What is Theistic Evolution? Francis Collins describes theistic evolution as the position that "evolution is real, but that it was set in motion by God", and characterizes it as accepting "that evolution occurred as biologists describe it, but under the direction of God". Collins, Francis (2006) The Language of God: He is a Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief

Varying degrees of theistic evolution Many theistic evolutionists believe that God set in motion the laws of nature that led to evolution, but He did not take an active role in guiding the evolutionary process.  He merely let nature take its course. Others know as Evolutionary Creationist believe that God actively guided the evolutionary process.

How wide spread is Theistic Evolution? Theistic Evolutionism is the view of creation taught at the majority of mainline Protestant seminaries, and it is the official position of the Catholic church. Despite this, studies showing that acceptance of evolution is lower in the United States than in Europe or Japan (only Turkey had a lower rate in the 34 countries sampled)

What about the Bible and Theistic Evolution? Genesis1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. This shows God was the creator but it doesn’t show how He did it. Evolution involves the how which doesn’t fit with six literal days of creation. The Bible supports literal days by ending days 1-6 with “evening and morning”. Theistic Evolution is not compatible with the 7 day creation account!

AN INTERPRETATION for your friends THAT IS NEEDED IN OUR SCIENTIFIC WORLD. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created THE heaven and THE earth (No time given when the “beginning” was. It could have been billions of years ago.) [2] And the earth was (had become) without form, and void (wild and waste); and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters (The Bible supports about 6000 years ago). [3] And God said, Let there be … (which began our six day creation). The point being, creation applied to the six days of creation but the billions of years between v.1 and v.2 the Bible is silent. The fact that there may be a long period of time between verse 1 and 2 is not unscriptural. Jesus pointed out a similar gap in time when he quoted Isaiah. God only tells us what is necessary. Any events that might have occurred between verse 1 and 2 are not relevant to mankind. God does not waste space by giving us details that we might like to know to satisfy our curiosity but have no spiritual relevance such as the colour of Jesus’ eyes or whether Adam had a belly button or the name of Samson’s mother.

THE PROBLEM: MANY BELIEVE IN A 6000 year old EARTH BECAUSE THEY THINK THE BIBLE SAYS THAT GOD CREATED THE SUN, MOON AND STARS ON THE 4TH DAY. This interpretation locks all creation within 6000 years which causes many to not believe the Bible. It is important to understand just what God created on the fourth day. Because we know how large and how distant the stars are, having a correct understanding of what happened on the fourth day will help us decide whether the “Young Earth” theory is correct or not. It is important to let the Bible speak for itself and not to try to make it fit the theory we want to believe. Since God wrote the Bible, it should be scientifically sound even though that is not the purpose for which it is written. We know the Bible spoke of the circle of the earth when popular theory was that the earth is flat in the days of Columbus, and the historical background that Luke gives have been proven correct in every instance, and archaeology has supported every Bible historical happening. We need to look for clues in the text of the Bible to see just what is meant as far as timing is concerned.

The KEY is INTERPRETING “FIRMAMENT of HEAVEN Genesis 1:20 … and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. Genesis 1:7 And God made the firmament , and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. Conclusion: The “firmament” is the ATMOSPHERE and NOT heaven! There was water above it. Birds fly in the firmament of heaven. Pass out marking pencils – note that these are theirs

Since the firmament of heaven is defined as the atmosphere - Genesis1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven (atmosphere) to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven (atmosphere) to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made (italics shows added to the text) the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven (atmosphere) to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. The sun, moon and stars were created back in v.1 "In the beginning..."

What is different with this interpretation of Gen.1? Didn’t get this off the internet but from _Bro Ray Smith in the book “God’s 7000 year Plan_________________________ From a Christadelphin book entitled: God’s 7000 year plan with the earth by Ray Smith

THE POSSIBILITY OF A PRE-ADAMIC WORLD IS NOT A NEW IDEA! (From Elpis Israel, John Thomas, 1848) “Fragments, however, of the wreck of this PRE-ADAMIC WORLD has been brought to light by geological research … that its organic remains coal fields and strata belong to the ages before the formation of man, rather than the era of creation or the Noahic flood.” (Question) What about THEISTIC EVOLUTION and previous creations? Previous creations are a maybe but the advantage is we don’t become bogged down or turn away those who believe in evolution or theistic evolution before being able to share the good news of the kingdom.