Re: Evolution: A few questions

Hi All,

I stumbled upon this site last night and it seems that there are quite a
few theistic evolutionists here (or is this group for theistic
evolutionists?). If I had to classify myself, I'd say that I'm a
progressive creationist -- I believe in an old earth holding the day/age
view, etc. I'm skeptical (very skeptical?) of evolution, but I allow for
the possibility of it. Anyway, maybe some theistic evolutionists here can
provide some insight into some questions that I have (especially being
that this list seems pretty civilized, as opposed to a lot of other
message boards out there):

<snip a lot>

Oh, finally, does anyone have testimonies online? I'd be interested in
reading how believers dealt with and reconciled evolution and the Bible
including the fall of man, the introduction of sin into the world causing
the need for a savior, etc. Like I said above, I'm skeptical of evolution,
but I do allow for the possibility of it so I want to hear some thoughts
from Christian evolutionists.

I look forward to any responses.

Thanks a lot!
Jason

Welcome, Jason!

Several folks have attempted to begin answering your specific questions.
I'd like to offer some general comments and suggest some reading. This list
is not confined to any particular view about creation/evolution issues.
There are participants ranging from YEC (young-earth creationist) to what
is commonly called theistic evolutionist. However, you are correct in
noticing that the majority of regular contributors are evolution-friendly
in that we understand that the formational history (coming-into-being) of
the universe, including life, including humans is correctly understood by
scientific inquiry to be the result of evolutionary processes.

The focus of much of the discussion here is to understand how the fact of
evolution (as we consider it)relates to our Christian theism. YEC views are
underrepresented on this list because this list is one of the few lists
that is accepting of the evolutionary perspective; consequently, most YECs
keep to themselves among their own lists. This list doesn't really like to
debate YEC vs. evolution since that seems a futile exercise to most of us.
Rather, our discussions revolve around debating and grappling with deeper
and more subtle issues than the either/or scenerio envisions.

I encourage you to find out more about the American Scientific Affiliation,
which represents much of the same breadth of discussion and views expressed
on this list. The web site has many useful articles from past issues of the
affiliation's journal Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith.

Several of the prominent participants on this list contributed to an
excellent book published last year: Perspectives on an Evolving Creation
(edited by Keith Miller, Erdman's Press). I strongly encourage you to read
that book, since it clearly presents and overviews the theistic evolution
perspective both scientifically and theologically. If you cannot afford to
buy a copy (about $25 from Amazon), I'd be willing to buy it for you if you
promise to read it.

Sincerely,
Douglas Hayworth
Rockford, IL
Received on Mon Jun 14 18:57:57 2004