Gee, everyone is having so much fun venturing down this rabbit hole yet again. Perhaps I should take the plunge as well and see if I can't unite both camps in total disagreement with what I'm about to say.
When asked which I subscribe to, evolution or creation, my usual response is, "Yes." Which of course thoroughly confuses most. It's just that in my way of thinking, evolution vs creation is not an either/or proposition. Pure conjecture on my part, based on various religious and non-religious teachings, but for me, one is the result of the other. God's initial creation paved the way for some type of evolutionary process which in turn provided the framework for the separate creation of man in the flesh and certain other creatures.
As to the age of the universe, well no one knows for sure, but I'd be willing to bet that it's very close to the best scientific estimates. Many insist this can't be true, because it tends to contradict the Bible, but I don't see it that way. I'm of the belief that a huge amount of time passed between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 and that these passages recount separate events. Genesis 1:1 referring to the initial creation and Genesis 1:2 describing the planet's restoration and the creation of man in the flesh. So when God said, "Let their be light" he's not talking about the initial creation of light, but rather, enabling what had already been created to shine through over time. And, "Let us make them in our own image..." refers to using the building blocks of evolution to create new flesh vessels, to house our souls as they already existed in spiritual form. So yes, with divine influence, there was an evolutionary process of sorts. However, man is not the result of it, but was rather created from it. Can I prove that? Nope, not a word. At least not as far as the academic definition of proof is concerned. Just my take on things.
Ok, let the stone throwing begin!
