I've met a lot of people who take the book of Genesis literally and deny things like evolution. If you look at Genesis from a metaphorical point of view the creation story could fit in surprisingly well with science. I will post my personal beliefs of what the creation story is describing below.

Continued below

God created the heavens and the earth in seven days=God caused the big bang to happen and seven days is a metaphor for billions of years.

God created Adam from the earth=God caused man to evolve from primate

Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knoledge of good and evil, as a result were kicked out of Eden=I'm going to reverse this, after evolving in Africa (Eden) man migrated to the Middle East and beyond, thus gaining the knowledge of good and evil

I'm going to agree with the op in saying that genisis follows evolutionary theory in the order of creation.

Btw genesis 1:1 said heavens and earth. Pretty sure the sun is located in the heavens. During the initial formation of the earth there wouldn't have been much light seeing as the sun was still forming. Not to mention with all the debris around the forming earth there would have been little light penetration. However, the fact remains that rocks where forming a ball which we later named "Earth".

When one is reading the Bible one cannot interpret it with the aid of extra-biblical sources. What I mean is that when Genesis sates that God created Adam as a fully formed adult (specifically a Homo sapien), then that is exactly what God did. Adam did not evolve from some hominid ancestor millions of years ago, he was created in the same physical and mental state as you and I are today.

Now, if you want to argue anything in my statement, then it can only be argued that today's humans have adapted to our more modern environment. Therefore we may have some extra gene mutations that Adam did not have. Natural Selection makes perfect sense and is compatible with the Bible. Species must change and adapt or die. Microevolution is true. Millions of years is not.

[edit on 29-10-2009 by one_enlightened_mind]

Originally posted by Nosred
God created the heavens and the earth in seven days=God caused the big bang to happen and seven days is a metaphor for billions of years.

God created Adam from the earth=God caused man to evolve from primate

Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knoledge of good and evil, as a result were kicked out of Eden=I'm going to reverse this, after evolving in Africa (Eden) man migrated to the Middle East and beyond, thus gaining the knowledge of good and evil

A flaw in your post seeeeeee cause ADAM AND EVE KNEW THEY WHERE NAKED BEFORE THEY GOT KICKED OUT OF EDEN. Thus showing they where both knowledged before exiting the eternal EDEN, friend.

Religion - God created everything and anything
Science - Energy created everything and anything.


Science and religion went hand in hand way back when. Then it all went array like Israel and Palestine.

The sun does not make night and day.

The rotation of the earth on its axis creates night and day.

You can create "light" without creating "night and day".

First God made heaven & earth 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

Its important to not lose scientific reasoning when reading the Bible.

There is no room for a "gap theory" in which God took 7 million years to create the earth.

It says god seperated the light from the darkness and called them night and day. That's a 24 hour period.

Science and religion went hand in hand way back when. Then it all went array like Israel and Palestine.

This is the part that boggles me about atheist scientist.

They believe intelligent life came about on our planet because of chance. The circumstances and sequences of events involving earth where just right to harbor the formation of the first living organisms and then evolution led to more advanced organisms.

Which means they have to believe its possible for life to have formed in other places of the universe. Which means as an atheist you have to believe in the potential for "aliens".

If you have to believe in the potential for aliens you have to believe in the potential for alien life forms that are far older, more advanced or even powerful than the human race. What kind of arrogance would lead to someone thinking that just because they are human means humans are the most advanced beings in the universe?

If you believe in the potential of more advanced and/or more powerful beings in our universe then you believe in the potential for a creator and a "God" type being.

Because what is a "god" if not a super advanced alien life form?

The problem with most atheist scientist is that they cannot seperate Hollywood and fairytales from scientific logic.

They believe if its been made into a Hollywood movie or been handed down from generation to generation as "folklore" then its "fantasy" and thus cannot be a approached from a scientific point of few.

This lack of an ability to let go of this predetermined bias as to what is "scientific" and what is not is the very root of the conflict between "religion" and science.




[edit on 30-10-2009 by gaiscíoch]

Originally posted by Nosred
God created the heavens and the earth in seven days=God caused the big bang to happen and seven days is a metaphor for billions of years.

God created Adam from the earth=God caused man to evolve from primate

Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knoledge of good and evil, as a result were kicked out of Eden=I'm going to reverse this, after evolving in Africa (Eden) man migrated to the Middle East and beyond, thus gaining the knowledge of good and evil

"god" created son/Man with the help of the "holy spirit (woman)"

adam and eve didnt know how to make babies before they "ate" from the tree , after that they knew which part goes in to what correct part for makin babies.

leaving eden is a metaphor for growing up and becoming in tune with a "grown up reality".

and yes adam and eve are related throu blood.

point is you have to READ between the lines and UNDERSTAND the context.

Neither Genesis or Evolution is right.
Humans were bio-engineered by aliens trillions years ago and did not "evolve" over time.
Current Earth humans were brainwashed into believing "Creationism" or "Evolution" by the Old Empire which covertly keeps humans on prison planet Earth. Each current human is considered "Untouchable" by the Old Empire and was taken from their home planet and was dumped on Earth as a prison planet.

[edit on 2-11-2009 by sphinx551]

Originally posted by sphinx551
Neither Genesis or Evolution is right.
Humans were bio-engineered by aliens trillions years ago and did not "evolve" over time.
Current Earth humans were brainwashed into believing "Creationism" or "Evolution" by the Old Empire which covertly keeps humans on prison planet Earth. Each current human is considered "Untouchable" by the Old Empire and was taken from their home planet and was dumped on Earth as a prison planet.

...evidence please!

I wouldn't even call Genesis a metaphor. I think it was a simplistic way to understand where man came from, given that people had no knowledge of science at the time it was written...unfortunately, it is taken literally by many...and still believed by even more.

It's an ancient text that should have been left in the ancient dust.

IMO

To the thread topic:
Anyone not absolutely ignorant or brainwashed by some fundamentalist propaganda must see that literal interpretation is just not compatible with the current knowledge. The only way for Genesis to not contradict the evidence is alegorical interpretation - Theistic evolution.

Jesus himself often spoke in metaphors and fictional stories.

Also, one of the ten commandments is you shall have no gods before me. I think some of our fundies have made holy bible their god.

Stop taking it so lightly!!!!!!

Then maybe we will meet in the middle somewhere...

There's some traditions that for instance, say that the entire story of Exodus happens along a person's spiritual progression. So the story isn't just history, but a story of an individuals inner work. But how many atheists want to think on that deep of a level, no they'd rather view it literally and bash it because of their own myopathy.