St Luke's Church Eccleshill, Bradford, UK

Can I be a Christian and believe in evolution too?

Purely by chance, someone in the St Luke's Congregation asked the vicar this very question only a fortnight ago, so he wrote an article about it for the April issue of the parish magazine in the "Questions to the clergy" series. April's magazine doesn't come out until March 26th, but seeing as this topic is in the news at the moment, were're printing it here ...

Q. Is it possible to be a Christian and believe in evolution too?

A. Yes. I’m one who does, and actually there are many scientists who are also Christian believers. In fact, when I was at university, the Christian Union had more science students in it than arts students.

There are some Christians who interpret the first chapters of the book of Genesis (the first book in the bible) as literal history. So they say that the earth is only about 6,000 years old and God created it more-or-less as it is now. People who think this usually explain contrary evidence (for instance, fossils or dinosaurs) in one of two ways: they either say that God created the earth with the appearance of already being old, or they say we’ve misunderstood the fossils. They also say that modern science is mistaken about its ideas of the origin of the universe, and so on.

However, there are some real problems for people who think this. Apart from scientific research having to be explained away, there is also the problem that the book of Genesis isn’t completely consistent in what it reports. For instance, chapter 1 has the animals coming before man, but chapter 2 has the man before the animals.

For these sorts of reasons, most Christians nowadays regard the early chapters of Genesis as being metaphorical rather than literal*. Genesis says God created the heavens and the earth, but not how he did it. It’s quite acceptable for a Christian to believe that God used evolution to get life to where it is now, and that’s what I believe.

Q. But isn’t it a bit dodgy for a Christian to interpret one part of the bible as picture language and another part as history?

A. No. Although the bible is printed as one book nowadays, it’s actually a collection of lots of different books written in lots of different ways. The gospels were written about 30 or 40 years after the events the describe - within the lifetimes of the eyewitnesses. But Genesis, even if it was written by Moses (which many doubt), was still written at least 2,500 years later than the creation it describes. They’re completely different, and it’s not “letting the side down” for Christians to say so.

Jesus was a historical person and the gospels give reliable accounts of his life. He’s the crucial person for a Christian to believe in - not some particular view of creation.

John Hartley.

* See also past magazine articles on Genesis and Creationism.

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Home Page. Bradford Diocese. Other pages: find us, usual services, diary, noticeboard, magazine. News Index. Contact us.	Can I be a Christian and believe in evolution too? Purely by chance, someone in the St Luke's Congregation asked the vicar this very question only a fortnight ago, so he wrote an article about it for the April issue of the parish magazine in the "Questions to the clergy" series. April's magazine doesn't come out until March 26th, but seeing as this topic is in the news at the moment, were're printing it here ... Q. Is it possible to be a Christian and believe in evolution too? A. Yes. I’m one who does, and actually there are many scientists who are also Christian believers. In fact, when I was at university, the Christian Union had more science students in it than arts students. There are some Christians who interpret the first chapters of the book of Genesis (the first book in the bible) as literal history. So they say that the earth is only about 6,000 years old and God created it more-or-less as it is now. People who think this usually explain contrary evidence (for instance, fossils or dinosaurs) in one of two ways: they either say that God created the earth with the appearance of already being old, or they say we’ve misunderstood the fossils. They also say that modern science is mistaken about its ideas of the origin of the universe, and so on. However, there are some real problems for people who think this. Apart from scientific research having to be explained away, there is also the problem that the book of Genesis isn’t completely consistent in what it reports. For instance, chapter 1 has the animals coming before man, but chapter 2 has the man before the animals. For these sorts of reasons, most Christians nowadays regard the early chapters of Genesis as being metaphorical rather than literal. Genesis says God created the heavens and the earth, but not how he did it. It’s quite acceptable for a Christian to believe that God used evolution to get life to where it is now, and that’s what I believe. Q. But isn’t it a bit dodgy for a Christian to interpret one part of the bible as picture language and another part as history?* A. No. Although the bible is printed as one book nowadays, it’s actually a collection of lots of different books written in lots of different ways. The gospels were written about 30 or 40 years after the events the describe - within the lifetimes of the eyewitnesses. But Genesis, even if it was written by Moses (which many doubt), was still written at least 2,500 years later than the creation it describes. They’re completely different, and it’s not “letting the side down” for Christians to say so. Jesus was a historical person and the gospels give reliable accounts of his life. He’s the crucial person for a Christian to believe in - not some particular view of creation. John Hartley. * See also past magazine articles on Genesis and Creationism.
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