Evolution

A letter signed by about 500 Emory University faculty, students and alumni seeks to bring attention to the anti-evolution views of Dr. Ben Carson. The world-renowned Johns Hopkins University neurosurgeon will be the Atlanta university's May 14 commencement speaker.

The letter does not ask that Carson be dis-invited. Rather, it seeks to bring attention to the issue. It notes Carson's accomplishments as a neurosurgeon and philanthropist, then adds, "But, as those students, their families, and the Emory Community listen to his speech, we ask you to also consider the enormous positive impact of science on our lives and how that science rests squarely on the shoulders of evolution."

What is most concerning about Carson's beliefs, according to the letter's authors – Emory Professors Jacobus de Roode, Arri Eisen, Nicole Gerardo and Ilya Nemenman – is that Carson "equates acceptance of evolution with a lack of ethics and morality." more >>

What should Christians make of "cavemen" fossils in light of Scripture? That is the question two Christian apologists tackle in a recent magazine article published by Answers in Genesis, an apologetics ministry founded by Ken Ham.

The apologists featured in the Answers magazine article, David Menton and John UpChurch, explore the "often misunderstood and confusing" topic of cavemen, addressing questions like: Were they our primitive brutish ancestors? Did Adam and Eve really exist? The men address the ongoing debate about whether Christians should believe in the biblical account of creation without question, or whether they should explore how the account can be scientifically supported.

"Variation among post-Babel humans has led to a great debate among evolutionists, who wonder where they fit on the roadway to being 'truly human.' But that way of thinking misses the fundamental truth. When God created humans, He didn't define our humanness in terms of physical characteristics. We aren't human because we have two arms or legs or skulls of a certain shape or size. Our Creator, who is spirit, made us in His spiritual image," the authors write in the article. more >>

NASHVILLE – Christian apologists like Ken Ham, president and founder of Answers in Genesis, might see more opposition to their literal way of reading the Bible. That includes believing in a literal Adam and Eve and the fall of man, Ham told The Christian Post Sunday.

His belief that the Bible is the history book of the universe is increasingly under attack, he said.

"One of the things that we see happening in the Christian culture is that the battle over Genesis – the literal Adam and Eve, the literal fall – is really heating up," said Ham, who leads what is considered the largest biblical apologetics ministry in the United States. "Not just the battle over the age of the earth, between creationists and evolutionists, but now it's gone onto a battle over literal Adam and Eve, their literal fall." more >>

More than 500 churches in ten different countries have agreed to consider this weekend whether Darwinism is compatible with Christianity, as a result of the prompting of The Clergy Letter Project, a group promoting Darwinism as sound science.

Officials from the project say churches all across the United States will be celebrating "Evolution Weekend." But the event has troubled some who note that one of the intentions of the event is to advance the idea that Darwin's theory of evolution is sound.

Michael Zimmerman, founder and executive director of the Project, told The Christian Post that the purpose of "Evolution Weekend" is for the sake of interfaith dialogue regarding religion and science and that deeply religious individuals can also believe that Darwin's theory is true. more >>

Does it contradict Biblical teachings to believe in widely accepted scientific theories like evolution and the Big Bang? To what extent can Christians welcome science into their life without sacrificing piety?

These questions will be central during Evolution Weekend, an annual event initiated by the Clergy Letters Project (CLP) where pastors from around the country in pan-denominational congregations will deliver sermons and hold events discussing the convergence of science and religion.

In its seventh year, over 500 congregations will participate in the event from all 50 states and 10 foreign countries. CLP says the goal is to "elevate the quality of the discussion on this critical topic, and to show that religion and science are not adversaries." more >>

David Attenborough - British broadcaster, naturalist and evolution theorist - said on a BBC broadcast on Sunday that he is now agnostic and believes that faith in God does not preclude belief in evolution.

Attenborough, who is considered one of the most well-traveled men in the world, spoke on the 70th anniversary of BBC radio's "Desert Island Discs." Host Kirsty Young asked the 85-year-old whether all his traveling has led to a belief in God or brought him "closer to the Lord."

"I don't think an understanding and an acceptance of the four billion-year-long history of life, I don't think that is any way inconsistent with a belief in a supreme being," Attenborough said. "I'm not so confident as to say that I am an atheist, I would prefer to say I'm an agnostic." more >>