Spoiler alert: At the end of this discussion, we will not reach an answer with any level of certainty. I tell you this now, to dampen your expectations. However, I promise you that I will do my best to make this an honest discussion, which is hard to find in a church setting.

Answer Number Three

The previous two answers were consistent with the anthropocentric tradition, which holds that Homo sapiens is the center of creation and the only creature with a soul. Additionally, the first answer requires the belief that the creation story in Genesis must be read literally and that all the evidence for an old Earth and evolution is fake. The second answer allows time for the “beast” (fellow hominids) to exist and go extinct, and for some, that might exceed 6,000 years. However, those transitional species, between humans and apes, are not related to humans.

Answer Three: A recognition that the fossil evidence and DNA are real and humans did evolve over time from primal forms over as long as seven million years. For the Christian, this requires that a reading of Genesis is not literal, allowing for a much older Earth and for humans and a single couple, Adam and Eve, did not introduce sin and death into the world. Their story served as a metaphor for how humans acquired reason (knowledge) and introduced immorality into the world. This would also require a much larger God than the one contained in the narrative of a literal Bible written by Bronze Age authors. A God, in a mysterious way, created humans in a long, complex, and methodical way. The idea of original sin is figurative in explaining the world’s imperfection.

Let me add that the concept of the Bible as always literal is a relatively recent development within Christendom. The Jewish scholar Philo of Alexander, as well as the early Christian scholars Clement and Origen of Alexander, and Augustine of Hippo, believed that some parts of scripture were not historical but metaphorical. I will mention, once again, the book by Bible scholar Peter Enns, The Evolution of Adam, which takes an exhaustive look at this question.

Discussion: As a Christian, I will say once more: I want the evidence to be that of a six-thousand-year-old Earth and clear evidence of a literal Adam and Eve. I wouldn’t have to think so much, and I would have more Christian friends if this were true. This is what I wanted to believe with all my heart; however, it is not plausible. I’ve spent an enormous amount of time with Young Earth Creationist materials and have examined the evidence for a very old Earth and human evolution. The evidence for an old Earth and human evolution is overwhelming.

It is at this juncture that many people have left Christianity when they are confronted with the evidence, and the church doesn’t give them an option, except for the first one to pretend the evidence is not real.

I have at least two more answers to look at before I close this topic.

Respectfully, Mike