by John D Carmack

Created on: February 12, 2009

Can the Bible be trusted? Does the theory of evolution disprove the Bible? Are they mutually exclusive, or is the problem with human interpretation? We have to keep in mind that none of us were around to observe these things. Therefore, we all come at this with certain presuppositions that may or may not be correct. These presuppositions can get in the way of us seeing the evidence for what it is, and it extends to both sides of the debate.

When you speak of "evolution", different people will conjure up different notions of what is meant. Likewise, "creation" has become a rather abused word of late. So, before we begin, let's consider what the American Heritage Dictionary says (from dictionary.com):

Evolution Biology: change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals, and resulting in the development of new species.

Creationism - belief in the literal interpretation of the account of the creation of the universe and of all living things related in the Bible.

There may be better definitions out there, and there certainly are worse ones, but for the purposes of this article, these will be the ones that will be used. Immediately, some things should strike you about these definitions:

1. Evolution does not equate to atheism. Nothing in the definition is stated about the existence or nonexistence of God.

2. By itself, evolution does not try to define the beginning of life or what started it (although there certainly are theories for that as well).

3. Of and by itself, nothing in the definition of creationism prohibits an earth that is over 10,000 years old.

4. Of and by itself, nothing in the definition of creationism states that living organisms have not evolved or are not now evolving.

Regardless, in my experience, the issues that come up in discussions are: Evolution is viewed as a means to explain life without a creator. Evolutionists scoff at some creationist's idea that of a single worldwide Flood that left the fossils we see everywhere. That, of course, is a result of how many creationists push the idea of an earth that is no more than 10,000 years old. However, shouldn't we be looking at what the Bible really says?

Creation Without a Creator?

Point 4 of the things that should strike you about the definitions is a particularly interesting one. There are no creationists that I'm aware of that will claim evolution doesn't happen. People are generally aware

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