Theistic Evolution

I do not wish to change anyone's beliefs about Creation or Evolution, but wrote this in defense for people who tell me I am wrong unless I believe exactly what they do. This paper is short, incomplete, and is not in-depth. I am willing to provide more information, and hear arguments from your side of the story if you find this paper unacceptable.

It is my opinion that the theories of Biblical Creationism and Evolution do not contradict each other. I believe that God gave this world a complete set of laws which are constant, unchanging, not limited to the moral laws given to us, and were as present in the beginning as they are today. I do not think that the idea of evolution takes away from the glory of God, but rather emphasizes it. I do not think it is an attempt to "explain" away the miracle God has done, for he has given us this observation in plain sight. Before giving the reasons for my belief, an assumption must be made that the Bible is meant to be interpreted instead of taken literally. Aside from the fact that there are already two different stories of creation found in the Bible (Gen 1 and Gen 2); I will support the idea of interpretation with two short examples which should be sufficient:

Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches" to His disciples (John 15:5). This is not to be taken literally.

PSA 145:9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

JER 13:14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.

My faith accepts no contradictions; so again, this is an example of how the Bible was meant to be interpreted. According to the Bible, the Earth is flat. How can Young Earth Creationists accept this? They don't. Why they selectively choose to believe certain parts of the Bible and not others is beyond me. Bishop Ussher calculated 6,000 years old, and the Flood at 2348 BC by using references from the Bible. Because there are so many written historical references of civilization before 6,000 years, Creationists conveniently extend the age of the Earth to 10,000 years. Which is it? By calculating dates from the Bible, is the Earth 6,000 years old or not? If Bishop Usher was wrong, you cannot conveniently pull a number out of thin air just so you will still be right. Below you will be able to compare different phases of evolutionary creation with Biblical creation -- in order:

--The theory of evolution often begins with a "big bang" in which mass and energy were hurled outwards - without order.

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

--As the mass and energy began to condense upon itself, it formed stars and the planets.

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night."

--According to geologists, the earth was very hot at this time, and the water remained vaporized until the surface began to cool off. Oceans and land masses were then formed.

6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning-the second day.

9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

--Plant life and marine creatures are among the oldest fossils to be found, followed by primitive land animals and flying creatures. More advanced animals followed.

11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds."

20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."

24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.

--As a side note for this section, a common defense among anti-science Creationists is that the Bible makes reference to "giant dragons". This reference is used to explain away the occurrence of dinosaur bones. I see one difference between a "dinosaur" and a "giant dragon". It's name. Could we not take this example and use dinosaurs as proof of God's creation, instead of using a literal interpretation of the Bible to "disprove" the solid facts in front of our face?

--According to paleontologists, one of the most recent creatures to walk this earth is man. As you know, man dominates the earth.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

Take your Bible and notice how much of it is devoted to explaining how God created the world. Compare this to the amount of text that talks about Jesus. It is clear what God is placing the most emphasis on... If God did not want to place a huge amount of emphasis on Creation,