In all these contributions it is very clear that some have the idea that if you are a Christian you accept the literal text of Genesis without question and the evidencial basis for evolution, despite th fossil record, radioactive evidence, cosmological evidence, and a host of other reliable sources, are wrong - in favour of what was written in a book
This is clearly absurd, and does more harm than good. The insistence in accepting Genesis as absolutely literal when it itself is full of inconsistency (Which story of Creation is true? Genesis 1 or Genesis 2 - for they are incompatible) has given the arrogant atheist much fuel for his argument - and rightly so. Richard Dawkins is laughing all the way to te bank after his God delusion became a best seller despite its very poor argument and lack of any real substance - and certainly its total misunderstanding of religion.
The fact is that Genesis, though telling a great allegorical story, was never meant to be taken literaally - even by the early Israelites. Thogh it tells of great 'truths' itself it is simply a Hebrew poem which relates the story of humanity and its turning away from God. Even the name 'Adam' meaning 'humanity' was never meant to refer to an actual human being. Nor is Satan mentioned - the serpent is never referred to as Satan.
Humans clearly evolved from other creatures, and it does not make one any less a Christian by believing the obvious. However, the crux of the genesis story is that, whichever method was used, God made us in his image. God is spirit, and therefore we are the sole creatures of his creation (by his own natural physical laws) that has a spiritual dimension. This is what is important. Not arguments over an ancient text, but the regognition that humanity is something special - the pinnacle of a creative evolutionary process that God blessed by endowing it with his own spirituial characteristic. And to me, and millions of other Christians, that is infinitely more awesome that words in a book.
