Evolution != Atheism (re: the Rejection of Theism in Evolution)

Mathew 19:3-8 (NRSV) That Jesus quoted Genesis is not disputed, but these passages do not actually state that Jesus believed in their literal truth. I am an atheist and accept the theory of evolution, but even I have quoted the creation story, the flood story, and even the Tower of Babel to emphasise a point that I am making.

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If the creation account cannot be taken as an actual historical occurence, then the very basis of marriage looses its foundation.

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This is your opinion, but not necessarily Jesus' opinion.

That the universe is about 13 billion years old is not in any way controversial. Neither is it really a question that the earth is four and a half billion years old, and the history of life extends back to three and a half billion years old. You may not believe it, but there it is.So the question is whether Jesus believed in a literal Genesis story. A literal belief in the Genesis story is not necessary to believe in the Law. Most observant contemporary Jews do not believe in a literal Genesis yet have no trouble using it to explicate the Law.So, the question is whether 1st century Jews believed in a literal Genesis. I do not know the answer to that question. If they did not, and since the Gospels do not tell of Jesus criticizing them for this, one can then assume that Jesus did not and was using Genesis metaphorically to explicate the Law.But let us assume, then, that 1st century Jews believed that Genesis was literal history. What does this say about the nature of Christ (assuming that the Gospels themselves are accurate history, which they are not).Now we know that Genesis is not literal history. You may not agree to that, but there it is. If Jesus was omniscient then he must have known that Genesis was not literal history. In that case, the only explanation for the passage in the Gospels is that Jesus was explaining the Law in terms that the Jews of that time could understand.But maybe Jesus' divinity did not extend to omniscience while he was on earth. It could be that Jesus himself believed that Genesis was literal. Then what of the passage? Assuming that he was speaking under divine inspiration, he was explaining the Law in terms that he and his fellow Jews could understand it.I don't know what more to say. Fortunately, I am not a Christian, I do not believe in the divinity of Jesus (in fact, I am not even certain he even existed), so I have no stake in whether he knew or did not know the correct history of the earth. But Christians who accept that the earth is several billions of years old, Christians who do not believe that God would fill the universe with misleading evidence, do have reconcile this somehow. Not that they should care what I think, but I feel that this particular point can be resolve logically and consistent with the facts as we know them.

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You see, everything written in the bible has to be taken literally, which does not mean, for example, when psalms refers to trees clapping, that trees are actually behaving like humans and clapping their branches together like humans clap their hands. You would literally interpet that according to its context to be a poetic statement.

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So, you should take everything written in the Bible literally except for the things you shouldn't.

Rule #1 and rule #3 appear to contradict each other.

In Genesis 7:11 (all verse are from the NRSV): And Genesis 8:2: Quite literally, the Bible speaks of the sky being a dome, with windows in the dome through which rain falls. This is quite explicit. But let us use the Bible to interpret the Bible.In Genesis 1:6 we read And this is quite consistent with the beliefs of the Semetic peoples living in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. The sky was a solid dome that kept the waters of heaven separated from the earth below, and that this heavenly resevoir was the source of rain, which fell through openings in this dome.By interpreting this verse literally, we can conclude that the sky is a solid dome which held up a heavenly resevoir of water.Of course, I don't recall Jesus making direct reference of this heavenly dome, so perhaps one can still be a Christian if one doesn't believe it. I have my doubts though....