Can I believe in evolution and still be a Christian? It would seem that the first part of the book of Genesis contradicts what science teaches about the origin of life on earth. If I am to reconcile evolution and Genesis, it seems that I have a number of options.


Accept Genesis as a metaphor for the sinfulness/corruption of mankind 
Dismiss the story entirely
Believe that God picked two early humans and the first that he 'breathed' life into, and these two were Adam and Eve.


These options are not very good in my book because both Jesus and St. Paul, in the New Testament, made it clear they understood the story to have been a historical truth. At the same time I believe God gave us two eyes and a brain, and you cannot reject evolution out of hand.

This is a question that has had quite a heated debate for quite some time, and I do not have expectation that one answer will be 'right'. However, I am asking it anyway since it is one I continue to struggle with.
You certainly can, and some percentage of believers do believe in some form of (usually theistic) evolution in an effort to reconcile the findings of science with the revelation of God in his word.

The essential breakdown for creation systems is (with lots of co-mingling and blurring):


Naturalism: Old universe with evolution and no God at all, for which evolution is the only game in town to explain the "how" of it. (NE)
Theistic Evolution: Old universe with divine inception and left largely to run itself, with varying though usually quite minor subsequent involvement by God. (TE)
Old Creation: Old universe in which a creator specifically and miraculously creates. (OEC)
Young Creation:  Young universe in which a creator specifically and miraculously creates. (YEC)


(where "young" means a few thousand to a few tens of thousand earth years, and "old" means anywhere from 9 to 14 billion earth years).

But in my opinion, and it's just my opinion, the scientific evidence seems to have much more to say about the age of the universe and the fact that time and space has a beginning than whether or not macro evolution occurs.

This is an extensive subject, and I have arrived at my current position (which is that of old-earth creation) after many years of believing differently and after a lot of research and mulling on the matter. If you would like a lot of material on such a model, I strongly recommend Reasons to Believe.  Also worth reading is material from Jewish theologian and scientist Gerald Schroeder.  Another good source looks to be the Evidence for God website (though I am not as well versed with their material as I am RTB).

I have found old-earth creation to be, on balance, the best interpretation so far of both scientific evidence and Biblical revelation when the anticipation is for both to be true and accurate and in harmony.

For me, the most compelling arguments on the matter are those from scripture along the vein of Romans 1:20, NIV:


  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 


and Psalm 19:1, NIV:


  The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.


This, to me, says we can and should expect that the revelation of God through creation is consistent with the revelation of God through scripture.  If the two seem to be in conflict then we are misunderstanding one or the other (or both).

Furthermore, if what we can discover of God from observing his creation is deliberately misleading (or even downright deceptive), then that seems to put Romans 1:20 in a very bad light in terms of what it says about God's attributes.  Consideration of this principle (that we can know God by his creation), which appears to be quite Biblical, seems to render arguments that God created the universe with apparent age (and such arguments as light from distance stars being created in-transit) dubious - and certainly such arguments would not be seem to be the best explanation of the entire body of evidence we currently have.

Keep in mind that the Genesis account is not the only part of Scripture that deals with creation, and therefore your understanding of the mechanics of creation needs to consider the other relevant verses as well as the scientific evidence available.



EDIT: 2011-08-26

Some theological/doctrinal problems that occur with evolution (theistic or otherwise):


Humanity is no longer uniquely created in the image of God, which means we no longer have innate dignity and value as distinct from the rest of creation.
Humanity is no longer created to reign over the rest of creation.
Adam and Eve are no longer historical people.  Therefore the doctrine of man's sinful nature inherited from Adam is abolished, since there was no single progenitor from which to inherit a sin-nature.  Were Jesus and the apostles mistaken when they spoke of Adam and Eve as real historical individuals - esp. Paul who bases his entire thesis of salvation on Adam's fault in Romans 5?
Genesis must be considered mythological or semi-mythological rather than being regarded as a historical narrative.
Theistic evolution generally limits or eliminates God's providential intervention in the creation that he "set in motion".
Genesis 2:7 in describing the creation of Adam seems to require an intellectual stretch to understand as describing simpler species evolving into humans.