What does it mean to say that I believe the Bible? Does it mean that I believe it is inerrant? It must, or else we are left to decide which sections we choose to believe. And yet believing it is inerrant isn't the same as believing it is *literally* true in every verse.

Jesus looked at Jerusalem and said he longed to take her under his wing. Do we have to believe that Jesus had wings? Of course not.

So what is the real message of the creation story we read in Genesis? Must we believe that it happened in the exact way described there to claim we "believe the Bible"? I don't think so. It seems to me there are two main messages the Bible wants to communicate:

1) God created everything there is
2) Human beings are uniquely different from all other life on earth

Must we fight battles over the obvious evolutionary development (at least WITHIN a species) that is further proof of the wonderful way God created us to grow and adapt?

Genesis 2:1