THEO 200
Paper #1
Evolution; a word some schools are not even allowed to discuss. Why? The terms creation and evolution essentially have the same meaning, yet one view is more accepted by some more than others. As Christians we believe that God created Adam and Eve. On the other hand philosophers and scientists believe that we evolved from chimps. In my paper I am going to compare and contrast the differences in creation and evolution using GAP’s “Denim Evolved” ad and what we have learned about creation in class. In Gaps “Denim Evolved” add for their new spring collection of skinny jeans it is apparent they are relating there new product to the evolution of humankind. Philosophers, such as Plato suggest that we humans “evolved” from chimpanzees. Christians beg to differ and say that we were created in the image of God. In Genesis 1 and 2, two creation stories are presented. In Genesis 1 the bible states “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; [humans] male and female he created them. (1:27). In Genesis 2 after making several rivers God creates man (2:15) “the LORD God then took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it” Later in Genesis 2 God creates the woman. (2:22) “The LORD God then built the rib that he had taken from the man in to a woman.” As you can conclude both views on how the world and humankind came to be are extremely different. Christians rely on myths (sacred stories that express the deepest truths a culture holds) found in the bible to describe how we humans came to be ; whereas scientistsand philosophers look towards a more scientific approach and try to prove such myths to prove how we humans came to be.
One major difference between evolution and creation is the topic of sin. Christians believe in original sin, meaning that all humans are born sinful. According to our text book, An Introduction to Christian Theology humans do not have the ability to be free of sin before birth because sin is inherited. According to ICT pages 70-71 “the scope of sin is universal.” “Christians believe that sin is not in ambition but rather in the lack of faith.” (ICT 69.) Philosophers don’t acknowledge original sin to be a trait that we are born with or a trait that we have inherited. Philosophers believe we are born with free will, and our actions cause our own well being. Christians conclude that when Adam and Eve eat from the “tree of knowledge of good and evil” they are rejecting the fact that they are not God, but what they forget is that they were created by God and in his image. It’s almost as if they were saying that what God created wasn’t good enough for them. What Adam and Eve didn’t realize is that sin was to blame. Therefore sin is what was causing them to act in such a way, and is what caused the relationship between them (men and women) to be broken down. When God created man and women he created them together. “In the image of God he created them; male and female, he created them.” (Gen 1:27) God created humans to be in relationships not only with one another but also with the world. Similarly as seen in GAP’s “Denim Evolved” ad you see men and women together. Although there may not be an equal amount of men and women they are all sill in relation to one another. Although GAP’s ad takes a different perspective on creation then the Christian view you can see that the ad still shows relationships between men and women.
Philosophers and Christians do agree on one thing: descendants. Genesis (1:28) states “God bless them [Adam and Eve] and God said to them: be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth.” Similarly Plato has agreed with this statement and has concluded that we humans would