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Asking this question against all of "Christianity" turns this into an overview question of a very broad scope. In order to answer such a broad question, one must paint with broad strokes. There are two basic approaches taken. Deny the validity or applicability of any scientific claims that directly conflict with the origin of man being God's direct ...

You may look into Dr. William Lane Craig, who is a preeminent Christian philosopher/apologist, especially his book On Guard covers a lot of material related to your question. You might also look into Alvin Plantinga's book, Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism. The answer is that you can make philosophical statements for the ...

First, a disclaimer: Theistic evolution (TE) is neither a theological system nor an alternative to mainstream evolutionary science. TE is an awkward label applied to people who accept evolutionary theory and also believe in God. Those who claim this label are not a unified group. The following is my own understanding, which is still evolving. The early ...

Scientifically speaking, evolution is not required for variations within a species. The only requirement is that all of the genetic information seen in the species today was present in the first generation. From then on, species experience the isolation of genes through geographic and other factors. The breeding of new species of dogs does not produce new ...

There is the classic question of where Cain's wife came from and who the people he feared would kill him were. One answer to that question is that they were other hominids alive at the time. Some, like Hugh Ross and his ministry Reasons to Believe (RTB), suggest that God used hominids to prepare the way and help other species adapt and that if he had not ...

Some denominations do not insist that believers take on a literal interpretation of all OT events. In particular, many events in Genesis may be read by Catholics either as allegories, "condensed" stories, and/or hyperbole. So, taking the story either as hyperbole and/or allegory, the question is rendered moot. By this interpretation, we don't need to ...

Basically there are three ways that genetic diversity happens: Mutation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution#Mutation Sexual combination: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution#Sex_and_recombination Gene Flow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution#Gene_flow All of these processes do in fact have the potential of generating new genetic information. ...

That's an excellent question. I myself have wondered how the two are reconciled. The Catholic Church has no opposition to evolution, only what's called evolutionism. Evolutionism is a metaphysical position about reality which is really what's at issue in the so-called "evolution debate". The Church is, of course, a religious institution and doesn't concern ...

Open the Bible to the first book, first chapter, first line. Notice: it says nothing about Christ dying for our sins, nothing about the Second Coming, nothing about His bodily resurrection from the grave. It says nothing about the state of the dead or the Day of Atonement. The first words of the Bible don’t talk about these teachings because they, and the ...

Short answer: Yes. I feel like this question requires much more in-dept answer then it has received. Christianity is a super-set of many religions all of which share a common belief in Jesus Christ. Believes of different Christianities varies greatly. You are definitely a Christian if you believe that Jesus Christ is a Son of God and the savior of ...

In the New Testament, Jesus endorses the Torah except in cases where it is reformed (which would arguably be consistent with the Old Testament due to the fulfillment of supposed prophecies relating to Jesus meaning that we are now in a period of grace and not law). He is recorded as saying in Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or ...

Genesis tells us how God created man in His own image. It gives us another specific details that they were created as male and female. 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move ...

I was impressed by your question because I had a similar experience along the last 5 years. I'm also an academic (I work in scientific institution),and before changing institution and job, I was also used to be 'cut into pieces' during the lunch I had with my colleagues because they are also "science-is-the-ultimate-answer" people, and criticized me a lot. ...

I was trained as an electrical engineer and am by nature a scientist. That is, I discard any idea or concept that does not work or make sense regardless of who says otherwise. However, I take a more drastic approach to the division of science and faith which may or may not be of any benefit to you. To me, simply put, science is nothing. I see science as an ...

The short answer to the high-level question: Yes. Science, nor any line of reasoning, can ultimately prove or disprove God. God is trans-rational. I think you might find some interest in a lecture given by Fr. George Coyne, former Director of the Vatican observatory in Tucson. He's a very bright scientist (and priest, of course). And I'd argue you won't ...

The first thing I would say here is: read about Carl Sagan's dragon, which discusses this theme. I'm not sure your 7-step conversion program is going to be very workable... Science is correct as long as it is telling the truth; The word Science there could be replaced with anything, without changing the meaning; the more interesting question, then, is ...

This is something I've come to understand better over the last year. To understand how I got there, let's first take a little side-trip. The Nature of God Think about who God is: the ultimate being, the creator of the universe, all powerful, all knowing, all encompassing. As humans, we cannot possibly begin to understand such a being: his motives, plans, ...

The primary theological problem with theistic evolution is this: It renders a literal reading of the foundational book of Old Testament incorrect. Some people are highly uncomfortable with the implication of this. A "best reading" would be that the Old Testament is not a 'timeless book', but a 'book of the times' and must be reinterpreted in light of ...