Evolution - Do you accept it or not?

[Ovedya]

Do you know the intention of the Genesis story? I don't think so. So you would rather have had Moses write out all about evolution and abiogenesis and have the people of the time understand it? Do you think they could have understood it? I highly doubt it. The intent is just to let you know that you were created special.

As a matter of fact, I do know the intent of the Genesis chapters 1 and 2. Sorry to diminish your understanding of it, but I hardly think it was given as a "warm fuzzy" to people who were hungry for special attention. There are things in Genesis that can certainly be taken as allegorical, but it was also written as an explanation to how we were created, why we were created, and to reveal God's purpose for man. I would be happy to elaborate on this if you like.

And we are 99.6% similar to apes. Your point?

We are genetically 90% similar to dogs, and 88% similar to horses. Yet we certainly are not "evolved" from either of these. So what's your point? By the way, the percentage you are using is completely wrong. It was only until fairly recently that biologists believed humans and chimpanzees were genetically similar to within about 98.5%. So after the 33+ years since evolutionists came up with the 98.5 percentage, they've had to revise their figure to something below 95%. One wonders what the next 30 will reveal.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...4_dnachimp.html

http://www.harunyahya.com/mediawatch_99_my...dead_sci34.html

[Catsmeow]

At some point in your existence, you will feel His presence if you haven't already.  It can happen in a church, at home, at work, in a car driving down the interstate at 80 MPH.  It may happen very early in your childhood, in the prime of your life or it may happen when you are near death.  It can happen at the lowest point in your life or the highest point in your life, but it will happen.

vrspock: Very nicely put. I don't think it'll hit Fovezer ...he's in denial right now but it will become apparent eventually.

Funny, you and I were both were he's at and we can look back and know exactly what happened to change it all.

We look at him and just shake our heads and we know...we know what he's saying because we were there once. We dug in our feet and said, "NO WAY!" and were as hard hearted as we could ever be.

Something happened along the way. Something changed. Something inside of us changed and we began to see what was previously invisible to us.

We cannot expect him to grasp it now...anymore than we did then. But you're right...it happens. He'll see it and his eyes will be opened and he'll hit the ground when it does.

In the meantime, though...we just look like bloomin' idiots. Remember how it was for us?

[Ovedya]

I was a self-professed atheist until I turned 20. I thought I had it all figured out: God did not exist, the Bible was a fake that was full of errors, Christians were superstitious idiots, and Sunday was just another day of the week - the last chance to party before I had to get up Monday morning and go back to work. I fought with Christians, debated with them, and made fun of them most of the time.

But then I met my wife. While we were dating I would argue with her to no end. But she persisted in this belief. So my only option was to corrupt her and bring her down to my level. Well it worked for a time. Sure, she still went to "church" on Sundays. But the rest of the week she was mine. Eventually, though, I began to sense that what I was doing was wrong. She knew it too. One night after arguing about the Bible over the phone - it was Romans 10 - I layed back in my bed and stared at the ceiling. I began to wonder if all of this God stuff was true. And I remembered what Lynn had told me about just asking God, "If you are real, then show yourself to me." So I did it....And fell promptly asleep. Two hours later - at 12:30 A.M. I woke back up with an unbearable emptiness in my soul. I mean the kind of emptiness that causes people to fling themselves out of high windows. It was horrible. It was like staring into my own heart and seeing darkness and emptiness there. There was nothing I could do but cry out to God in desperation. With tears I confessed my sins to God and asked Him to save me - just SAVE ME! Then I fell back to sleep.

When I awoke the next morning I was filled with joy unspeakable. he Lord has pulled me out of the pit and filled me to the uttermost. My life no longer had a sense of meaninglessness. I had purpose. And all those arguments just melted away. I tell you, there was no more doubt, no more cynicism, and no more skepticism about the existence of God. God was real to me. He had shown Himself to me.

Have you ever noticed that when a person has been genuinly regenerated with the life of God, who has had a real experience of Christ coming into him and changing his entire life, that you cannot convince that person that God is not real? There is just no way that you can change that person's mind that God is not a real and living Person. Where once I thought Christians were superstitious idiots, I realized in a matter of only a few minutes that I had wasted all that time and energy in refusing to believe. I was the idiot before I believed. Truly the words of the Bible are true when they say "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God'.".

[Matthitjah]

Grace to you God-man,

Two hours later - at 12:30 A.M. I woke back up with an unbearable emptiness in my soul. I mean the kind of emptiness that causes people to fling themselves out of high windows. It was horrible. It was like staring into my own heart and seeing darkness and emptiness there. There was nothing I could do but cry out to God in desperation.

The end of the curse you were already under my friend.

Total and complete seperation from Love. Thanks be to God ! He let you feel it. For I have gained a beloved Brother. :il:

Peace,

Dave

[papasangel]

As quoted fro a famous bumpersticker "Right now even Darwin BELIEVES" And thats where fozever will be at if he dosen't take a good hard look at himself. I hope everyone is praying for Fozever that his eyes will be opened and his heart opened to the works and wonders of Almighty God. Its still not too late for him to give himself to Jesus.

[Fovezer]

As a matter of fact, I do know the intent of the Genesis chapters 1 and 2.  Sorry to diminish your understanding of it, but I hardly think it was given as a "warm fuzzy" to people who were hungry for special attention. There are things in Genesis that can certainly be taken as allegorical, but it was also written as an explanation to how we were created, why we were created, and to reveal God's purpose for man.  I would be happy to elaborate on this if you like.

So now you say some things are allegorical. Why could the story not have been allegorical? Remember, this is YOUR interpretation of the Bible, and it may not be the right one.

