Fossils showing stability over time...............
Many fossils, like this jellyfish fossil, actually show stability of some species over time rather than change and there is a lack of intermediates. Species that are the same as their fossil ancestors are called "Living fossils".
"The word faith has various uses; its central meaning is equivalent to "belief", "trust" or "confidence". As such, the object of faith can be either a person (or even an inanimate object or state of affairs) or a proposition (or body of propositions, such as a religious credo)." The WordiQ web dictionary.
The word faith has various uses; its central meaning is equivalent to "belief", "trust" or "confidence". As such, the object of faith can be either a person (or even an inanimate object or state of affairs) or a proposition (or body of propositions, such as a religious credo). In religious contexts, "faith" has several different meanings. Sometimes, it means loyalty to one's religion. It is in the latter sense in which one can speak of, for example, "the Catholic faith" or "the Islamic faith." or faith in the person and teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible.
From this definition it can be seen that faith is something that we all have. For example if we fly in a plane, we have faith or trust in the ability of the pilot or we may have faith in our doctor etc. Christians might argue that for the greatest journey one ever makes in this life, e.g. the journey to the next life, one needs faith in not an airline pilot, but in Jesus Christ, to put your life in his hands.
Richard Dawkins (the well known and prominent critic of creationism) tends to think faith is blind and has commented that "Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence."
However, Christianity is evidence based and this is explored in the book The case for Christ - by Lee Strobel (see book left).
Using the dramatic scenario of an investigative journalist pursuing his story and leads, Strobel uses his experience as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune to interview experts about the evidence for Christ from the fields of science, philosophy, and history.
Is there credible evidence that Jesus is the Son of God? From Lee Strobel:-
"Not too many years ago, I was an atheist. My agnostic wife's conversion to Christianity prompted me to use my legal training (M.S.L., Yale Law School) and journalism experience (I was the legal editor of "The Chicago Tribune") to systematically investigate whether there's any credible evidence that Jesus is the unique Son of God. The Case for Christ retraces the two-year quest that rocked my world. But instead of me merely describing the evidence that convinced me Christianity is true, I interviewed thirteen leading scholars and experts, posing to them the tough questions I had when I was a skeptic. These authorities, with doctorates from Cambridge, Princeton, Brandeis, and other prestigious institutions, were forced to defend their positions with compelling evidence and persuasive logic. Among the topics I cover are:-
(i) Historical evidence: Are there really enough reliable documents supporting the life, teachings, and resurrection of Jesus? (ii) Scientific evidence: Do archaeological findings support or contradict the historical accounts of Jesus? (iii) Psychiatric evidence: Did Jesus ever claim to be God? If he did, was he crazy? And does he fulfill all of the attributes of God? (iv) Fingerprint evidence: Do ancient prophecies - written hundreds of years before Jesus was born - really point to him alone as being the Messiah of Israel and the world? (v) Plus powerful evidence from four leading authorities on the ultimate authentication of Jesus' claim to being God: his resurrection from the dead.
Science and Faith.The media tends to present science and faith as polar opposites, for example see some of the quotes on the Anti Creation page such as "Can religion and science ever be compatible in education"? What is the incompatibility?
If one takes the example of a Doctor researching into better treatment for cancer, are there any aspects of their understanding of biochemistry, toxicology, anatomy, drug interactions, the immune system, cellular structure etc compromised if he or she believes in a God that was involved in designing living things?
It would seem not surely? His or her religious beliefs do not impinge at all on the possibility of being a top rate toxicologist, immunologist, biochemist, GP or whatever.
Unless that scientist / Doctor were to specialize in evolutionary theory, it is likely that the teaching of the theory of evolution comprised just a small part of their science background.
The incompatibility is perceived because the media tends to present a picture that all scientists believe whole heartedly in the theory of evolution, that it is a major component of biology and so to be a scientist and believe in God is incompatible.
