Thanks class for letting me share your answers in this blog.

How would you draw honesty, career, friendship, wealth, happiness, god, family, music? Well that’s how we started today, we split into four groups, one person would read the value go back to their group, draw it and then if someone worked out the answer they would go to Guy and see if they had guessed right, if they got it right they were given the next word.

The first group to finish the list won. Initially, there was a lot of anxiety about how hard it was to draw something like ‘honesty’ but it was amazing to see how quickly they got through the list. I saw one drawing of a man near a building with an arrow pointing to the top of the building. Group members were saying; work, job, jump off building and finally career. We then split into two groups (Tash was away) so Guy and I ended up with at least 13 students each. Here are two questions that we worked through.

1) List three values that you hold.

Students answered the following as being values they have: Family/Friends, Honesty, Happiness, Respect, Religion, Support, Trust, Doing the best in everything, being the best I can be.

2) Then we moved to our beliefs. What do I believe about…?

• The Human Race:

• Why I am alive:

• Death: Love:

• The beginning of the world:

• Where did humans come from?

• My purpose for being alive:

Let me put forward their answers into two groups, one was religious and the other was evolutionary.

1) Evolution

• The Human Race: Basically humans are just another species, an animal. One student said we are idiots and another said we were expanding to fast.

• Why I am alive: They didn’t really answer this question other than saying that they were alive, they were breathing. One said that they were alive to contribute to the world what no one else could.

• Death: Death is something that happens when you stop breathing. After that they weren’t sure apart from not wanting to die in the first place.

• Love: Every one said basically the same thing. Love is a feeling. “A feeling that connects souls together.” In our discussion I sought to expand this idea that, yes, love is a feeling but sometimes we love without the feeling. For example, I don’t always feel like I love my kids or my wife but I know I do. Love sometimes is a decision that a person makes rather than something that is felt.

• The beginning of the world: Big Bang got the highest mention in this group. Although God did sneak in by making the big bang happen. Some said that God was behind the evolutionary process. “God gave life to the particles and they evolved.”

• Where did humans come from: No guesses here, Monkeys and apes. This won hands down. Here is something for those who had God being involved in the process of evolution. In the Bible (Genesis chapters 1 to 3) it is clear that each species was created in their kinds. So Cows were always cows, dogs were always dogs. This contradicts the idea that species evolved from one species to another. Also, the Bible teaches that death was introduced after the animal kingdom was established. This contradicts the idea that life evolved through the process of death (that is trying not to die prematurely through adaptation).

• My purpose for being alive: Most answered that they had not worked out their purpose. Some said that they were here to have fun and to contribute to the world. One said that they were alive to die.

2) Religious Understanding

• The Human Race: God made the human race. Some were specific mentioning Adam and Eve and that each person is made by God and has a purpose in life, to serve God, to Love God and to love others. One student said that the human race is imperfect and that it needs redemption from sin.

• Why I am alive: Here the answers were the same, “God made me with a purpose.”

• Death: Here students weren’t that sure, but at least they were honest. Most expressed they believed that they were going to heaven to be with God. One said that we are raised from the dead when Jesus returns to judge between those who are righteous and those who are not.

• Love: There was a really nice range of answers here. “Love is when you care about someone a lot.” “God shares his love with everyone in the world.” “Love helps everyone get through. We are to love everyone.” “Love must be pure, true. If we can’t love one another how can we love God? Example of greatest love is Jesus Christ.”

• The beginning of the world: God made the universe and everything in it.

• Where did humans come from: God is the short answer but some went further. Humans are made in the His image. The Human race was made from the dust of the earth through Adam and Eve.

• My purpose for being alive: To serve God is the simplest answer. A longer answer was explaining that we had to follow God’s commandments, to be in his kingdom and that we would be judged at judgment day after the resurrection. One said that they would find out their purpose in time.

The difference between religion and evolution

There is a difference between those who believed in God and those who did not. If we are animals then our purpose is really just one of survival, there is no real hope for the future and none for life after death; unless you mix re-incarnation with evolution. Those who believed that God made the world instantly have a purpose and an understanding of themselves. They have been made in God’s image to bear his image in the world. They understand that the values they hold come from God.

Reflection

Christianity has come under fire more and more lately. Many people no longer believe in God. And yet I see far more hope, direction and purpose coming from belief in God than belief in evolution. This does not mean I disrespect evolutionists, it just means I disagree with them. The value of our classes is that we have been able to share what we believe, we have been able to disagree with each while showing that we still respect each person’s beliefs and values.