And yet either the universe was created, or it wasn't. Either evolution is the mechanism by which life came into being, or it isn't. These are competing truth claims; only one set can be true for each question. There are ways to explore the questions through science, and there are ways to explore the questions through philosophy and reasoning. But there's only one reality and only one history.
“Either evolution is the mechanism by which life came into being, or it isn’t.”
Isn’t.
The mechanism is that funny yellow star we call the Sun.
It is the origin of life on Earth.
Without it, there would be absolutely none. And that’s a fact, jack.
That God might choose to start small, and build life on the planet through a series of evolutionary changes, seems like a very reasonable theory.
God CREATED. EVOLUTION is everything that happened afterward.
“These are competing truth claims; only one set can be true...”
Yes, but you’re never going to settle the question by pitting science against religion. They take two completely different approaches, and come at it from two completely different angles.
To me, the interesting thing is that the Bible itself says that salvation is a matter of faith. So if it’s a matter of faith, then what amount of “proof” or “evidence” or scientific logic can shake it? If you could prove that the Biblical account was true, then there would be no need for faith, and the Bible would be a lie.