?I NEVER , ever, thought I would say this....

by azaria 16 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  drwtsn32

  When I was first having problems with "the truth" it was because I started to believe in evolution. I first tried to mesh the two but it didn't work. Here is why I believe evolution is incompatible with the Bible (or at least my understanding of the Bible):

  If evolution happened (and of course it did ), man would not have "started" with two humans. There would have many. This causes a major problem with the whole "original sin" concept because it requires that only two humans existed, they both sinned, hence sin was passed to all offspring. If other humans had existed at this time, sin would have only spread to the decendents of that human pair.

  Second, humans did not evolve from chimps. Chimps and humans have a common ancestor. Humans, according to the current "guess" evolved from neandertals (which are now extinct). Neandertals would have had some reasoning ability, probably some form of morality, etc. Why would God not test the neandertals? Why did he wait until they evolved into humans?

  I could not find a logical way to mesh evolution and the bible, so I ended up tossing out the bible as God-inspired. I also no longer believe in God and consider myself ahteist.
• 

  greven

  Keep reading and enjoy where it leads you...I had such a stage too when I read alot that changed my entire outlook on the world. Waking up with brilliant thoughts (no guaranty they will be so in the morning)in the middle of the night, penning them down is something I do since childhood...nothing strange about it! Enjoy it!

  Greven
• 

  Gordy

  What is evolution?

  Is it something changing from one creature to another as in one cell to many cells to fish, to land animal to ape to man.

  Or is it a creature adapting to its suroundings, environment, food supply etc. that is, the old "survival of the fittest" idea.

  Someone mention that a chimp had 95% same DNA as a human.

  A nemotode worm has 75% same DNA as a human.

  A banana has 50% of human DNA.

  Does that mean a banana is my half brother Am I a cannibal is I eat a banana
• 

  asleif_dufansdottir

  You just knew the anthropology goob couldn't stay away from this

  But when it comes to genes, humans are so similar to the two species of chimpanzee that physiologist Jared Diamond has called us "the third chimpanzee." A quarter-century of genetic studies has consistently found that for any given region of the genome, humans and chimpanzees share at least 98.5% of their DNA.

  http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/RootWeb/which_of_our_genes_make_us_human.htm

  (the 2 chimp species mentioned are the common chimp, Pan troglodytes, and the bonobo, Pan paniscus)

  The sources I looked at had 98.5% as a minimum...some said "over 99%"

  It's also important to know that humans and the chimp species are more similar to each other genetically, than either are to the other apes - ie, chimps are more like us than they are like gorillas (the 5 great ape species [hominidae] are: common chimps, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans and humans; apes are one of the types of primates)

  ...and I better stop the Physical Anth lesson right here before you all whack me...
• 

  Sirona

  Azaria,

  You said something about humanity starting with Adam and Eve then said you thought it started with the animals. Well even if LIFE started with the plants / animals, HUMANITY still started with humans - adam and eve. I mean, as far as creationists say.

  It was just a thought - you seemed to be lumping humanity in with the animals.

  Of course IMO we are animals. LOL

  Sirona
• 

  logansrun

  Just one thought to add to the others: man didn't evolve from chimpanzees, but from a common ancestor with the chimpanzees. There's a big difference and that answers the shortsighted Creationist question "If man came from monkey's why are there still monkeys?" Why? Because we didn't "come from monkeys." We evolved from an apelike ancestor whose lineage split into multiple lines, some of which became extinct and some of which evolved to the point where we have humans, gorrillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutangs. Very easy answer to a seemingly damning question.

  There is no way in hell that when a chimp eats the "forbidden fruit" in Eden that he suddenly becomes a human. Sorry.

  Evolution is an absolute fact of science, period. That does not exclude the possibility of a Creator at all, though. The JW and Creationist position on the subject is a farce and quite short-sighted.

  Bradley
• 

  logansrun

  Gordy,

  You said regarding evolution: "Is it something changing from one creature to another as in one cell to many cells to fish, to land animal to ape to man.

  Or is it a creature adapting to its suroundings, environment, food supply etc. that is, the old "survival of the fittest" idea. "

  Where is there a conflict between these ideas? The modern synthesis of evolutionary theory with Mendelian genetics leads to the conclusion that creatures (whatever they are) adapt to their surroundings etc, which leads, over millions of years, to new species and entirely new forms of life. The two go hand in hand and you seem to be stating that you must believe in one or the other. What gives?

  As for your conclusions regarding DNA : DNA is only part of the architecture that leads to a living thing. The DNA must code for proteins which varies widely between different forms of life. A banana may share 50% of their DNA with a human, but the two sets of DNA encode a far, far different set of proteins which accounts for the obvious gulf between the two species.

  Bradley