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The Beginning?

What does your religious beliefs say concerning the beginning of man? Is it based on a 'big bang', an Adam and Eve, or some other means? Please give references to your input.

Beginning The

i just read the other day about ealry gnosticim writers that believed that the created world was evil because the creator god made it out of pre existent defective mattter

dont mind my bad spelling
it is all good in the hood

The Beginning? Beliefs Religious General

I think that the gnostic ideas of an "evil" creation come from some Greek philosophies. This is actually a persistent philosophy within modern Christianity, as well, manifested by the way many Christians understand the Garden of Eden story, Original Sin, etc.

I believe that God created the Earth, pretty much as outlined in Genesis. I have additional scriptures that go into a bit greater detail, but still follow the general pattern as laid down in Genesis.

It is interesting that scientific inquiry shows that the Genesis story is a very valid framework for the creation of the world.

As for Darwin, and the general ideas of evolution, it becomes a very complex, involved argument.

At the micro-evolution level, it is obvious that evolution does occur. That is, within species, variation between individuals can be isolated and strengthed by careful breeding and culling. For example, there are dairy farmers who have developed a breed of red Holstein cows over the last 100 or so years. (I grew up in dairy farming, and I STILL don't know why they worried about it.) It is also common practice to breed for specific characteristics such as high/low butterfat in the milk, longevity, calf size, adult size, quantity of milk, presence/lack of horns, etc.

At the macro level, however, evolution breaks down, as there is not a shred of evidence for the evolution of any species into a different species. Yes, there are similarities between some species, but in every single case, there is a "missing link" between them.

Beginning The

I really do believe the world has existed forever, and if not, it was created by someone who lived in a world that existed forever.

I mean, how can it be that there was nothing? Consider it. Nothing at all. No stars, no air, no time, no light, not even darkness. how can that possibly be? And even if it is right, how come suddenly, there was something out of that nothing. Even the notion suddenly cannot be used because there was no time then. How can something be created by something that does not even exist? It just doesn't make sense. And if there is no possible answer that makes sense, why not believe in god?

Does that mean you think earth was created only 7,000 years ago?

Edited: Smudge on 31st Oct, 2004 - 7:39pm

Beginning The

I think that the creation stories in the Bible where taken from earlier myths and legends of other religions. I cant prove it, but other older stories sound alot like it.
But, logically, you cannot believe that evolution is fully the cause from whence we came. There is significant lack of evidence that there has ever been any cross species evolution. AKA, cats never evolved into dogs, and apes never evolved into humans. Don't be fooled, there is not any physical evidence to back up the theory that we evolved from apes.

By that reasoning, if we didn't evolve from apes, then we had to be put here. It would reason also that we would be put here by a being of greater intelligence and power than our selves, a higher power. We call that power God.

By that reasoning, I believe we where created by a higher power, but not necessarily by the genesis account, after all the two accounts in genesis are significantly different.

The Beginning?

The fact that these stories exist and are similar is not a puzzle really. The events took place long before we had written words available. Most of the old testament was an oral tradition, passed from generation to generation long before it became a written record. These ancient myths and legends probably evolved from the true story of creation and got changed a bit along the way. Much like the game of telephone we probably all played in school where one thing is whispered in the ear of a person and they whisper it to the next and on down the line until by the end, you hardly recognize what was said originally.

I believe we were created. As has been said already, there is no evidence of any species evolving from one to another. Evolution does happen, but only within species.

The Beginning

I do not know how everything that is came to be as it is, I only know that it is as it is. Furthermore is it my observation that nothing is unchanged, unchanging or unchangeable. Change would appear to be an eternal constant without beginning or end. This tells me that the cosmos, and humanity as a part of the cosmos, has come to be as it is through the change of a preexisting natural state whether I am aware of it or not.

Because I am ignorant of exactly how something came to be, it does not follow that it came about through supernatural means when purely natural sources and forces are sufficient to cause change. I am ignorant of the means an automatic transmission uses to effect a change of gears or the way the sewage gets from my house to the sewage treatment plant. My ignorance, however, does not require miracles to get my car to move or make deities out of plumbers.

The fact that the cosmos exists as it does is not evidence that a supernatural deity created it though to me, existence itself is the definition of Divinity. "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." Exodus 3:14

Please notice in the above quote that the Deity in question does not say, "I AM GOOD", or "I AM NICE". It simply says, "I AM". This is as the cosmos is. It simply is whether we care to call it "good" or "bad".

The Beginning General Religious Beliefs

Well, I am not sure what to believe. In school, we study evolution, but it is hard to believe that everythiing just happened to evolve the way it did. Everything seems to fit together too nicely like it was by design. You don't just take a bunch of boards, throw them in the air and get a house.

So, I think somehow we were created, but how, I don't know.