Essay about combining evolution and God.

Ok i know this realy should not be posted hear (its not realy a conspiresy) but a lot of the posts are not conspiresys eather and just genral god talk. So i though i would post this essay i wrote and see what people think about it(ps i cant just post the fist paragraf and a link becuse its only on my computer) also any mods feel free to delet this post if you think i have gone to off topic for the bord.

The theory of evolution, which states that humans evolved from a prototype ape, in my opinion does not disprove or even attempt to disprove the existence of God. It is a method by which life and the various species on this planet could have come in to being but does not attempt to challenge a divine origin to the universe, but simply give a way by which the present day natural order could have come in to being. Whether it was controlled by God is of no importance to the theory of evolution. It does, however, bring in to question certain key Christian beliefs about the uniqueness of human beings. For example it will question the existence of the soul, the reason for our morality and other higher functions which do not appear to be present in other animals and that humans are superior to the rest of the animal kingdom.

Probably the largest point evolution forces people to reconsider is the existence of a soul. The soul is fundamental to Christian teachings and its existence would seem impossible if we were to evolve from �lesser� creatures. There are several responses to this problem. The most obvious is to deny that we have an immortal component. This is unacceptable to almost all Christians but is the standard belief for most atheists. A second would be that each and every animal had a potential for a soul so that when we or any animal reached a certain stage of evolution the latent dormant soul (presumably a gift from God) would emerge and that species would then be capable of ascending to heaven. Lastly, and probably with the least followers, is that all life, no matter how small or big, has a soul and will live forever after death. This shows that to accept evolution humanity needs to lose some of the uniqueness which they appear to have in the Bible.

Both evolution scientists and Christians will agree that humans are different to other animals. We appear to be the only species on the earth that makes moral choices to form bonds based on love and have the most complex social structure. However, the Bible would seem to suggest that the reason for these points would be that we were made in the image of God. This would seem to suggest that humanity has a special place in God�s eyes and that because we received these gifts and no other form of life we know about did, we are more important than other animals. However if evolution is to be believed then these unique characteristics are due to our large brain to body size ratio, which is the largest on the planet and the extraordinary number of connections human neurones are able to make. This is the result of natural selection. If this is taken as true we lose the special place we appear to have with God and it also means that any animal could evolve to this stage meaning that humanity loses the exclusivity it has under Christian teachings.

In Christian belief humanity was given mastery of the earth. We were given dominion over all its creatures and allowed to utilise it in any way we saw fit. However, evolution places us on a par with other animals meaning that we have no right to exploit the earth in any way that will be damaging to it. Under evolution humanity loses its superiority over animals and because of this to accept evolution is to disregard or at least adapt one of the points which under Christian belief make humans unique.

In conclusion evolution does not challenge the existence of God. It does though make Christians, who accept the theory of evolution, reconsider what the Bible says about humanity�s importance and humanity�s separation from other animals. I would agree with this totally and would say that traditional Christian views need to be drastically altered if evolution is to be accepted.


Any coment are welcome

[Edited on 23-11-2004 by Elfwood]

You don't have to be Christian to believe in 'God', and believing in God doesn't preclude evolution. I believe in both, and I'm sure you'll find lots of people with the same ideas.

I can accept that the way God made man may have been through the evolutionary process. I don't have a problem with that. God can do anything, anyway he wants to do it. A blink of an eye, 7 days, a million years...God's timeless I think.
Yes we are the beings that love. But I think some animals can achieve souls if they're loved by a human enough. Especially pets. Call me crazy if you want.

Elfwood,

I dont know how old you are. I also don't know who wrote the essay you are referring to. Was it you?

Either way, I am glad to see that you are allowing yourself to see a wide picture of reality, rather than supressing it with ideas that surely have been fed to you since infancy. I cannot prove or deny the existence of a God. I don't want to anyway. All I can do is observe my surroundings, and make judgements and theories based on what I can see, touch, hear, and smell.

Has anyone here ever tried that mind puzzle, with the 9 dots? You are supposed to connect them all using no more than 4 lines. Many people know this problem and its solution, but many people were stumped the first time they tried it. Some people still don't know how to do it. You need to remove the boundries that your mind actually makes up. If you do this, you can actually find more than one solution to this problem. religions give you boundries just like this. Religions blind people from real solutions and real knowledge.

I just read in another thread, a statement. ARK wrote it (sorry I dont remember your full name on this forum). It was something like this "Religion is compeltely independent from God". Fitting I thought.

I am 16 do not beleave in god in any way and yes i did wright the essay. I had to do it for RMPS. And just if any one was wondering this was the essay question.

Evolution does not challenge the existence of God, it challenges the traditional Christian beliefs about the uniqueness of human kind. How far would you agree with this statement?

Originally posted by Elfwood
I am 16 do not beleave in god in any way and yes i did wright the essay. I had to do it for RMPS. And just if any one was wondering this was the essay question.

Evolution does not challenge the existence of God, it challenges the traditional Christian beliefs about the uniqueness of human kind. How far would you agree with this statement?

I agree 100%. Like I said, I have actually written many posts trying to drive that exact point through. I once wrote a letter to someone, it was like 13 pages. It was about my life, and how I came to my beliefs. That was one of the bigger issues. I will send it to you or anyone if you want to read it.

the problem we face today with most relgious aspects towards god is that we are placing god in seperation to us as our savoiur so to say. We are all aspects of god in one way or another and we can only save ourselves.

Originally posted by mjdirect
the problem we face today with most relgious aspects towards god is that we are placing god in seperation to us as our savoiur so to say. We are all aspects of god in one way or another and we can only save ourselves.

I personally refuse to believe that thinking about issues such as this, and giving them credibility would be wrong, or a means of seperation. If God gives you a gift, such as your mind, I think he would be glad that you used it.

FOLLOWING THE LEADER IS FOR THE WEAK.

Originally posted by mjdirect
the problem we face today with most relgious aspects towards god is that we are placing god in seperation to us as our savoiur so to say. We are all aspects of god in one way or another and we can only save ourselves.

I believe this too, that we are all aspects of God. I believe every soul is a fragment of God, and for God to know everything, God must experience everything, and thus to experience everything, all possibilities must exist.

For me, this then makes me believe that Good and Evil, Right or Wrong are neutral, and these things have to exist for God to know everything.