Can anybody who believes in evolution honestly say they have read the whole Bible?

Me!  Me!

FIRST: Genesis 1 just has to be liturgy. This is easy to establish if you look at the repetition and poetic expression.

SECOND: Genesis 2 contains a retelling with fewer days and a different sequence. Hence, Genesis 1 is ritual, not recorded history.

THIRD: Trying to hamstring the way GOD reveals Himself is childish and arrogant. Read that again – childish, and arrogant. Side note – we are bidden to come to Jesus “after the manner of a child,” but not at the cost of an adult understanding of what He has made. “In the fulness of time” regards the annunciation to Mary that she would bear the Son of Man; a 13.8 billion year old universe is 3.2 million times “six thousand years” so “in the fulness of time” is 3.2 million times more impressive. Given a GOD beyond our understanding, who is it that wants to quibble time and methods with GOD? I don’t think it worked for Job – who could want to be the next Job? End note

FOUR: God said, “Let there be light.” All things that were made were made by the Word. Putting Genesis 1:3 and the first few verses of John 1 together, it becomes clear that while the Bible is many things, it is spiritually true: GOD tells us in terms that don’t need a background in science that HE made the universe, and left a hint for scientists.

FIVE: It’s astronomers’ current best guess that there are two hundred sextillion stars in the visible universe. That’s a 2 followed by 23 zeroes or 2E23. Please try not to hamstring God’s timing and methods by insisting that GOD’s WORD is science. Science didn’t exist until the Renaissance, and GOD’s WORD was perfect for pre-scientific peoples. Can you try to second-guess GOD (Job did, and failed, so tread lightly) in sharing a more thorough explanation of e.g. the Big Bang with pre-scientfic people?

From another angle, did GOD ever say, “Look into the heavens to see my signs and wonders, but don’t look too close?” We did look, closer and closer: GOD’s wonders have vast grandeur, on a scale that takes modern science to even glimpse.

I believe in Christ as my savior and Lord. I won’t find it necessary to look, once I reach heaven, for the two folks (Adam and Eve) without navels. Look at what Jesus said about marriage partners in heaven – “There is neither marrying nor giving in marriage.” So do we have any idea whether a perfect body will have a navel or genitalia?

Christians possess a Truth and a GOD whose dimensions, love, and capacity to forgive beggar any description a three-pound wet computer (a.k.a. human brain) can ever hope to construct.

And, since forever, we are to turn to GOD with broken and repentant hearts, accept Jesus’ blood as our cleansing, and try gently to draw others to a similar understanding. According to Paul, this is the important center of faith. All other matters may have different understandings among Christians. For these command is to show gentle acceptance and peace to fellow Believers without pointless quibbles over differing interpretations. So if a 6,000 year old Universe is important to you, I bless your faith in GOD. Since it makes no sense to me, I hope that you will also bless my faith in GOD and Christ Jesus my Savior.