A Christian and belief in Evolution

I know not everyone thinks this, but I was told that you can’t be a Christian and believe in Evolution. sigh While completely ignoring the fact that I believe God is behind it.

To me, someone saying that is invalidating the close relationship with God I’ve always had.

I didn’t think this would annoy me this much.

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People say silly stuff, but even silly stuff can get under your skin.

I’m writing a paper right now on a couple verses in 1 Peter. So I’ve spent the last two days on the verse that says God wants to silence foolish people who don’t know any better by means of your doing good. (1 Peter 2:15) So all you can do is just keep being a kind, respect-worthy person, and in the end your exemplary life will vindicate you in the eyes of people who just don’t get it yet.

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Yes it is silly. I firmly believe I am a Christian and believe in Evolution. If you don’t fine, but please don’t force your views on me. I believe what I believe and I am not changing my mind.

You need better friends. You should be friendly with silly people who put you down, but don’t listen to them.

You would still be a Christian, but simply wrong on your views :slight_smile:

That’s not exactly a biblical response, is it? :frowning:

Why wouldn’t it be? Does the Bible force you to take it to heart when mean-spirited and/or foolish people insult you? I don’t see that in my Bible.

I think it’s only wise and right for the original poster to be able to close out the voices that tell her she’s not a true believer in Jesus, so that she can put all her strength into doing the hard daily work of focusing on her relationship with God, running with perseverance the race put before her, growing in grace and love, taking up her cross, serving the least of these, putting off sin and putting on virtue by the power of the Spirit, etc.

I wish her well in that, and I hope that she is able to persevere despite the barrage of voices telling her that her faith in Jesus is false.

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You start with a false premise that these people are mean spirited or foolish. I see that they are well meaning people who are misinformed. It reminds me of Christians who say that the slave owners in early America couldn’t possibly be Christian. Instead of deep sixing her friends and maybe even family. Sit down and have a loving conversation, asking them to point out in scripture why they believe that to be the case :slight_smile:

I’m sure she’s well aware why they believe that to be the case. Most folks who come to the evolutionary creation position from within an Evangelical context understand the YEC approach all too well. I have little doubt that the OP has already carefully weighed various kinds of evidence for YEC and found it wanting.

So in my opinion it wouldn’t be wise or fair for her to open herself up to a one-way conversation where the other person tries, in a close-minded fashion, to convince her that she’s wrong. She would be absolutely right to shut out those voices. She’s right to seek out voices that encourage her to press in to her relationship with Christ. And if she’s in error, there will be those who have earned the right through their loving encouragement to broach those topics with her in love. Sounds to me like the folks she mentioned in her post aren’t in that category.

Turn the tables for a moment, Wookin. Do you enjoy it when Jehovah’s Witnesses show up at your door and try to convince you you’re not saved and need to come down to the Kingdom Hall? What about the aggressive Islamist who, every time they talk to you, want to extol the virtues of the Holy Qur’an? Well, maybe you enjoy a spirited debate with these folks. But for most of us, we don’t enjoy being told we’re wrong. We’d rather focus our energies on growing in the Lord. And that’s what I would continue to encourage the OP to do.

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I don’t believe I am wrong in my views at all. The bigger issue is I believe in Christ.

That’s a great answer! Really encouraging! Thanks!

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The belief that Christians can’t accept evolution is based on the idea that evolution is inherently atheistic, or leads that way. BioLogos shows that this is not the case, as does the fact that most mainstream Christian denominations accept evolution. Catholics used to believe that Protestants couldn’t get into heaven (and vice versa,) but today most Christian groups recognize that doctrinal differences do not make other groups non-Christian. Evolution is another doctrinal issue, like predestination or transubstantiation. Lack of belief in one of the latter two of these concepts might mean you were not a Presbyterian or a Roman Catholic, but no one would accuse you of not being a true Christian.

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I personally wonder if evolution denial is more a matter of pride than anything else. Thing is, evolution does not say “there is no God,” but it does say “you are not as important as you like to think you are.” Let’s admit it, being told you’re related to the animals does tend to hurt your pride somewhat. But Ecclesiastes 3:18 says that God tests us by showing us that we’re just like the animals, so if you’re offended by the fact that you share 98% DNA and a whole bunch of endogenous retroviruses with Pan troglodytes and friends, then you’ve failed the test.

I’d think this would be especially true of the really dogmatic YECs who say that you can’t be a Christian and believe in evolution, or who call you a “compromiser” or a “faithless so-called Christian” for not believing that Noah had dinosaurs on the Ark, or who otherwise try to pull you down and condemn you and intimidate you. Take a read of Colossians 2:16-23 and Galatians 6:12-15, and substitute “YEC” for “circumcision” as appropriate.