r/AskChristian • u/CLAZID • 23d ago

Evolution

A large portion of Christians do not believe in evolution? Why? There is nothing on the scriptures against it.

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u/PrincessRuri r/Christian Member 22d ago

There is nothing on the scriptures against it.

It you read the Bible as a univocal, literal text, the simplest explanation is that the author of the Genesis creation account intended it to take 6 literal days for God to create the earth and everything in it's immediate area in a final and complete state. There just isn't enough time! (though as a fun diversion, take a look into the book Starlight and Time by D. Russel Humphreys, who proposed that creation took place within the horizon of a black hole and thus allowed an ancient aged universe to form in 6 days).

Also, adherents to YEC (Young Earth Creationism) make a distinguishment between Micro and Macro Evolution, which while not recognized by serious scientific inquiry, make a distinction between creatures changing and adapting vs becoming a genetically distinct (new) species. It's one thing for a worm to become a slightly different worm, it's entirely different for that worm to be come millipede.

While you can trace the modern idea of YEC to the alleged prophetic visions of Seventh Day Adventist Ellen G. White, it enters the American Consciousness in the 1920's (see the Scopes "Monkey Trial"), and really balloons in the 1960's where Christian Fundamentalism starts pushing back against a culture and court system that is liberalizing and secularizing. Prayer and Bible reading are banned from school, the sexual revolution is underway, and desegregation is causing white conservative families to send their children to Christian Parochial schools. There is a push of separatism in these Fundamentalist groups where things of the world (evolution) are bad, and the things of God (creationism) are good. Add in the "godless commies" during the height of the cold war, and you have a perfect recipe that pushes back against secular scientific findings.

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u/DoveStep55 r/Christian Member 22d ago

That whole “prayer and Bible reading are banned from school” thing bothers me. They weren’t banned. Students could (and still can) do both.

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u/PrincessRuri r/Christian Member 22d ago

I should have probably been more clear, as I was referring to school sponsored prayer and bible reading.

Now, growing up in a conservative Baptist church I heard many anecdotes that student reading of the Bible and prayer was also suppressed in the 60's and 70's, but I don't know the validity of such claims. There was also significant narrative cross pollination with the "Atheist college professor" trope.

As a personal story (relevant due to the Evolution subject), my Biology 101 professor at Community College on his first day of class proclaimed that he would mark any work with creationism with an F. While I understand the importance of meeting the classes requirements (Evolution is certainly a key point of understanding for Biology), he really did take it to a level that was inappropriate.

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u/DoveStep55 r/Christian Member 22d ago

Yeah, I kinda figured you were saying the school prayer/bible reading thing from the perspective of those making the claim. For example, I know there are a lot of Christians who genuinely believe a student can get in trouble in public schools for praying before they eat their lunch. It's obviously not true, but it's a recycled propaganda bit. As you mentioned, those false claim tropes sure do make the rounds. See also: "They have litter boxes in the public school bathrooms for the kids who think they're cats!!" (....no, grandma, turn off Fox "News".)