Stephen Push writes:
Do Christian believers in evolution see Satan playing a large role in the evolutionary process? Or is the natural evil of evolution, contrary to Ayala’s view, a reason to reject the idea of an omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent God?
I see no reason not to believe in evolution, and also see it as occurring naturally and without any supernatural lobbying of either power.
Faith and Belief should, in my opinion, be entirely open to speculation. I was just thinking about the characteristics of God the other day. Is it logical for God to intervene in my daily request lists? I dont say that God is incapable of turning a building into a rabbit or turning me into a pencil. Just because, however, that God is hypothetically capable of such atom rearranging displays, why should God do them? Why should God make me wealthy? (and why should He make the third world wealthy either, by the way.) My point? Why should God interfere in natural processes rather than let them take their course?
We humans learn from our mistakes. I sincerely hope that we collectively do not have to learn the hard way about many facts and realities that lay on our horizon. To believe in an involved Creator is, as my friend jar suggests, catering to a fantasy and believing in a God that WE imagined and created. On the other hand, if one is to believe in God at all, why believe in a God who is not at all able to altar the course of our fallible decisions and desires? Thus, I believe that God makes us aware of higher altruistic perception, but never forces it on us.
Larni writes:
If one accepts that Yahweh created everything (including allowing original sin into the world by foolishly leaving sin as an option) one must accept that every thing happens exactly as he planned.
In that case I certainly hope that He planned on helping me learn how to cope.