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Originally Posted by walkby
Are you not reading into the Bible that it somehow supports the idea that we evolved from an earlier form of life?
Quote:
Originally Posted by lagtight
I suspect he's not saying that. I can't speak for Aaron (obviously), but the point can be made that the Holy Bible is silent on the issue of evolution. For example, the folks at BioLogos apparently believe in the divine inspiration and authority of the Bible, yet they also believe in evolution.
Lagtight is basically right about my position. My belief is that the Bible is primarily a book to help us understand God ("theology"). So when you read the Bible, you should primarily be reading it with that end in mind.
From there, I do not see any particular reason to assume that the creation story is a literal accounting of the events of creation, as that goes beyond understanding God and is more about understanding the universe. Since I do not believe that the Bible's primary purpose (more precisely, the book of Genesis' purpose) is to teach me about the universe, I do not believe that it is necessary to attempt to "harmonize" scientific insights with the Bible. To be clear, it *does* teach us about God, and it teaches us about God's relationship to the universe, and there are insights to be gained from contemplating the narrative. But the primary purpose is not to teach us about the universe itself. Such a reading turns out to be inconsistent with most Jewish readings of Genesis as well, and it's their writings so we should pay attention to how they understand it.
If there's harmony between the two, that's great. But to shoehorn them together seems unwarranted and convolutes both the study of Scripture and the study of the universe.