (pre-existent Lord), telling a pork pie 
(mortal Liar) or deluded (mortal Lunatic)?

So far, this only limits you to progressive creation. However, Jesus clearly 
interpreted the Old Testament, and particularly Genesis, from a literal base. 
For an example, see Mark 10:6 vs Genesis 1:27. Where God expresses a claim 
for authority (e.g. Job ch 38) it is almost always based on His creatorship, 
and if not then on His eternity.

There are only two things in the Bible which are unique, and only one of them 
is entirely unique. The first is a claim to creation ex nihilo, the second 
the fulfilled prophecy. Other ancient books make creation claims, but all of 
them involve supernatural beings modifying pre-existent material.

If you spout enough prophecy, you will sooner or later score a hit. Many 
religious documents (Mother Shipton, Nostradamus, Q'ran) make prophecies and 
score hits. The Bible has lots of prophecy too, but it also has lots of 
direct hits, a vastly disproportionate number of them, thousands. This is a 
qualitative rather than an absolute proof of supernaturality, but it should 
be enough to tide you over pending the development of faith in the ex nihilo 
claim.

Without these features, the Bible is just another special book, a Talmud or 
Q'ran. Religion becomes a smorgasbord rather than a clear and exclusive 
choice.

I became a Christian as a consequence of the second unique feature, and 
remained one because of the first.

If any of this causes you a problem, there are an abundance of sites with 
information which in toto makes it clear that a belief in creation is an 
inevitable consequence of studying nature without prejudice. Some of the more 
popular include these:

    http://www.icr.org/
    http://www.answersingenesis.org/
    http://www.pathlights.com/

Here are some good link-farms:

    http://www.tagnet.org/anotherviewpoint/catsites.htm
    http://www.rae.org/revevlnk.html
 http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Christianit
y/Topics/Origins_and_Creation/

A site which sets out to refute specific pro-evolutionary anti-creationist 
documents (and with regular ``showstopper'' success) is:

    http://www.trueorigins.org/

You can also search for key phrases like ``intelligent design'' which is not 
creationism per se but does explode conventional evolutionary concepts quite 
satisfyingly.

This is not completely OT because integrating a creationist (and 
necessarilyanti-evolutionist) commentary module into Sword's collection is a 
fabulous idea. As is a resolving-apparent-contradictions module.

Cheers; Leon