Can Evolution and the Bible Co-Exist?

Many mainstream Western religions appear willing to believe in both the Bible and Evolution, feeling God must have used evolution in some form to create life. This duality of creationism and evolution is based in the theory that God created or programmed the universe to develop from lifeless chemicals to living beings. This is known as theistic evolution. It requires a God, but one that once starting the process did not stop it and largely did not interfere - thus allowing the universe, as we know it to evolve. While this approach acknowledges the existence of God and explains how certain basic elements of life came into existence, not all religious considerations are addressed by theistic evolution.

What about the Genesis creation account?

If some form of evolution is true, how are we to interpret the account of how the earth and its living inhabitants came to exist, especially as it is detailed in Genesis 1:26,27 and Genesis 2:18-24? Does the Bible intend for us to understand Genesis chapters one and two as figurative and to not be taken literally? What does this imply for the existence f Adam and Eve? What is its' intended moral or lesson if this is a figurative story? One way to find out what the intention of this Genesis account would be to see how it is referenced in other sections of the Bible itself.