Theology Questions

1. Can you be a Christian and believe in evolution?

I want to preface that there's a lot of things I don't understand about evolution regardless of if I am viewing it through a Christian lens or not. In my opinion it all comes down to what context you're bringing up evolution in. In regards to the creation of man I would have to say that a Christian can't bring evolution into the picture simply because we have a declarative account on how the world and man came into existence. To start adding evolutionary accounts into the creation story is denying the account given to us about the creation of man. Now Christians can't deny science and I believe a way to embrace how great God is by understanding how science works. Once we formulate an understanding of science we can begin to see how God is glorified in the science field. That being said I believe that on a micro level evolution is happening. I see this in the flu virus. Every year there is a new flu vaccine that can be taken simply because the flu has evolved into a new strain since the last season. Understanding how organisms change and adapt shows how great God's creation is that we have the ability to adapt to the environment we find ourselves in.

2. Why is revelation necessary?
Revelation is necessary because the Gospel is rooted in revelation. Bird states "the gospel is for all intents and purposes one of the loftiest heights of God's revelation." Without the revelation of God pouring out of the gospel there would be no good news associated with the gospel. As humans our understanding of God is rooted in revelation because we see God's redemptive plan for our lives rooted in the gospel. Without the revelation of God in the gospel it's essentially just a bunch of words on a page.

I really liked how you brought science into your response. I agree that science can be used to glorify God, especially when it comes to creation. I feel like too often in our society today people put science and Christianity in two separate corners as if the two can't possibly exist at the same time. But, as you said, I believe that the revelations of science are God inspired and show how powerful and creative our God is!

Also, I agree with you when said you believe in evolution on a micro level. I think this is where people tend to draw incorrect conclusions. They see evolution happening on a very small scale and they extrapolate that into entire species changing into new ones. I think this comes from our inability to comprehend the magnitude of who God is as we try to make sense of everything around us. Instead of having faith to believe that the Bible is true and God is able to simply create all of these things from nothing, we have to explain how creatures basically created themselves. It comes back to the fact that we are broken people living in a broken world and the only hope is a renewed spirit and salvation by God through Jesus!!!