When Creation was begun….
For years now a debate has raged around the world, setting neighbour against neighbour. As is often the case our good American friends are at the front lines. Institutions have risen and fallen… all in the cause of answering the ultimate question: ’Where did we come from?’.
Traditionally science was thought to be the enemy of faith but our late pope fought tirelessly to set the record straight. The Church continues to point out that Christianity is not a faith of dreams but of realities and so science can only aid us on our journey of faith. Why then must such a hostile relationship between both traditions exist today?
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is known by all and accepted by most, the Church included, the vast majority of the 6 billion on this planet believe that we were created by a supernatural being….seems odd but most seem to have reconciled both ideas. So what you may ask is the problem?
The Old Testament tells of the creation of man on final day of God’s working week…no mention of dinosaurs or a slow process which took millions, perhaps billions, of years. Yet most forward thinking Christians today believe that where the New Testament is completely accurate the Old Testament is more metaphorical. This doesn’t mean these texts are obsolete or irrelevant…just that you shouldn’t read them literally. Seems fair enough….
The problem is that many are still clinging to the Old Testament as absolutely factual…making the Earth a few thousand years old and the arrival of man by the end of the first week. When confronted with scientific evidence to suggest otherwise (e.g. fossil records) the answer is that such fossils were planted by the devil to put us off the track that leads to God. That’s a handy excuse for real evidence….”The devil did it!”
On the other side of the trenches proponents of the evolution theory argue that it is the answer to mans existence…and no divine presence was ever needed. That’s ok…everyone’s entitled to an opinion really.
So we now have ‘creationists’ fighting for the book of Genesis to replace science books in the classroom…and darwin’s defenders fighting to stop it. What then of truth???? The answer really is that we don’t know for sure. Both answers take a certain leap of faith. The Genesis tale has no scientific evidence and evolution, while accepted as the most likely, has more holes in it than the Titanic!
I think the best bet is to teach everything…..but Genesis is not for the science lab. That’s just crazy. Evolution should be taught as a theory more than a reality because at the minute it’s misleading and most accept the accepted. Education should be about a love of knowledge ‘Philo Sophia’ and what’s wrong with knowing the whole story…one idea from religion class and another from science. The problem is when arrogance sets in.
I don’t believe in the creationist’s literal interpretation of Genesis. I’m probably an ‘intelligent design’er…thank you very much. I, like most, accept evolution as the most likely but to be honest I’m not too bothered. I believe God created us…whether by evolution over millions of years or by forming mud in a day of madness….doesn’t really interest me. I know my answer to the main question.
Why the argument??? Some just love a fight I suppose.
Friday, July 27th, 2007 and is filed under Views on News.
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