Those who take the bible seriously do not agree on the creation account. Some believe the literal view of the Genesis days (young-earth) made famous by Archbishop Ussher (1581 – 1656) who gave 4004 BC as the date of the origin of the earth. On the other hand science including scientists who are Christians estimate around four billion years (old-earth).
Even before Darwin published The Origin of Species in mid 19th century, many Christians accepted an old-earth which rejects the literal interpretation of Genesis 1 and 2. It wasn't until the middle of the 20th century that a large number of evangelicals and fundamentalists began to accept the combination of flood geology and 6-day creation promoted by Seventh-day Adventists. Others supported the idea of Accommodation. In the Accommodation view, Genesis 1-2 was written in a simple allegorical fashion to make it easy for people of that time to understand. Augustine (354-430) suggested that the 6 days of Genesis 1 describe a single day of creation. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) argued that God did not create things in their final state, but created them to have potential to develop as he intended. The views of these and other Christian leaders are consistent with God creating life by means of evolution.
The discoveries of modern science does not need to be seen as contradictory to Scripture, but as guideposts toward a proper understanding of Scripture's meaning.
Augustine offers this advice:
"In matters that are so obscure and far beyond our vision, we find in Holy Scripture passages which can be interpreted in very different ways without prejudice to the faith we have received. In such cases, we should not rush in headlong and so firmly take our stand on one side that, if further progress in the search of truth justly undermines this position, we too fall with it. That would be to battle not for the teaching of Holy Scripture but for our own, wishing its teaching to conform to ours, whereas we ought to wish ours to conform to that of Sacred Scripture."
Nature abounds in catastrophes, disasters, imperfections, dysfunctions, suffering and cruelty. Tsunamis destroy and kill; volcanoes erase cities killing all their citizens; floods and droughts bring ruin to farmers. Scientists say the human jaw is poorly designed, parasites kill millions of humans every year and make additional hundreds of millions sick. About 20 percent of all human pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion during the first two months; that is 20 million natural abortions every year.
In Northern India there is a population of Hanuman langurs. Their mating system is what biologists call harem polygamy: Dominant males have exclusive sexual access to a group of adult females, as long as they can keep other males away. Sooner or later, a stronger male usurps the harem and the defeated one must join the ranks of celibate outcasts. The new male shows his love for his new wives by trying to kill their unweaned infants. For each successful killing, a mother stops lactating and goes into estrous.... Deprived of her nursing baby, a female soon starts ovulating. She accepts the advances of her baby's murderer, and he becomes the father of her next child.
Is that the work of a loving creator or the results of the clumsy evolutionary process?
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