The Horrors of Evolution (Evolution)

by edinburgh4 , Friday, September 05, 2008, 23:23 (5721 days ago) @ Carl

Thanks for all your responses and I appreciate that they are well thought out. I think the question of starting points is very interesting. My staring point was as ardent believer in Evolution. For me, from that perspective the Bible never made sense. I always read it on my terms and not its own. Because it contradicted Evolution which for me was as good as fact I thought the book to be not worth reading. If you know from the start that a book starts with the wrong assumption, it seems foolish to trust it when it speaks about how you should live your life and your final destiny. It was only when I began to genuinely doubt Evolution that I was able to read the Bible on its terms. When I did I found it explained more than Evolution. - I came from the position of a convinced Agnostic. I was not Agnostic because I did not care, but I thought it was the right position for everyone. So I argued against both Christians and Atheists. When I argued with Christians they always told me never not to accept what they said as the Christian position. They said it is the Bible that defines the faith and I would find Christians saying all kinds of things the key was to take what Christians said check it with the Bible and if they agreed, accept this as the Christian position. I could then test this position against reality and see if what the Bible said measured up to it. I would ask you to do the same. - In my experience it is often those who profess to follow the teaching of Bible who are most likely to try to twist its meaning so they do not have to do what it says. Those who have little intention to following Bible can often read its verses more honestly. So here I am going to take some verse at face value and try to answer your questions (I only got round to answering one): - 1) Why did God create Man knowing he would do evil? - The Bible is not shy in answering this questions: - Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. Romans 30-32 - The Bible says there is something extraordinary about God's love and that is that when we turn against him he still loves us enough to die for us:

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 - God wants us to demonstrate this kind of love too: - But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? Matt 5:44-46 - Imagine a world in which their is no evil. There are certain aspects of God's character that would never be experienced by anyone. One would be that God hates and punishes evil. Another would be that he loves those who hate him. If I had never had the opportunity to do wrong I would not know that God's love was absolute and unconditional. Being loved in an unconditional way is amazing. If our sense of being loved depends on our performance we can never do enough to earn the love of others. I believe being loved unconditionally ourselves is the only place we can begin to love others unconditionally. It is those who have failed God the most who end up loving him most: - When the Pharisee [a Bible expert] who had invited [Jesus] saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is--that she is a sinner." - Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me, teacher," he said. "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" - Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt cancelled." - "You have judged correctly," Jesus said. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
Luke 7:39-48