The purpose of this page is not to provide the final answer to the question, but to show your friend why the existence of this controversy need not prevent the person from accepting God and Jesus.

 Since “the power is in the Gospel,” the person ultimately will be drawn to God when the Holy Spirit shows him the reality of his need and the value of having a savior.  Then, after the person comes to Christ, and is safe for eternity in God’s arms, the person can continue to research the topic. Meanwhile, here are ways to keep the conversation going with someone who raises science as an issue:

 You need to find out exactly what aspect of this topic has caused your friend to raise this objection.  You could ask “why would science keep you from believing in God,” or “In what way does the creation/evolution controversy stand in the way of you accepting God’s love?”

 The person’s answer shows the direction the discussion needs to go. Some examples:

 NO GOD.  If the person says that science proves there is no God, you can remind your friend that science deals only with the natural, not the super-natural.  You then bring up the points on the page “existence of God.”

 BIBLE UNTRUE.  If the person says that evolution proves that the Bible is untrue, you can say that various people look at the 6-day creation story in many different ways, and it has not stopped them from accepting the truth of the Bible.  You can then bring up the points on the page “truth of the Bible.”

 FAITH NOT FACT.   If the person says we should base our lives on fact, not faith, you can say that both science and religion include faith and fact.  Every human endeavor has a certain amount of faith in it.  For science, that includes the presuppositions and the assumptions.  Moreover, real science does not claim to have a final answer.  Rather, a scientist sums up the data we know to date into a reasonable scenario, called a “theory.”  These conclusions are always subject to revision when more data comes in.  The theories of science are never firm enough to be the basis for life questions like “what about death?  What about guilt?  What about purpose?”  These however are the questions that Jesus provides answers for.

 DETERMINE THE ISSUE.  People often use the word “evolution” to cover a wide range of issues, each of which needs to be approached differently.  You need to find out which of these issues your friend is interested in talking about.  Here are some of the main ones:

 Where did life come from?  The theory of evolution does not deal with this question, because it only deals with how life changed after life already existed.  Either life arose by chance, or through the will of a creator.  Both these positions are based on faith.

 Where did the universe come from?  The theory of evolution does not deal with this question.  It deals with changes in things that are already living.  There are two options: the universe is eternal, or the universe has a beginning.  Both the Bible and science agree that the universe is not eternal.  Some speculate that there was another universe before this one started; that means there must have been another one before that.  Eventually, you come to the same option: either some universe always existed, or there had to be a first one.  Both these positions are based on faith.

 Why are there so many different kinds of plants and animals?  This is the question Darwin did deal with in his book The Origin of Species.  He discovered that similar creatures in different regions had slight variations.  He assumed that they must have been together at one time, and that after separating form one another, each group underwent change.  He generalized from this that there must have once been a single life form, and it gradually, by chance, differentiated into the variety of life forms discovered throughout the earth.  Darwin's theory is called “evolution by natural selection.”  No evidence has yet been found that proves that one kind of creature turns into another kind of creature.  It takes a lot of faith to believe that the variety of creatures and the wonders of their intricate details could have come into existence by chance.

 EVENTUAL ANSWER.  I have used the following approach, and gotten a good response:  "I agree that evolution and the explanation in the first chapter of the Bible are different.  I find this question very intriguing, because I like science a lot. I believe that one day it will come clear how the account of creation in the Bible and the data found by scientists are not in conflict. In the meantime, I know that I need God, because I am someone who has done wrong, and I am grateful that God offers to forgive me and accept me. When I get to heaven, I am eager to ask God how He meant us to reconcile the Bible account with the findings of science.  I hope you too can be with me in eternal life and ask this of God.  May I tell you how we can be sure we’ll be with God after we die?"

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