We are genetically 90% similar to dogs, and 88% similar to horses.  Yet we certainly are not "evolved" from either of these.  So what's your point? By the way, the percentage you are using is completely wrong.  It was only until fairly recently that biologists believed humans and chimpanzees were genetically similar to within about 98.5%.  So after the 33+ years since evolutionists came up with the 98.5 percentage, they've had to revise their figure to something below 95%.  One wonders what the next 30 will reveal. 

You never did answer my question as to the relevence of being 99% similar (a figure you never substantiated, and more than likely just made up) to the earth has to do with anything.

His correlations are much higher than the 95 per cent similarity reported in 2002 by Roy Britten of the California Institute of Technology. Goodman does not disagree with those results, he told New Scientist, but points out that the differences analysed by Britten are not important to gene function because 98 percent of the DNA did not code for proteins. - From here, which states we are 99.4% similar.

The first link you provided is valid, but the second one is a load of rubbish and has nothing to do with science.

[Fovezer]

Please, could you stop posting those "I was once an atheist, but then I saw the light" posts. They are irrelevent and detract from the original topic, and are actually quite annoying.

[refugepsa91]

K....I probably missed this somewhere in these posts here...but I have a question.

If as you believe that we were not created...that we were "formed" or evolved so to speak....just what were we before we were monkey-like (absolutely so sarcasm meant there)...I mean did we start out as a blob? I don't understand how just all of a sudden say even a hundred lifeforms formed at the exact same time...reproduced and just kept evolving to what we are now...I see alot of room for error in this theory the odds are so astronomical...can it even be figured?

Love and Blessings,

Angel

[Guest LadyC]

Please, could you stop posting those "I was once an atheist, but then I saw the light" posts. They are irrelevent and detract from the original topic, and are actually quite annoying.

would you quit posting that our faith is irrelevant, that our Bible is lies, and that we are threatening you? your posts detract from the origional topic, and are beyond annoying... they're downright offensive.

[Guest isaac]

Dear Fovezer,

I am sorry if this has already been cover, i dont have time to read all the responses, only your very first statement and a few in between. Im not a scholar and i am by no means a scientist. I am not tring to force anything on you or convince you of anything but it seems to me that you are making some really bold statements and considering them fact. Granted evolution does have some interesting points and some scientific evidence but it is by no means fact and nothing has proved it more absolute than the Bible. To my knowledge there is a website offering money to anyone that can provide absolute evidence to prove evolution is true (drdino.com).Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 do not contradict each other and are by no means two different stories. As i am sure you have heard before they are two accounts of the same event. One simply gives more detail into the creation of man. Chapter 1's story ends at verse 4 of chapter 2 and chapter 5 verse 1 ends chapter 2's story and begins a new one. Chapter 2 is a story specifically about man and the issue of sin.

This issue of sin is what i would like to say is your reason for being opposed to the existence of God. Just before i get into that i would also like to share one other thought. I am by no means trying to be insulting if you dont like my analogy thats ok... I just would like to give you something to think about. If i told you that a billion years ago a cloud of gas began to spin around and over another billion years a rock formed and from that rock small metal chips began to form and another million years some wires began to connect them. Over and even longer period of time a screen began to form and after about 10 billion years the computer you are now looking at completely formed... Now look at the human eye. There are thousands if not millions of parts to the eye that enable us to see colors and shapes, depth, they adjust to the dark... the human eye is far more complicated than any computer... what is the mathmatical probability that just one human eye would be formed?

However the issue is not simply scientific although it is something to be discussed it is not the real issue. I do hope that you will continue reading because everthing that was just said simply deals with your mind what i am about to say is going to go straight to your heart. As i said before the issue is sin. The simple fact that we have all broken Gods law. If you dont believe that you are under Gods law it doesnt matter... stand in the middle of a highway and believe there are no cars... it doesnt change reality. Denying Gods existence doesnt change the fact that he simply exists. Just ask yourself these three questions:

Have you ever told a lie?

Have you ever stolen anything?

Have you ever looked at the opposite sex in lust?

Even if you dont believe that its Gods law you cant that you havent done at least one of those. I know i cant. Even if you have broken one the Bible says that if we have broken one we are guilty of all. God is just and he will see that justice is served. He will punish sin, transgression, were ever it is found. "The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The payment for our sin is death. God declared the death sentence on all of mankind because of our sin. That is why Jesus came. His purpose was to come and die in our place. If we reject that sacrifice on our behalf we will stand before God and recieve our just punishment. " God is willing that none should perish but that all would come to repentence" but there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. I am not tell you any of this to say that i am right and you are wrong. I am saying this because God is right and we are wrong. I realized i was wrong a long time ago and i put my trust in Christ and now i try to live everyday in obedience to him. God has given you a conscience and in your heart you see that you have broken Gods law. Even if you aren't willing to admit it. Im not perfect.. i dont want you to think i am saying that... just check my spelling and grammar. I am saying that, whether you believe it or not, man is "appointed once to die and after this Judgment" one day you will stand before the God of creation and he will be more real than anything you have ever seen and he will call everything youve ever done, things in public and in secret, and he will judge it. I am not condemning you but Jesus said that "he who does not believe is condemned already", i am simply sharing the Truth with you. The Bible can be proven through its prophecy but i also must admit that it is also taken by faith " for by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, not by works, it is a gift from God so that no one can boast". And whether you want to admit it or not evolution takes as much faith if not more than Christianity. I want to say again that i am not tring to insult your intelligence or be sarcastic i am simply sharing with you the truth of the Gospel. I pray that you will think about all of this...