2015-03-17 Evolution, Adam & Eve, Noah’s Ark, and Jonah’s whale

QUESTION:
How can a rational person believe that stories like Noah’s Ark and Jonah and the whale are true?

When were Adam and Eve created if the world is millions of years old?

Is evolution true?

RESPONSE:
Thank you for your thought-provoking questions.

I don’t believe it is possible to do justice to the questions you have asked in a forum such as speakUP. These are truly massive questions around which there is so much information and much debate, and so perhaps it would be more fruitful to have a dialogue face to face.

With that said, I see behind your questions another question: can science and Christianity co-exist? Or perhaps phrased a different way: can we take Christianity at face value (with all it’s inexplicable miracles and supernatural events) whilst still thinking logically and rationally?

One of the gifts the Enlightenment brought to us is the scientific method which included things like reason and logic. Unfortunately these have not held to their proper place within academia but have been elevated to the place where, for many, they function as the sole criteria to determine what is true and what is real. To say it another way: logic and reason are wonderful, but only when they are used in the correct way for the correct kind of thing. Using logic as the absolute means to determine truth and reality is like using a monkey wrench to paint a picture. There is nothing wrong with the monkey wrench – it is a fantastic tool – but you have to know where it works best.

The fact of the matter is that we live in a world which includes logic and rationality but goes beyond it. Love and beauty are two powerful elements of life for which there is no logic or explanation. Why do we feel what we feel when we encounter beauty, whether it be in art, music, drama, or creation? Why do we “fall” in love? Logic and rationality cannot explain these phenomena and yet they are almost universally accepted as a true and real part of life.

If this is the case, then perhaps there is room to talk about things beyond the sphere of logic and reason – things in the realm of the spiritual, supernatural, or miraculous (however you wish to call it).

But perhaps there is something more to think about here. What would it mean if Noah, or Jonah, or Adam and Eve never existed? (Personally we do believe them to be true, but for arguments sake let’s consider another alternative) What if they were just stories told to help people make sense of what God is like? Would that take anything away from the truth of them? Could we be getting stuck on the biological impossibility of a man surviving being swallowed by a whale, whilst completely missing the message about a God who loves people whom we consider outsiders and deserving of judgement?

Sadly, challenging questions have often not been managed well by Christians, who get nervously defensive, and yet we believe there is so much room to question, and we think asking the kinds of questions you are asking is important. These are the kinds of questions which might shake the very foundation on which you have built your thinking about God. This journey is hard and challenging, but we believe – if you faithfully follow God through the journey – will ultimately lead to a stronger, more robust faith.

If you would like to continue the conversation further please do get in contact with us. Seeking answers for these questions is best done in community; not alone. There are some great articles/books / videos that can aid one in the Creation question, which we would be most happy to point you towards.