Questions from Mr. DeMers

"If theistic evolution is true doesn't that mean things had to die before Man was officialy cursed in the Garden of Eden with death?"

The Fall is an event that occurs essentially outside of time as we know it. Think of it this way. Imagine the entirety of reality is a computer program, all of the Earth is just a big set of data programmed to function along certain lines and according to certain rules. Initially, this program is perfect, it doesn't have any bugs or problems. But some of the variables built into the program have the ability to alter it's basic structure, such that one action can alter the entire program.

The Fall is such an action. Think of it like a patch, or an updated version of the same program. It rewrites the code for the entirety of the program, not just that moment or the following moments, but all of the program; past, present and future.

The Resurrection is another such action. It is a further update designed to remedy the problem of the Fall, and it's effects are ALSO felt throughout the program from beginning to end, simultaneously.

Now, science only studies what we can observe or piece together through empirical data. So DNA, fossils, etc. all serve to provide us with information on what came before. But the two updates of the Fall and the Resurrection have always (from our subjective perspective) been part of the mix. The nature of these alterations are such that those of us WITHIN the system never realize their effects, precisely because they're a-temporal.

Think of it this way. If someone went back in time and killed Hitler as a baby, you would grow up your whole life learning about how the Great Depression had facilitated World War II between the Soviets and the Western World, or some other such madness, because WW2 as we know it would not have happened. From WITHIN the temporal system, you would never know there was a change, because for you there never WAS a change, you're part of that same time line. So evolution involving the death of creatures is to be expected, because we have never known a reality that DIDN'T have the Fall's impact upon it. We should not expect to find immortal animals, etc., nor should we have a problem with animals dying before the Fall's temporal moment.

"Making God using death as a means to create life. Taking away from his fairness and righteousness?"

I think a lot of the problems people have with death are from a failure to understand what death is. Death is not the end of our existence.

"Do you believe Adam was a fully devoloped man or some ape descendant?"

First point, apes are NOT our ancestors, evolutionary speaking. Apes and humans SHARE an ancestor. Modern apes are just as modern as modern man.

Second point, I believe that Adam was human, not whatever preceded humanity. Now, I rather doubt he was what we'd call a homo sapien, but he was still at least a homo something or other.

"How far back do you believe evolution goes? Where we apes or fish?"

All the way back to the beginning, after life began.

"Was Eve really taken from Adam's rib? Or did she evolve seperately?"

Neither. I suspect Adam and Eve both arose out of the same tribe of hominids such that they were a unique new species, but still capable of interbreeding with their predecessors.

"Or did mankind evolve until we finally got to Adam?"

You need to remember that "Adam" and "Eve" are names that are more than just individual names. Adam means both "earth" and "Mankind." Eve means "Mother of all." Adam and Eve are as much a representation of ALL of humanity at their time as they are of two individual persons.

"Have you heard of the gap theory? That between God creating the heavens and the earth and the earth being void and formless that it was the 4.5 billion years scientists always talk about. Then after that it was literaly seven days and 6,000 years."

Yes, I've heard of the gap theory, and the accompanying God of the Gaps argument. I came up with the same idea when I was something like 10 or 12. I've since moved on.

First point, gap theory is a type of fallacy. The only time the positing of a supernatural answer is valid is when argumentum ad absurdum reasoning has demonstrated the absurdity and invalidity of all possible natural explanations. This has not occurred in regards to the gap theory.

Second point, scientists state that the Earth was not void and formless for 4.5 billion years, they say that it was the EARTH, which is a form, and not void, for 4.5 billion years. The universe has been around for something like three times that length. And it was never "literally" seven days and 6000 years. Remember, "seven" is a Biblical number indicating God's time. It doesn't have any real meaning, even within the context of the story in terms of science or history, because "day" is just a vestigial measure of time using solar cycles. Since the sun didn't even exist until the 3rd or 4th "day," it's impossible to take it literally.

"Is it possible that God just created everything at a mature state so in actuality it appears to be billions of years old, but was actually younger? Or did it go through the actual time to age."

Is God in the habit of intentionally deceiving people and getting them to believe falsehoods, or is God the God of Truth?

"6,000 years. Alot of fundamentalists claim there is no way around the fact that the bible says it is 6,000 years old. And that the earth is to.
How do we explain this in light of evolution and science?"

We explain it by noting for our fundamentalist friends that they're treating myths, which are not historical or scientific, as evidence for historical and scientific claims. The purpose of the Bible, and the purpose of those myths, is not to date the planet Earth. Their purpose is to give insight into our relationships with God.

"Also why does the Bible say in Genesis that they lived to be hundreds of years old?"

Dude, they're myths, what do you expect?