Evolution is one of the most controversial theories of all time. It was proposed by Charles Darwin in 1858, in a very Catholic dominated Britain. He suggested that humans have evolved from apes, through survival of the fittest, and produced a book about this called the Origin of Species. Many people would say that should his theories and the scientific research be true, then the Bible cannot be correct.
However, a large proportion of Christians believe that the Bible can be compatible with evolution. Liberal Christians believe that in the Bible, a day in Hebrew actually means a period of time. That can make the theory coincide with Genesis. Scientific evidence proves that the account in Genesis is actually the correct order in which all things must have been created. They believe that God only put his spirit into man when he was fully evolved. Others state that the creation story was never meant to be a scientific account. It was meant to be open to interpretation, for the reader to discover something more personal about God through reading it, and not to take literally.
Another hotly debated scientific theory is that of the Big Bang. It was caused by a supreme chemical reaction, which caused a chain of events. This chain lead to the formation of the universe. How can this complement the Bible account?
There are some Christians who believe it does. They are called conservative Christians, and they think that the writer of Genesis was inspired by God, but yet still influenced by his times. His knowledge would have been based on how the earth was perceived at that time – that it was flat, with four pillars holding it up, and Hades below it. They claim that if the writer had known about the scientific and geological evidence that is available today that calls for the Big Bang, he would have been influenced by that, and interpreted it in some way relating to God.
So the answer to the question – can religious and scientific ideas about creation ever be compatible is yes, as long as the story is taken liberally. When the Genesis account is taken literally the two ideas clash, and so there is a strong contradiction. However, if the Genesis story was not meant to be interpreted like that, the two coincide and they complement each other. Being a Christian does not mean that you cannot accept a scientific explanation. It means that you must accept God as the Creator, which can be supported by both arguments.
