Atoms & Archaeopteryx

Source : http://www.kairos-malaysia.org/index.cfm?menuid=69

Here are a few statements extracted from an article (written by a Christian geology professor) - "Geology, Age of the Earth and Evolution" coupled with a few BIG QUESTIONS :

1. "It comes as a surprise to many that I, a born-again Christian, can believe in creation and yet teach evolution". Is there be a "middle-path" between creation and evolution?
2. "The fact is that missing links do exist. For instance, Archaeopteryx ..." If missing links do exist, then evolution is no longer a theory, but a fact, right?
3. "The Bible need not be literal to be true". So, the Bible holds value for its spiritual content, and where there is a contradiction between Science and Scripture, the Bible must be reinterpreted to fit in with the evidences. Why then should we trust the authenticity of an out-dated Bible?

Here come the BIG ANSWERS :

1. Yes, it does come as a BIG surprise to me that creation and evolution can be reconciled and taught so as to reinforce each other. The main deciding factor is our response to the Biblical account of the creation of Adam and Eve. Luke 3:38 states clearly Adam is the progenitor of all mankind - a special creation of God. When Adam was created, there was no sin, no death, no suffering and yet the fossil record (according to evolution) seemingly bear "evidences" of death and suffering millions of years before Adam. You cannot have the right theology of sin and death if you allow millions of years of death and suffering to creep into the Genesis text. The Bible clearly teaches that death, particularly the physical and spiritual death of man, entered the world only after the first man, Adam, sinned. In Romans 5:12 the apostle Paul wrote: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Click here for 20 reasons why Genesis and Evolution do not mix.
   
   
2. As an icon for the "missing link", the Archaeopteryx has been hailed as an intermediary species between reptiles and birds. Yet, its feathers are fully formed - non which is intermediary between scales and feathers. For a list of six features which places the Archaeopteryx uniquely as a bird, check out this reference. In fact, we have prepared a special YouTube video to address this issue as well. Evolution (as in the case of changing from one kind of animal to another kind) is an interpretation of the facts, not the fact itself.
   
   
3. Hebrew uses special grammatical structures for historical narrative and Genesis 1-11 uses those structures. It is the same form as Gen 12 and Exodus, Joshua, Judges, etc. It is not poetry or allegory. The strongest structural parallel of Genesis 1 is Numbers 7:10-84. Both are structured accounts, both contain the Hebrew word for day (yom) with a numeric - indeed both are numbered sequences of days. Furthermore, there are over 100 quotations from or allusions to Genesis 1-11 in the New Testament, none of which hint at Genesis begin anything but history. Jesus genealogy (Luke 3) goes back to Adam, not to that of an ape-like creature! Exodus 20:11 seals it when it states plainly - "For in six days, the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them..." Many church leaders today do not accept the creation days as ordinary earth-rotation days. However, when their reasons are investigated, we find that influences from outside of Scripture (particularly belief in billions-of-years-old universe) are the ultimate cause. Where the Bible speaks literally, it must be taken as such - else you are subjecting it to an even higher authority. Check out this well-researched article on why Genesis should be taken literally.
   
   

--Joseph & Eliza.