Christians are divided over the issue of Evolution. There are those that believe Evolution is simply non-existent and didn't have any part in the creation of Man OR animals. There are some who believe that Man evolved through the process of evolution, but that the process was guided by God. To these people, evolution was the process begun by God when he created the Earth and "seeded" it with life. They find no problem with evolution being both a natural and a divine process that worked to create the many species of life on this planet.

There is a third category of believers that believe that everything that is said about evolution in our science books is true, except the creation of man. They believe that evolution proceeded as described through the millions of years, even to the creation of a creature that could be called a "primitive" form of man by science textbooks. However that is where they draw the line. They believe that, in a creation event separate from evolution, a genetically superior man, called "Adam" in the Bible was created from non-living materials in a place called Eden around 6000 years ago. According to Genesis 2:7 God created Adam from the 'dust of the ground' and breathed into him the "breath of life", and man became a living soul.

If we accept the 'biblical' definition of "man" and not the scientific, Adam was the first man. If we let science define who man is, then he began with "Ardi" or Australopithecus, several million years ago. The Bible only recognized man as someone who is descended from Adam, so the creature Homo sapiens is not necessarily "man".

One of the biblical characteristics of man is his "free will", as given to him by God. It is for this reason that man sinned, because he had the ability to choose and determine his own destiny.

I have a problem accepting that the man that came by way of evolution would have that characteristic.

 Psychology is a science that studies behavior in animals as well as man and is highly developed as for predicting the kinds of behavior for both. It makes these predictions based on many environmental and genetic factors that all contribute to the overall behavior, and predictability of a man, or woman. So where does "free will" come in. If all behavior is predictable and according to some pre-determined "program" that came to be according to the laws of evolution and "survival of the fittest" there should be no such thing as free will. If evolution alone determines our behavior, then any action or behavior can be explained as a result of someone's home life, physiology, genetic makeup, or due to a myriad of factors that they "inherited".

I sometimes wonder how much of my own behavior is "pre-determined" and how much is my own free will. Paul seemed to understand this when he wrote in I Corinthians 2:14 concerning the 'spirit', "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned". He went on to write one of the most cryptic passages in the NT, in I Corinthians 15:47, "The first man is from the earth, a man of dust. The second man is from Heaven...Just as we have born the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of Heaven".

Because of this, when I find myself in a position to choose one of two possible actions, I sometimes deliberately choose the most illogical and least likely of the two. Why do I do this? First, it doesn't make any sense in the natural world, and it proves to me that I am not pre-programmed and that I can defy the laws of nature to perform a pure act of free-will. Would this be possible if I were simply a product of evolution? I don't think so.

When God breathed the "breath of life" into Adam, it was a characteristic that was passed down to every descendant from that time. I believe that when Adam acquired his "soul" he ceased to be a "product of the earth" and became a living soul with the ability to choose to do what he willed, even if it was illogical, against common sense, and against the "rules" of nature.

If I were simply a product of evolution, why would I even question this in the first place? Why would it matter? I see many who behave as if it doesn't matter and I wonder where the difference lies.

I have studied science most of my life and can explain just about anything I see in terms of science, but there are still some things that I have to question as being outside any explanation by science theory. My own existence and free will is one of those things. I have always thought that the height of hypocricy is for an intelligent being to deny his/her own unique existence. To me one of the greatest miracles of God's creation is the existence of a creature that can question its own existence.

That is called "having a soul". Science would say, in physical terms, the soul doesn't exist. There is no place for it in evolution. Sometimes, as I look around, I wonder, "does everyone have one"? People continue to amaze me with their indifference.