Site for researching all meanings of Hebrew Bible.
Theology:Evolution
(This is a rough draft.)
It is commonly thought that Bible is incompatible with (macro)evolution.
At this page we will collect biblical arguments pro and against evolution.
First, for every reader of Bible it should be clear that there was no "independent" evolution, but that the creation was guided by the Creator. It is clear from Gen 1:1 saying that the Spirit of God was hovering over the Earth. His purpose was clearly to guide the creation.
Second, if we accept Bible literally, people were created, not just descended from monkeys. It is clear from Gen. 2:17.
The first argument against evolution is: "It was created in 7 days and the days should be understood as literal seven days, because the word "day" is not used in Bible in a different sense (an arbitrary period of time)." First it is questionable whether the word "day" always means a literal day. Even if we find no evidence that "day" may mean a longer period of time, can we be completely sure about meaning of this word?
But there is the following support for the literal seven days. It is repeatedly said in Genesis that there was evening and there was morning. But if we saw Earth from the outside, we would see evening and morning all time at the sides of the Earth. It may mean just that during all these ages there were lighter and darker ends of the Earth.
The second argument against evolution is: grass was created on the third day but the lights (including Sun) in expanse of the sky appeared only at the fourth day. So opponents of evolution conclude that the grass was not able to grow without light. But it may be understood that before forth day the sky was covered by dense clouds and the Sun was just not visible. There was nevertheless enough light for plants to grow.
Victor Porton translated the following verses in a way supporting evolution:
It is also difficult for creationism to explain, how predators and parasites have appeared.
Jesus says that serpents and scorpions are created by Devil: (Luk. 10:19) "Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you." Thus it is a liable theory that the evolution on the Earth was going under effect of both God and Devil.
So it is difficult to conclude whether God created the world in literal 7 days or in a longer period of time, using evolution.