Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Nature’s God: Why Christians should accept the theory of evolution

#1
C C Offline
https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/nat...evolution/

INTRO (Larry Arnhart): American Christian fundamentalists reject Darwinian evolution for at least two reasons. The first is their belief that the Bible has revealed a clear teaching about the divine creation of the world that denies Darwinian evolution. The second reason is their belief that Darwinian evolution contradicts the foundational principle of the American creed that human beings have been created equal and endowed with rights by their Creator, as affirmed in the Declaration of Independence. In this article I will argue that both beliefs are mistaken, and that Christians should all accept the theory of evolution.

Why People Do Not Believe in Evolution. A 2021 study reports that 54 percent of Americans today agree with the statement “Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.” This is a remarkable increase from 2005, when only 40 percent of Americans agreed with that statement. In 2005, as compared with 34 countries, the United States had the second lowest public acceptance of human evolution (only Turkey was lower). Today, despite the increase in American acceptance of evolution, it is still lower than in European countries, along with many others around the world.

Why does the United States still lag behind so many other countries in the public acceptance of evolution? Is there some feature of American religious, political, or moral culture that creates a resistance to Darwinian evolution? The lead author of the 2021 study, Jon Miller, and his colleagues identified six factors that predict the acceptance or rejection of evolution. The most influential factor by far is American religious fundamentalism: many Americans are Christian fundamentalists, and most fundamentalists reject evolution.

Miller and his colleagues measured “religious fundamentalism” by how people answered five questions: (1) They agree that “there is a personal God that hears the prayers of individuals”; (2) They agree that “the Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally”; (3) They report that they usually attend at least one religious service in a typical week; (4) They report that they pray at least once in a typical week; (5) They agree that “we depend too much on science and not enough on faith.”

In short, religious fundamentalists reject the Darwinian idea of human evolution from earlier species of animals because they believe this contradicts what the Bible says about God creating everything, including human beings, and about God as a personal deity who hears prayers and demands faithful obedience. They think … the Bible as God’s Revelation contradicts Darwin’s naturalistic science of evolution.

There is another influential feature of American fundamentalist religion that is crucial here: American fundamentalists see biblical creationism in the Declaration of Independence, which holds “that all men are created equal,” they are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,” and that this Creator is the source of “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” and also “the Supreme Judge of the World” who exercises “divine Providence.” If Darwinian evolution denies biblical creationism, they believe that it denies a fundamental principle of the American creed: that human beings have a unique moral dignity as created in the image of God, and as subject to His laws, His judgment, and His providence. In the history of the American fundamentalist attacks on evolution, William Jennings Bryan in the 1920s was the first one to charge that Darwinian evolution denied the imago Dei teaching of the Declaration of Independence.

I will challenge these reasons for the fundamentalist rejection of Darwinian evolution. First, I will argue that there has been no biblical revelation that clearly resolves the debate over creation and evolution. Second, I will argue that there is no good reason to believe that the Declaration of Independence requires a biblical creationism that denies Darwinian evolution... (MORE - details)
Reply
#2
Magical Realist Offline
Quote:In short, religious fundamentalists reject the Darwinian idea of human evolution from earlier species of animals because they believe this contradicts what the Bible says about God creating everything, including human beings, and about God as a personal deity who hears prayers and demands faithful obedience. They think … the Bible as God’s Revelation contradicts Darwin’s naturalistic science of evolution.

It's all part of the literalist interpretation of the Bible. The theory of evolution would contradict the fables of Genesis and raise doubts about the entire Bible. And that can never happen. God's literal word is infallible.
Reply


Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Christians and anti-Semitism + UM tolerance of conservatives is impossible C C 0 69 Jan 19, 2023 09:27 PM
Last Post: C C
  What is a bodhisattva? + Christians who are Democrats are abandoning Social Gospel C C 0 117 Oct 12, 2022 01:14 AM
Last Post: C C
  Violence in Nigeria threatens religious freedom for Christians and Muslims alike C C 0 127 Sep 19, 2022 02:14 AM
Last Post: C C
  Islamic republic is killing Islam in Iran + Why are Christians not outraged by Trump? C C 1 142 Sep 5, 2022 05:25 PM
Last Post: Syne
  Evangelical Christians are politicizing Jewish story of Esther + Mixed bag of items C C 0 63 Mar 16, 2022 06:08 PM
Last Post: C C
  Australia a soft theocracy? + Christians express alarm at French extremism Bill C C 0 132 Mar 19, 2021 09:42 AM
Last Post: C C
  Sexual sadist priest + Jail those Christians + Sikh hate crime rises + Pak man kills C C 3 228 Dec 8, 2020 12:25 AM
Last Post: Zinjanthropos
  Explosive growth of Iranian Christians + Jesus of Siberia leader arrested by Russians C C 1 306 Sep 24, 2020 11:56 AM
Last Post: Zinjanthropos
  Chinese Christians arrested for virtual worship services + Virus that hits all faiths C C 0 226 Apr 15, 2020 06:09 PM
Last Post: C C
  This is not the end of the world, according to Christians who study such ;-) C C 1 174 Mar 20, 2020 11:25 PM
Last Post: Magical Realist



Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)