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Impossible Question Time
There always seem to be questions that are hard to answer so the editors decided to invite some from teenagers. Ross bravely volunteered to answer them. The first two are below and do email us with some more!
What do you think of Ross's answers?
Did God control the pattern for evolution? (submitted by Kalpana Chari, aged 13)
When Darwin came up with the theory of evolution the big crisis for the churches was that it seemed to destroy the idea of human beings as a special, separate and unique, creation of God. After all, if we are descended from apes, and from amoebae, etc, then there is no one moment when you could say humanity started to exist and no point when God made us as a special creation. However, even Darwin believed that this was to miss the point. There is so much in creation that shows the power, beauty and pattern of God. Today, knowing about the 'Big Bang' we could say that the start of creation (the big bang) was a divine event and within that was already contained all the possibilities for evolution, together with God's sense of harmony and unity. On this view humanity, whenever it could be said to have emerged, was inevitable. So God did set the pattern for evolution. However, to my mind, he did not and does not 'control' this pattern. There is still the possibility for evil to affect the way things turn out and for human free will to change the specific course of evolution. However, the end point of all things, including evolution, is in the eventual and inevitable triumph of God's love.
Is the devil real? (submitted by Will, aged 12)
Is love real? Just as there is no 'real' devil with horns and pronged tails, so there is no 'real' being that we would call love. However, that does not make love any less powerful or real. Nor does the absence of a physical being called the devil make evil any less real. As with love and goodness 'his' reality is spiritual. The scriptures constantly talk about the conflict between good and evil as the most important battle that exists. On one side is God, who is love and goodness – a God we view as a person because he relates to each of us individually. On the other hand is the devil, who is hatred and evil – a being we also view as a person because he too relates to each of us personally.
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