Can Christians believe in evolution?

[One of Many]

Most people I talk to say that you can not be a christian and believe in evolution. My response is, why not?

If this has already been covered please forgive me (kinda new to the board)

Thanks and Blessings

[narnia4]

You definitely can. Some Christians honestly seek and try to find what the truth of that matter is, and some conclude that YEC is the correct position, some OEC and some theistic evolution. Even though people can and will disagree on that matter, they're still all Christians.

That doesn't mean that everything a Christian believes is right or Biblical (or that there shouldn't be a site, book, etc. defending different points of view), but it doesn't change the fact that a person who holds any of these three positions can be saved.

So whoever told you that it's impossible to be a Christian and believe in evolution probably is a strong defender of one of the other two positions. I'm not an evolutionist myself, but saying that someone isn't saved because of their position in that regard is simply wrong.

[One of Many]

Thanks for the reply narnia4.

The subject then turns to scripture, to Genesis, and we get into the debate about the creation story being literal or not. As for me, my faith is not shaken by the possability of the creation story not being literal. It seems possable that what Moses recorded in the creation account was the oral traditions which had been passed down for generations and may not have been an exact account, but rather a "what you need to know" account.

just wondering

thanks again

blessings

[cslewislover]

Hi One of Many. If you want to know more about this, there are some threads in this section that are pretty long where there is much discussion about it. Depending on which specific issue in evolution one might be talking about, it can have a theological implication beyond Genesis. This is where a lot of concern stems from. If Adam and Eve evolved, then there were "humans" along with them . . . so they wouldn't be a unique creation of God's. Some contend that there were other humans around anyway. So you can start to imagine that sin and original sin is . . . what? If humans evolved to the way they are, then sin would just be a part of that. Then why would Jesus need to do what he did? And when things are to be restored, to the way God made them originally (before the fall), then what is that? So there are some serious considerations and much that can be discussed. There's a book by Hugh Ross that gives an overview of the different positions (but even in that, he doesn't cover everything), but the focus is on the creation model held by Reasons to Believe. The book is More Than a Theory: Revealing a Testable Model for Creation. I haven't yet read the recent book about intelligent design, but it's called Signature in the Cell by Stephen Meyer.

[narnia4]

Well, as CSLewislover said, there are some theological implications beyond Genesis, and there are of course all sorts of arguments and counter-arguments. It's not a debate that's going to end anytime soon, that's for sure.

[One of Many]

Thanks CSLL and Narnia4! I will check out the other threads. your responses have been helpful!
and I agree that this debate is far from over. I think that one day when we do get to meet our Lord, there will be a lot of; Ooohhh soooo thats what you meant

Thanks again

[Different_Name]

Christian means "Follower of Christ".
Can you follow Christ while believing in evolution? Of course.
Would you go to heaven if you believed in evolution? No where in the Bible does it say that you go to hell if you believe in evolution. No where does it also say that you must believe the whole Bible literally in order to go to heaven.