SECTION 4 CHRISTIANITY- TOPIC 1.4.3 THE ORIGINS AND VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE Flashcards
The non-religious explanations about the origins and value of human life?
the earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago
As more offspring are produced than the environment can support,
any offspring with changes better suited to living in the environment
will be more likely to survive and reproduce. This has become known as survival of the fittest
Over millions of years new life forms were produced leading to
about 2.5 million years ago, humans evolving.
Natural selection –
the idea that life evolved through mutations, making those life forms better suited to the environment
survive, and the less well suited die out
The evidence for evolution
main evidence for the theory of evolution is the fossil record
Palaeontologists have discovered that the older a fossil, the more simple its structure
Many people today feel that they have to choose between science and religion because:
-they have little or no awareness of what Christianity really is
-they are impressed by science and feel that science is something that really works and so its explanations must be true
-they feel that scientists like Richard Dawkins have proven that science is right and religion is wrong.
Church is urged to show people
which feel as though they need to chose between science and religion what…?
-Science and religion go hand in hand rather than oppose each other
-There are plenty of religious (Christian) scientists
-Church helps and supports Christians working in science.
Why might evolution cause issues for Christians?
-Evolution challenges the authority of the Bible. If the theory of
evolution is correct, then the Genesis creation stories must be wrong.
-Natural selection seems to provide an answer to the big questions of theology and philosophy as well as biology
-Christianity is still based on the concept of original sin and the
Fall of Man, that Adam and Eve disobeyed God and so needed to
be reconciled with God.
Christianity is based on the belief that God is good and that his
creation is good, but natural selection operates on a principle of
violence and suffering-can only be explained by evolution not a good creator
How do Christians respond to evolution?
-Creationist Christians reject evolution and claim that the fossil record does not provide evidence for evolution- instead believe in Noah’s Flood
-Some Christians claim that evolution explains developments within species, but only God and Genesis can explain the creation of species
-Some Christians who believe in intelligent design accept that the earth is millions of years old, but believe that life itself is too complex and specific to have evolved naturally.
-Many Christians accept evolution as being a product of God’s design
of the universe. They believe that the way God made the universe was bound to result in evolution
The importance of Christian responses
4
-humans have not been created by God, and if God did not create them, the purpose of life must be up to humans and not determined by God
-can be no original sin and so there is no need for salvation from sin
-up to humans to decide what constitutes the value of human life,
as human life cannot have sanctity since the sanctity of life depends
on its being created by God
-all the biblical ideas about humans being the children of God must be wrong.
