# Can we belive in...... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 21, 2001, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624 "2001-06-21T14:45:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nick112](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@nick112](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nick112)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/1 "2001-06-21T14:45:18Z")
evolution and creation? I mean God could have created Earth, mankind, and other things, but things still could evolve while on earth. I think that creation and evolution both occur or have occurred. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/2 "2001-06-21T14:53:51Z")
And your evidence in support of creation is what? ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/3 "2001-06-21T16:10:00Z")
Why can’t you? there’s no law against it, regardless of what both sides would have you think. ---
**Author:** ![nick112](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@nick112](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nick112)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/4 "2001-06-21T16:12:24Z")
How was anything put in this universe to begin with? Something cant come of nothing. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/5 "2001-06-21T16:16:33Z")
I was taught, growing up, in church, that God created evolution. And that for all we know, Adam and Eve were two amoebas who eventually evolved. jarbaby ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/6 "2001-06-21T16:18:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nick112 \* > \*\*How was anything put in this universe to begin with? Something cant come of nothing. \*\* Who says there was ever nothing? I agree with your OP, though. There is nothing conflicting between a belief in God and evolution. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/7 "2001-06-21T16:20:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Something cant come of nothing. Actually, it can. But in order to show you that, we’d have to have a very, very long quantum physics primer, with loads of bizarre math thrown in. You’re welcome to believe in anything you want, with or without evidence. As long as you understand that a belief on evolution is based in evidence and a belief in super- or supranatural creation is based in faith, without evidence. May Her hooves never be shod. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/8 "2001-06-21T19:45:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by nick112 \* > \*\*I think that creation and evolution both occur or have occurred. \*\* As far as I know, most scientists (biological or otherwise) would agree with you. It’s getting the religious fundamentalists to stop throwing the bricks that’s the trick… ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/9 "2001-06-21T22:01:23Z")
Can we **believe** in evolution and creation? In Carl Sagan’s book _The Demon-Haunted World_, he says that when he is asked to speak about SETI at a university, quite often someone will ask him, “Do you believe in UFOs?”. His response was: “That’s the wrong question. Whether I personally **belive** that UFOs are extraterrestrial spacecraft is irrelevant. What you should be asking is, how good is the **evidence** that UFOs are extraterrestrial spacecraft?” ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/10 "2001-06-21T22:42:11Z")
Define the word “believe”. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/11 "2001-06-21T23:45:59Z")
I don’t think you can really believe in both at the same time. That’s like saying I believe in cell mitosis and Unicorns… or the second law of thermodynamics and the lost civilization of Atlantis. Creationists want you to believe that their ideas are based on a “kind of fact”… that the Bible says so. The Bible is not based on demonstrable, scientific fact. It’s like me saying that all humans came from a union of Dragons and Toads. Just because I “believe” that it happened doesn’t make it true… even if I can convince millions of people that it’s true. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/12 "2001-06-22T00:10:13Z")
Nick, Don’t let yourself get sold a bunch of proof to support your faith. Faith is not about proof. Don’t believe in the bible; believe in the Lord. He matters more than religion. On the other end of things, if someone wants to talk about proof, and presents Creationism as some sort of science, please don’t accept a different level of proof from them because of your faith. Science is a method of study; faith is the gift of a loving God. The two things are not related in any way. Creationists want you to recognize their authority, not God’s. The worst part of the whole insanity that Creationism has become is that faithful Christians are asked to believe, and spread out and out lies as “proof” of a pretend science. This fabric of pretension is then presented as the Word of God. Open your heart to God, and your mind to the world. The evidence says that all living things are one family, of which you and I are members. God says He loves you. There is no contradiction there. People who want there to be a contradiction are those who wish to win the argument. That is self-glorification. ## Tris “It is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man.” ~ Henry Louis Mencken ~ ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/13 "2001-06-22T00:28:30Z")
Hey **dolphinboy** , take a gander at the post just above this one. **Tris** knows whereof he speaks. ---
**Author:** ![south333](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f9b8f/32.png) [@south333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/south333)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/14 "2001-06-22T02:59:50Z")
To some extent I believe that both may be true. Until someone shows me the evidence that they can’t interact I don’t see a problem with it. There was a thread (semi-heated) a while back called “One thing is still missing from the big bang theory” in this forum. It talks about evolution, creation and the big bang. That may be some help to you or not. Tris is right though, don’t believe everything other people say and try to rely on what you know in your heart is right (not to sound corny or anything) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nick112](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@nick112](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nick112)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/15 "2001-06-22T04:59:38Z")
I am by no means a very religious person. But i do belive in God, and what he has said. But i believe that some things he has created have evolved into other things. I think creation and evolution both happen. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/16 "2001-06-22T05:05:00Z")
Thanks, Andros. Tris ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/17 "2001-06-22T05:38:14Z")
So we are to believe that God created Adam, and from his rib Eve, they lived in the Garden of Eden, and that we didn’t evolve from ape-like creatures millions of years ago? How can you have it both ways people? You can’t just infer that Adam and Eve were really one celled animals that eventually evolved into humans… since that’s not what the Bible says. Some people try and bend the Bible’s words around to make it sound like it’s the same thing as evolution… but it’s not the same thing at all. There is no credible evidence that there was ever an Adam or Eve… yet there is plenty of credible evidence that pre-humans roamed the earth hundreds of thousands of years ago… long before the Bible says the earth even existed! Pick your poison… it’s either one or the other. Please don’t tell me that it’s all God’s love and doesn’t really matter anyway… because to some of us it does… ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/18 "2001-06-22T05:57:53Z")
What you are talking about is known as “intellegent design.” It is the accepted doctrine of the Catholic and many mainstream Protestent churches. It is also used as a “kinder and gentler” way to mix religion into science. I still remember being a freshman at Baylor (a Baptist University). When the subject came up in science, the teacher would say “this is not religion.” The religion teacher would say “this is not science.” Granted, Baylor is not affiliated with the SBC. ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/19 "2001-06-22T06:29:52Z")
**dolphinboy** , there are religions _other_ than Christianity. AFAIK, Deism doesn’t have any problem with the idea that a god created the world and then just sat back and let everything else happen. You sound like you are just arguing that believing in Christianity’s idea of creation and also believing in evolution isn’t possible. I’d also disagree with you on that. A Christian that realizes that the Bible is full of parables and stories and is not a science book wouldn’t have any problem believing in both creation and evolution. I think you’re just going after fundie Christians. ---
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624/20 "2001-06-22T06:36:57Z")
\*\*nick112 wrote: I am by no means a very religious person. But i do belive in God, and what he has said. But i believe that some things he has created have evolved into other things. I think creation and evolution both happen.\*\* Okay, then what **specificially** do you mean by _creation_ & _evolution_? When you say _creation_, do you mean a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis and the J/C/I God creating the universe in 6 (24 hour) days? If not, what do you mean, then? When you say _evolution_, do you mean; _a change in gene frequency in a given population over time_. If not, what do you mean by _evolution_? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-belive-in/69624.md?page=2)