I'm a Christian and...

“I don’t know how anyone can call themselves Christian and believe in evolution.” So says my friend, who knows me as a Christian. I have to remind myself she’s not judging me, just making a statement about what she doesn’t know.

I’m a Christian, and I believe in gravity, the Big Bang, and evolution. But I wouldn’t normally phrase it that way. “Belief in” seems kind of faith-based, as expressions go. I believe moving cars might kill me if I walk out in front of them. I don’t “believe in” what they might do; it’s just the way things are.

Still, I believe in evolution because:
1. I love to know how things work; God made me that way.
2. I love it when things make sense; God makes things that way.
3. I love the beauty of research that brings together so many questions and answers, that branches into so many different fields, and ends up in the same great place; God loves beauty too.
4. I love the way the Biblical story agrees with the scientific one – and I really do believe that they agree; God spoke and it was so.
5. And I love the fact that the God who made it all, including me, seeks to call me into relationship with Him.

I’m a Christian and I love to see God’s hand in creation.
I’m a Christian and I delight in evolution.
I’m a Christian and I believe the Bible is God’s word. Its interpretation, unfortunately, is all too often man's.

Oh, and I'm really enjoying Richard Dawkins' new book - the Greatest Show on Earth. Of course, he has to get his little digs in at us God-fearing folk. But it's not a book about faith or God, neither pro nor anti either. It's a book about science and evidence and this wonderful,marvelous world that's all around us.

Comments

Judith Mercado said…
Sheila, I love your willingness to believe that being a Christian can mean having open borders.
Judy
October 17, 2009 at 6:04 AM
maryrussel said…
I agree with Judy. A thought provoking post.

I added this link to my facebook wall, stumbled, and tweeted it.
October 17, 2009 at 9:14 AM
MeganRebekah said…
I was just having this conversation with my youngest sister. Her high school science teacher (at an ultra conservative school) has convinced his students that evolution is a farce, and adherence to it make you a non-Christian. What??? Ridiculous I think!
October 17, 2009 at 3:37 PM
Anonymous said…
The problem is Dawkins entire evidence against god is the theory of evolution. You agree with him about evolution but not his conclusions and he has nothing left to fight with.
October 19, 2009 at 9:34 AM
Lauren M. Hunter said…
I’m a Christian and I love to see God’s hand in creation.
I’m a Christian and I delight in evolution.

This is how I've always felt about it, too. :)
October 19, 2009 at 3:41 PM
Colleen said…
I have always felt there is room to believe in both...in their own way.
October 20, 2009 at 6:54 PM
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