Nor does it say that it is not. It says nothing about His exact methods.
And that's just the point. When one attempts to say that evolution goes counter to the "literal truth," as presented in the Bible ... one would be making a false claim.
Again: the Bible is silent on methods. There is no "literal truth" to fall back on, beyond "God was/is involved somehow." But even then, evolution is within the domain of how God's creative process works, even though it's not the only possible explanation.
As for the literal truths...if Genesis is an allegory or fairy tale (because if God didn't create in six days it is NOT a true account of the planet's origins)
That's an interesting area of inquiry -- are those six "days" required to be 24-hour light/dark cycles? Or is the word merely a convenient way to denote a passage of time? I side with the latter. After all, the OT -- and especially Genesis -- was written down from long-established oral traditions, and the exigencies of story-telling can't be ignored.
A reasonable person can understand "six days" in the same way Peter did: But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. There's just no reason to insist on six 24-hour periods.
then there are important parts of the Christian Gospel (most notably the Fall of Man) that are cited as fact by Biblical figures ranging from the author of Job to Paul the Apostle and even Christ Himself. Core Christian truths would then be based on a fairy story.
I don't think so. The Fall can be accepted as true even if the Garden story is not literally true. We recognize our imperfections in relation to what we know is right. Not to mention that we also have the Holy Spirit to convince us of the truth of the Fall and other things.
One does not have to choose between science and Christ, but one cannot have one's cake and eat it too with the Creation account.
One need not do so, if one is willing to accept that it's possible to discern and discover "truth" even when "literal truth" is not available.
For what it's worth, this is NOT a peripheral issue, especially these days. It has real and significant implications for evangelism -- seekers are very often repelled by the antics of those who insist on the completely untenable position that the Bible -- the entire Bible -- is "literally true."
In so doing they end up pitting Christianity against science; and rational people can see the efficacy of science on a daily basis. So what will the rational seeker do? Easy: he'll often run away from the evangelist as fast as he can go.
I have always found it interesting. Genesis. The creation of the earth is exactly as the Bible says. I don’t believe the 6 24-hour day thing but I believe time is nothing to God and it’s more a case of symbolism. There’s alot of symbolism about the number 7 which I won’t even bother to get into.
But let’s look at evolution and Genesis.
First the earth was formless and empty. Yes, it was gaseous therefore formless and devoid of life, therefore empty.
The gas settled, therefore allowing the sun to enter the environment, and God said it was good. It allowed the light to enter so it made day and night.
As the gas condensed it made water; and God said it was good.
The water separated from the land. Also evolutionary correct.
Now here, according to evolution, the sea creatures came first, the plants and seeds later but the Bible goes through a series of events that God created the most base forms of life first and with each day more advanced creatures were created. That sounds like evolution.
Side note, birds were mentioned very early and dinosaurs have been discovered to actually be descendents of birds.
But as each “day” progresses, more advanced creatures are created up until the day of man, and that is the last creature created and nothing of higher was created after man.
I find it amazing that “primitive” people that put the Bible to paper would know all about evolution.
That tells me, it’s God.
I have always found it interesting. Genesis. The creation of the earth is exactly as the Bible says. I don’t believe the 6 24-hour day thing but I believe time is nothing to God and it’s more a case of symbolism. There’s alot of symbolism about the number 7 which I won’t even bother to get into.
But let’s look at evolution and Genesis.
First the earth was formless and empty. Yes, it was gaseous therefore formless and devoid of life, therefore empty.
The gas settled, therefore allowing the sun to enter the environment, and God said it was good. It allowed the light to enter so it made day and night.
As the gas condensed it made water; and God said it was good.
The water separated from the land. Also evolutionary correct.
Now here, according to evolution, the sea creatures came first, the plants and seeds later but the Bible goes through a series of events that God created the most base forms of life first and with each day more advanced creatures were created. That sounds like evolution.
Side note, birds were mentioned very early and dinosaurs have been discovered to actually be descendents of birds.
But as each “day” progresses, more advanced creatures are created up until the day of man, and that is the last creature created and nothing of higher was created after man.
I find it amazing that “primitive” people that put the Bible to paper would know all about evolution.
That tells me, it’s God.