Hi and welcome to the forum.
There is no single way EC interpret Genesis 1-11 but you provided my answer. It is a creation story which is not intended to tell us the history or science behind creation. The main point is there is one God who created everything.
For me, God created life by using evolution. Just like God created the light of the sun by using nuclear fusion.
When young earth creationists use the world evolutionism, there really isn’t much difference. They use that term for everyone who accepts evolutionary theory and disagrees with their literalist Bible interpretations and young earth creationist beliefs. Some other people use evolutionism to describe an ideology that sees evolutionary theory as a sort of “theory of everything” that holds the key to answering all questions worth asking. So in that sense EC wouldn’t be evolutionism.
Most people who call themselves evolutionary Creationists are Christians who accept that the Bible reveals true things about God. Since the Bible communicates that God cares about his creation, especially humans, and pursues a reconciled relationship with them, they believe God interacts with creation in lots of ways, not just to punish people for being evil.
We would say that the Hebrew authors were describing the natural world from their cultural vantage point. It is true that dogs have puppies and cats have kittens, and this is something they would have known to be true. The point of the message is to point out that the source of life is God, not to make a statement about whether or not common descent is possible. The evolutionary relationships between species were unknown at the time, so the authors of the Bible shouldn’t be expected to include modern science in their worldview. God accommodated their pre-modern understandings of how the world worked when communicating with them.
The reason why I use the term evolutionary creationism or one of the other interchangeable terms is because there is a societal paradigm that many people falsely believe to be true and that’s if you accept science it means you reject religion and vice versa. So if you go into the streets and ask a bunch of random people “ do you believe in God” many will reason d with “ no I believe in science or even specifically no, I believe in evolution” and that means they believe that to believe in evolution means to be atheist. So when they say evolution, there is a silent “atheistic” before it. So it’s kind of like a debate between atheistic evolution versus theistic evolution. Now the terms before evolution does not actually change any of the science. It’s a philosophical term. So the term evolutionary creationism creates contention with the worldview that to be a science believer means you must be a god denier. But it’s simply not true. My belief in God does not alter any of the science that goes into evolution.
The reason why you never see the term theistic gravity is because no one thinks that to accept gravity means to reject God . But with evolution we so see that false correlation.
God, if anything, grounds being from eternity. That means He instantiates the prevenient laws of physics. Nature does the rest.
Actually, the God who is is quite capable of intervening providentially any time and any place he pleases, although his interventions are undetectable by science. They are, however, obvious to the eyes of faith because of the meaning infused by their timing and placing. I surmise that as he intervened in the timing and placing of carcinogenic mutations, he also intervenes in evolution to accomplish his purposes, not the least of which is delighting us with beauty and awing us with complexity.
No. It is simply the assertion that God’s creation and evolution are both true. It is the same as everyday life where both the natural laws of science and the involvement of God in our lives are both true.
What you describe sounds like Deism which was a effort to cling to a belief in God when the laws of nature looked deterministic. But that is old science. Physical determinism is dead because of the discoveries of modern science in quantum physics and chaotic dynamics. The laws of nature are NOT causally closed and both divine involvement in our daily lives as well as incompatibilist free will are rational possibilities.
God created the universe and He is not a liar to make everything in the earth and sky an elaborate deception to make us believe something which is not true.
Incorrect. Science does not and cannot speak to the question of God. At most it may exclude some ideas of God just as it excludes some ideas about Santa Claus… like no visible workshop sitting on the north pole.
Science deals in measurably testable hypotheses and God does not qualify.
That is a religious question and evolutionary creation is not a religion. That question should address the theological stand of a religion. In particular this question is the branch of theology called theodicy.
However, it is my understanding that evolution and the Bible fit together like hand in glove, accepting that there are harsh realities of life which we must accept. For example, evolution tells us there is no life without death and suffering, and the Bible tells us there is no eternal life (forgiveness of sins) without the shedding of blood. I cannot imagine how the atrocities in Bible can possibly be justified UNLESS life requires the kind of suffering and death implied by evolution.
P.S. I was not raised Christian and I would not believe in Christianity if it were not for evolution. Without evolution, atheism would make far more sense to me.
Does the evolutionary creationism believe in macro or micro evolution?
Thank you for explaining! Now I see how they’re both different from each other.
Yes. Micro-evolution is a term popularized by some in the young earth camp that refers to the small changes that take place over short periods, Just about everyone agrees they occur, and mutations and population genetics can explain what is happening. One cannot say the same about some suggestions that hyper-evolution occurred after the flood period to give the diversity of animal life we see in the fossil record and in living animals today. Macro- evolution as defined by some is nothing more than micro-evolution over long periods of time, where small changes add up and build on each other to give diverse forms. The long periods of time required (millions of years in most cases) mean that rather than direct observation, the links are often made by the fossil record, though DNA sequencing has made direct observations of the changes and linkages possible in recent years. Truthfully though, most evolutionary creationists do not often use the terms micro and macro evolution, as it is all just evolution. Only the time frame is different.
Thank you for your explanation. How would EC explain how each person is created in God’s image if they evolved over time? If God created each person in His own image, wouldn’t it contradict the idea that humans evolved to what they look like today? Would it also be different to how the Bible says that animals/creatures of land and sea were created on a different day than humans?
Thank you for your explanation!
What does it mean to be created in God’s image? There is no single answer to that question but the obvious answer, we look like God, is certainly false.
Evolution is responsible for how we look and some of how we act, but neither have any bearing on our being image bearers.
I feel like the image of god is simply a phrase for our function as corulers. We don’t make idols of god because we are the image of god on earth. We are alike living idols carrying out the will of God.
I personally believe that being made in God’s image means that no two beings on earth can be exactly the same. This means that we are all special and have our own unique features that distinguish us from other people. God created all of us with love and specially gave us each specific purposes or jobs on Earth. He created a plan for each and every one of us. But, I do agree that there are many different interpretations and views to that phrase. It’s definitely interesting to hear other’s interpretations.
I’m not sure I quite understand what you mean here. Could you explain that a bit?
If you search on the main page of Biologos, you will find a lot of articles and podcasts that address the image of God. One of the latest podcasts has that as a topic, and you can either listen or read the transcript at the link. I think you will enjoy the discussion:
And another very good article:
Oh those would be helpful in getting a better understanding. Thank you for the explanations!
Thanks for the response! I’ve gained some different perceptions of the world’s origin and it is really interesting. I know this might be a little technical, but if humans came from evolution, presumably the ape, at what point did we have souls and brains capable of understanding who God is? Also if the Hebrew authors were describing the natural world from their cultural vantage point, they did not know that their ancestors were not humans? (assuming the first premise) If you or someone could tie up these loose ends for me that would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again!
My take is human creation is in two parts. The first part is evolution which we see in the fossil record and our DNA. This part doesn’t play a part in our being image bearers. The second part is a creative act of God that makes us image bearers. Science doesn’t inform us what that process is exactly and the Bible likewise doesn’t tell us. So we just have to accept that we are.
Another BioLogos resource on this is here.
Humans didn’t come from the apes. Humans and apes have a common ancestor that is neither human or ape. “When did homo sapiens have a brain capable of understanding God?” is harder to answer. I would suggest it is when they started to bury their dead. If you are interested Google “behavioral modernity” for further information. Although you won’t find much information on understanding God.
That is true. God could have inspired the writer of Genesis to include that information but what would be the point? The information is not needed for the message God intended.
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” -Colossians 4:6
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