Humans Made from Dust vs. Evolution Debate

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> School age children

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amother ↓

Tue, Jul 01 2008, 3:03 pm

Our son is very into science and we try to answer all of his questions accurately. We don't lie to him, but he asked me today if we came from monkeys or if Hashem made us from dust. Anyone have any good answers? I'm not going to debunk that we didn't come from monkeys, as there is hard scientific evidence.
Anyone have any good answers?

Thank you.

Rutabaga

Tue, Jul 01 2008, 3:10 pm

How old is your son?

I liked the following book when I was a teenager: The Science of God: The Convergence of Scientific and Biblical Wisdom by Gerald L. Schroeder. You can read about it on Amazon.

↑ amother ↓

Tue, Jul 01 2008, 3:24 pm

He is 9, but very into science and understands a lot of concepts. I remember reading that book, but I have very limited time devoted to reading.

Lady Godiva

Tue, Jul 01 2008, 3:28 pm

Actually, some monkeys come from humans and not vice versa. During the building of the tower of Babel, God caused confusion by creating 70 languages so the people would not understand each other. I recently heard that some people were turned into monkeys too, as punishment.

GetReal

Tue, Jul 01 2008, 3:53 pm

amother wrote:

Anyone have any good answers?

That the Torah tells us that Hashem made Adam from dust, and we believe that the Torah is true? That evolution is a theory, and Torah is a fact?

Motek ↓

Tue, Jul 01 2008, 4:06 pm

amother wrote:

How about opening a Chumash to the first parsha?

What is yours and his religious background?

↑ amother

Tue, Jul 01 2008, 4:28 pm

im a bt, parents are the academic types.
dh is also a bt but he is very against doing anything more than what is minimally required. this is also an issue, so I have to be careful what I say to the kids because he doesnt believe that the torah is to be taken literally. I am trying very hard that the kids never find this out, I know how sad and pathetic it is. so basically I need to find better arguments. I have a lot of emuna, and want to pass this on to my kids. I know they already get a lot of mixed messages already, I cant totally debunk the theory of evolution because dh would never allow it.

↑ Motek

Tue, Jul 01 2008, 4:38 pm

amother wrote:

he doesnt believe that the torah is to be taken literally.

that's a chinuch issue you have to discuss and decide on - does he want to impress his view on the kids?

you need to present the same view as the school you send him to, what kind of school is it?

Quote:

basically I need to find better arguments. I have a lot of emuna, and want to pass this on to my kids

Rather than debunk anything, maybe you can open a Chumash and learn it together with him. You want to pass on your beliefs! If your son says, well what about evolution, you don't have to get into that at length. You can say as GeReal suggested, that Torah is Emes. As for scientific theories, they are theories, not necessarily Emes.

this might be useful:

http://www.meaningfullife.com/.....b.php

http://www.chabad.org/search/k.....n.htm

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