Creation and Evolution, Part 1: Role of Consciousness

WHATS IN THIS BLOG:
• Wonders of the natural world
• The hummingbird
• Spectacular hikes
• Role of consciousness in creation and evolution

This is the first of three parts of a series on creation and evolution. It’s a mix of science and spiritual. I’m motivated by a need for clarity, as I’ve heard statements on the subject that seem way off the mark. As always, I use as much data and facts as possible, but there are times when my own experience and bias comes in. Your feedback and comments will be appreciated.

LET’S BEGIN WITH SOME WONDERS OF THE NATURAL WORLD. The whirlpool galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy, and one of the brightest in the sky. However, 75% of matter in this galaxy is missing. It’s called dark matter because we can’t see it or measure it, and we don’t know what it is. Don’t let anyone tell you that scientists know everything about the universe!

NEXT IS THE ANIMAL AND BIRD KINGDOM. The hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world. It can fly forward or backward, or hover. In daytime, its heart rate is 1200 bpm. It needs to feed full time to provide the necessary energy. But at night, the heart rate drops to 35 bpm so it can sleep and save energy and survive the night.

I’VE BEEN ON MANY HIKES, PARTICULARLY IN THE SOUTHWEST USA. One of my favorites is Hanging Lake — a steep hike in the Rocky Mountains outside of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. If you go there in summer, take a raft ride in the wild rapids of the Colorado River.

Another trail is one we took on a jeep – to Yankee Boy basin outside Ouray in southwest Colorado. The waterfalls and flowers and mountains were spectacular. The town of Ouray is called Little Switzerland because its surrounded by mountains.

HOW DO WONDERS OF THE NATURAL WORLD RELATE TO CREATION -EVOLUTION? As you viewed the above pictures, you may have felt AWE, POWER, WONDER, BEAUTY, etc. These are subjective levels of human consciousness. Sentience is the capacity to feel, perceive, or experience things subjectively (as distinct from reason). For example, red is a color that has to be experienced (you can’t explain it).

Animals have a lower level of consciousness. Dogs, such as Mary Ann’s morkie, can experience fear and love. But they don’t have the higher levels of consciousness and cannot perceive awe or wonder or beauty.

Where does human consciousness come from? The biblical answer is God. We are made in the image of God:
So God created man in His own image…. male and female he created them.
And God blessed them, and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.
[Genesis chapter 1]

CONSCIOUSNESS IS AN UNSOLVED PROBLEM FOR SCIENCE – EVOLUTION. You can read more about this if you click HERE (warning: it’s written by a new-atheist who discards any spiritual interpretation, and the writing is not easy to understand). The authors’ position is that consciousness is a spandrel. This word, coined by the famous paleontologist, Stephen Jay Gould, means that it’s a byproduct and not a direct result of natural (adaptive) selection in evolution.

For me, it’s easier to believe that God made the byproduct, and that homo sapiens is unique – made in the image of God. You can read more about spandrels, and how they upset the previous thinking of evolution by chance mutation and fitness for survival, by clicking HERE.

SO WHAT DOES “MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD” REALLY MEAN? I suggest there are two kinds of truth which are complementary, as shown in the image.

The new-atheists’ dilemma is to deny subjective truth in the spiritual arena – the right lens of the glasses. They deny God, and spiritual experience, because they claim that science cannot prove that God exists (I don’t know how they prove that beauty exists). Even if this were true, it would also be true that science cannot prove that God DOES NOT exist.

Another way to say this is that God is outside of science. If God created science, such as the law of gravity F = GxM1xM2 / D^2, then He is clearly outside of science. We wouldn’t be asking an ant to prove that a human landscaped the yard that the ant lives in.

My view is that the two lenses of the glasses are complementary ways of viewing the world. And BOTH ways are important for perceiving God and the natural universe.

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The Gray Nomad ….. think well and stay informed.
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For that which is known about God is evident in their inner consciousness, because God has shown it to them.
For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature, that is His eternal power and divinity have been clearly discernible in the things that have been made – His handiworks.
So men are without excuse.
Because when they recognized Him as the God, they did not honor Him as God, or give Him thanks.
Instead they became futile and godless in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.
[Book of Romans, chapter 1].