In his book Darwin's Black Box, Professor Michael Behe comments that there have always been since the time of Darwin, well informed and respected scientists who have found Darwinism to be inadequate (page 30). However, Michael Behe also comments in this book that events like the Scopes trail have tended to give the impression that science and religion are opposed.
It is also interesting to note that those most vocal about promoting the idea that science and religion are opposed may be those who are actually opposed to the idea of the existence of God. For example Professor Richard Dawkins, in the past has been quoted as saying,
“It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid, or insane, or wicked, but I’d rather not consider that” (Dawkins, 1989). Professor Richard Dawkins is vice president of the British humanist association and a leading evolutionist in the UK.
In his book Darwin's Black Box, Professor Michael Behecomments that Dawkins believes atheism is the logical deduction from Darwinism and that the world would be a better place if more people shared that view. To top
Is creationism science?
Many though would argue that creationism is not science, but the theory of evolution is. However, DNA replication, the immune system, photosynthesis, Krebs' cycle, gravity, blood clotting and childbirth (to name just a few systems science can study) will all function quite well and can be studied in great scientific detail regardless of how we believe these highly complex systems came into being.
Both the theory of evolution and belief in intelligent design or creation are hypothesis that seek to explain the available evidence.
Neither the theory of evolution or creationism is science in itself. However, data from scientific research can be used to evaluate the evidence and see if it more closely fits the creation or evolution model - see conclusions for an overview.
Will we ever know it all?
The Biblical story of creation is not a detailed scientific description of how God created life on earth. It was written thousands of years ago and originally for people who had no concept of science as we do today. However, with all the advances of modern science, we still don't know for sure HOW the universe and life arose. We may have some interesting theories, but it is likely we never will have all the answers with respect to HOW? The Biblical story of creation is that God DID create.
For many of us the Biblical creation story appears to be no more than a parable or myth. This may be because for many years, we have been taught and watched TV programs that assures that we all evolved from bacteria (or single celled organisms of some sort of some sort).
However, if all life know did not evolve by chance, then it must have been designed and created. The Biblical creation story of Genesis is shared by people of Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths.
Surprisingly, similar Creation stories are also told by American Indians and many other people groups that predate any missionary influence (Mackay, 2000).
So, in perceiving the creation story to be no more than a parable, we are limiting God. Even though there are scientists who consider that science does not clearly support evolution (open to how the data is interpreted) if you look at many aspects of the theory, it somehow seems more palatable to some of us that bacteria (or single celled organisms of some sort) eventually turned into all life on Earth, rather than God made all life on Earth, with the ability to adapt to a limited extent to the environment.
With respect to how literally Genesis and the six days of Creation should be taken, some Christians feel that the Young Earth position is in such conflict with science that it is totally untenable and indeed, to attempt to get people to accept a Young Earth view is counter productive to people accepting the Christian Faith.
Arguments in favor of an Old Earth that apparently fit in with the Genesis account can be seen at the web site Answers in Creation and this site tends to be very critical of Young Earth arguments, claiming that all can be falsified.
If God made the World, why is it in such a mess today?
Christians generally believe that although God originally created man and the World good (The Bible, Genesis, Chapter 1), man chose to rebel against God's ways for him at the start of time, and as a result humanity and creation fell out on harmony with God - please listen to audio presentation "Crime and Punishment" for a thirty minute talk on this subject.
Original sin is not an easy concept for most to grasp, but in essence this is the concept that just as we inherit physical characteristics from our parents via our DNA, so the whole human race inherits a nature that tends towards rebellion to God and selfishness through the original disobedience of the parents of mankind. We certainly see evidence in the World today that if once the World was all "good", it is far from "good" in many ways now.
Sin is not a popular word, but perhaps we understand the word selfishness better (which in essence is sin). Selfishness is something we are all aware of in our lives and the selfish nature of man leads to greed, hatred, jealousy, immorality and all those other big issues of life that eventually generally lead to unpleasant consequences.
