Ryan Elliff - Theology Questions

1. Can someone be a sincere Christian and believe in evolution?

I don’t believe that someone can be a sincere Christian if they believe in evolution. Creation is one of the foundational beliefs of Christianity. As Bird says “Recognition of God as Creator entails that we live in our Father’s world, we dwell amidst the beauty and majesty of his divine architecture, and we place our hope in God’s plan for the restoration of the world from its current travails.” Creation, not evolution, is the beginning of the redemptive gospel story! I have heard some Christians say that the creation story in the first chapter of Genesis actually proves or explains evolutions. That when God created the Earth, it contained single cell organisms, then thousands of years later they evolved into plants, then sea creatures, then land animals and then Humans. I have also heard someone say the when God created man from "dust", this was a figurative way of saying He created man from a single cell organism. However, I don't believe this to be true and I know that scripture can be manipulated, distorted and taken out of context to support crazy ideas like this. Ultimately, God is God and He created the earth and everything on it!

Also, if someone denies that God created the earth and everything in it, they are denying the Word of God (Genesis 1).

2. Is there something extra special about the incarnation as a mode of divine revelation?

It’s hard to answer this question without simply quoting several sentences from Evangelical Theology, but I’ll try! To put it simply, yes there is something extra (extra) special about the incarnation. Up until Jesus’ birth, man only had the revelation of Scripture to lean on in order to know God. With the incarnation of God in the person of Jesus, mankind was able to SEE God! Bird says “while Scripture teaches us the way to God, Jesus is the way to God.” This was necessary for the early believers to be strengthened in their faith. God revealed Himself to them so that they would have a powerful testimony to share to the rest of the world. Jesus' incarnation was the turning point for mankind. We were no longer held captive by our sins, and Jesus paid the price for us all!

ryanelliff wrote:1. Can someone be a sincere Christian and believe in evolution?

I don’t believe that someone can be a sincere Christian if they believe in evolution. Creation is one of the foundational beliefs of Christianity. As Bird says “Recognition of God as Creator entails that we live in our Father’s world, we dwell amidst the beauty and majesty of his divine architecture, and we place our hope in God’s plan for the restoration of the world from its current travails.” Creation, not evolution, is the beginning of the redemptive gospel story! I have heard some Christians say that the creation story in the first chapter of Genesis actually proves or explains evolutions. That when God created the Earth, it contained single cell organisms, then thousands of years later they evolved into plants, then sea creatures, then land animals and then Humans. I have also heard someone say the when God created man from "dust", this was a figurative way of saying He created man from a single cell organism. However, I don't believe this to be true and I know that scripture can be manipulated, distorted and taken out of context to support crazy ideas like this. Ultimately, God is God and He created the earth and everything on it!

Also, if someone denies that God created the earth and everything in it, they are denying the Word of God (Genesis 1).

It's really interesting to hear your beliefs on evolution vs. creation. To be honest I didn't think anyone would have this opinion. I think it is important to begin by saying that for my argument I am speaking more along the lines of microevolution instead macroevolution. I agree with you about creation being a fundamental belief of Christianity and that we need to appreciate God as the creator. My question to you would be is it not okay to believe that both are true? That God created the universe and in doing so created evolution? Does believing in evolution mean that you are denying that God created the earth and everything in it? To me, there is far too much evidence that evolution is real to say that the story of creation is the only way God created the world. I do think that only believing in evolution and not believing creation at all, would make me question whether someone is a sincere Christian. I think that there are two extremes that are both wrong, either that evolution is the only way the world was created, and that we developed from single cell organisms, or that what scripture says is step by step, exactly how God created the world,and that evolution is made up. I think that it is very possible that the story of creation does not contain all of the details of how God created the world, and evolution could be a part of that.