I believe in Genesis. I believe that Genesis 1 is God-breathed scripture. But I do not believe that is describing a literal six days of creation. John Stott says that the creation account of Genesis 1 is a ‘highly-stylized literary statement’ (in Understanding the Bible) and I think that he is right.
Writing in next months Christianity magazine Dr. Denis Alexander suggests that Christians do not need to choose between evolution and faith. He explains that ‘for most biologists, evolution simply means the current best explanation that we have for the origins of the vast biological diversity that we currently see on this planet today. The theory has no other implications . . .’ Despite the claims of someone like Prof. Richard Dawkins evolution and atheism are not inextricably linked. Indeed ‘ever since Darwin many Christians have seen evolution as God’s chosen method for bringing all living things into being’ (Alexander).
Alexander points out that our evangelical forbearers had much less problem with evolution than some contemporary Christians. Among those who were committed to an idea of evolution were B.B. Warfield and James Orr. ‘Young Earth Creationism is largely a late twentieth century phenomenon’ (Alexander).
Next year marks the double centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin (1709) and the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the publication of ‘The Origin of the Species’ (1759). We can expect that there will be a lot of media attention around this topic. We should also be prepared for the questions that will come our way. Yet I don’t think that such questions should dissolve our faith and I do not believe that we ought to give answers dependant on creation in 144 hours.
Note: Dr. Denis Alexander has recently produced a book entitled ‘Creation or evolution – Do We Have to Choose?'
Writing in next months Christianity magazine Dr. Denis Alexander suggests that Christians do not need to choose between evolution and faith. He explains that ‘for most biologists, evolution simply means the current best explanation that we have for the origins of the vast biological diversity that we currently see on this planet today. The theory has no other implications . . .’ Despite the claims of someone like Prof. Richard Dawkins evolution and atheism are not inextricably linked. Indeed ‘ever since Darwin many Christians have seen evolution as God’s chosen method for bringing all living things into being’ (Alexander).
Alexander points out that our evangelical forbearers had much less problem with evolution than some contemporary Christians. Among those who were committed to an idea of evolution were B.B. Warfield and James Orr. ‘Young Earth Creationism is largely a late twentieth century phenomenon’ (Alexander).
Next year marks the double centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin (1709) and the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the publication of ‘The Origin of the Species’ (1759). We can expect that there will be a lot of media attention around this topic. We should also be prepared for the questions that will come our way. Yet I don’t think that such questions should dissolve our faith and I do not believe that we ought to give answers dependant on creation in 144 hours.
Note: Dr. Denis Alexander has recently produced a book entitled ‘Creation or evolution – Do We Have to Choose?'
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