Many Christians also believe that the physical world was somehow affected by mans rebellion to God, for example, by a global flood. As such, today our world suffers from earthquakes, drought, flood etc. However, man is also directly responsible for many of the environmental problems that we see in the world today (e.g. due to pollution, de-forestation etc.).
Is there a solution - Grace?
In the introduction to this page it was suggested that we are likely to have faith if we fly in the abilities of the pilot. Christians might argue that forthe greatest journey one ever makes in this life, e.g. the journey to the next life, one needs faith in not an airline pilot, but in Jesus Christ.
In the next section there is a very brief summary about what it entails to be a Christian. Becoming a Christian won't instantly solve all the Worlds problems, but if we all truly loved our neighbors as ourselves and had internal peace with God, what a difference it could make!
The book on "What's so amazing about Grace" is well worth a read (picture left).
Become a Christian. If you are interested in what the Christian faith is all about, it is recommended that you attend an ALPHA course at a good Church or a similar course such as Christianity Explored. Alternatively you may find some of the books listed below helpful.
The central theme of Christianity is that God reached out to men and women to restore relationship with them. In one sense, such a restoration can be as simple as a child wanting to restore a good relationship with a loving parent after some break down in the relationship.
The story of Jesus Christ is about God coming to the World to restore that harmonious relationship. The Biblical story of the prodigal son is a wonderful analogy of how God loves us unconditionally and longs for us to restore relationship with him, no matter what we have done (The Bible, Luke chapter 15 verses 11 to 24).
The Bible portrays God as perfect, loving and kind but also as holy and just. If we are honest with ourselves, we have all done things to wrong and hurt others and which in turn wrong and hurt God. So if in effect we apologize to God (i.e. repent), God on his part promises us not just total forgiveness, but peace of mind and certainty of heaven when we die. What an amazing free offer!
"For God so loved the World, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" - (The Bible, John 3 v 16).
Below is a simple prayer which if prayed genuinely from the heart to God can restore our relationship with God. God will always hear and answer the prayer that acknowledges sin before him and asks forgiveness. See also How do I become a child of God?
Lord Jesus Christ, I am sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life (take a few moments to ask his forgiveness for anything particular that is on your conscience). Please forgive me, I now turn from everything that is wrong.
Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free.
Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Spirit, I now receive that gift.
Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me forever.
Thank you Lord Jesus. Amen.
"If we say we have done nothing wrong (have no sin), we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our wrongdoing (sins) to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and cleanse us from everything that is wrong". (The Bible, 1 John Chapter 1 verses 8 and 9).
1. The one true God who lives eternally in three persons—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
2. The love, grace and sovereignty of God in creating, sustaining, ruling, redeeming and judging the world.
3. The divine inspiration and supreme authority of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, which are the written Word of God—fully trustworthy for faith and conduct.
4. The dignity of all people, made male and female in God's image to love, be holy and care for creation, yet corrupted by sin, which incurs divine wrath and judgment.
5. The incarnation of God’s eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ—born of the virgin Mary, truly divine and truly human, yet without sin.
6. The atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross: dying in our place, paying the price of sin and defeating evil, so reconciling us with God.
7. The bodily resurrection of Christ, the first fruit of our resurrection; his ascension to the Father, and his reign and mediation as the only Savior of the world.
8. The justification of sinners solely by the grace of God through faith in Christ.
9. The ministry of God the Holy Spirit, who leads us to repentance, unites us with Christ through new birth, empowers our discipleship and enables our witness.
10. The Church, the body of Christ both local and universal, the priesthood of all believers—given life by the Spirit and endowed with the Spirit's gifts to worship God and proclaim the gospel, promoting justice and love.
11. The personal and visible return of Jesus Christ to fulfil the purposes of God, who will raise all people to judgment, bring eternal life to the redeemed and eternal condemnation to the lost, and establish a new heaven and new earth.