 |
How
the Bible and Evolution Conflict
An Analysis
of the Tension between Two Worldviews
- Creationism and evolutionism begin from two radically different
points. Creation: In the beginning there was God. Evolution:
In the beginning there was random chance.
- Darwinian doctrine insists that the evolution of life is a random
process—that we are here by a series of pure accidents (e.g.,
mutations, and molecules in motion, gene recombinations and duplications).
This is in direct conflict with the biblical doctrine of election—that
life is not merely a series of accidents. According to the Bible,
each believer is in some sense individually foreknown and chosen by God from before
the foundations of the world. (1 Samuel 16:7-12, Psalm 139:16, Jeremiah
1:5, Matthew 24:31, 25:34, Romans 8:29-30, 1 Corinthians 2:7, Galatians
1:15, Ephesians 1:4-12, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Peter 1:1-2, 2:9)
- The God of the Bible is more than Creator and Savior. He is also
Sustainer. With evolution, life is a self-sustaining
process ruled by fate, and God plays no role in the universe or in
the ongoing lives of men. This contradicts the biblical doctrine of
providence—that all things
happen under the authority of God, and that God is still at work
sustaining (though not re-creating) His creation. (Genesis 45:7-8,
Nehemiah 9:6, Esther 4:14, Psalm 104:30, 145:16, 147:9, Proverbs 16:9,33,
Isaiah 45:1,7, 46:10, Matthew 6:26, 10:29-31, John 5:17, 14:16-17,
15:26, 16:13-15, Acts 17:26, 18:9-11, Romans 8:9-11, Colossians 1:17,
Hebrews 1:3)
- Still another aspect of the God of the Bible is that He is Judge.
The Bible makes a major point of an afterlife in heaven or hell. Indeed,
Jesus discusses this concept more than any other biblical figure.
As part of the process of ultimate judgment by God, a new type of
resurrection body will emerge to another life—to either be glorified
in heaven or condemned to hell for eternity. Evolution is in great
conflict with this view, including the fact that the physical cannot
evolve into an afterlife. (Matthew 5:22,29,30, 23:33, 24:31, Romans
8:23, 1 Corinthians 15:42-53, 2 Peter 2:4-10)
- The Bible says that man was created as a special being—in the image of God, as opposed to the evolutionary view that has
man is just another animal in the evolutionary process. (Genesis 1:26-27,
2:7)
- The Bible indicates that creation was a completed event in the past,
and is not continuing as evolution suggests. (Genesis 2:1-3, Ecclesiastes
3:14, Hebrews 4:3-11) As put by the Concordia Study Bible (annotations
page 8), "His creative work was completed—and it was totally
effective, absolutely perfect, 'very good.' It did not have to be
repeated, repaired or revised, and the Creator rested to commemorate
it."
- Given the above, the creation by God of distinct "kinds"
as described in Genesis 1 and 1 Corinthians 15:38-39 implies that
transmutations between kinds is precluded, or at least superfluous.
- The Bible indicates that there is clear physical evidence of creation.
(Psalm 19:1-6, Acts 17:24-29) Evolution denies the evidence for creation.
If Darwinism were a reasonable hypothesis, atheists would have a perfectly
good excuse, in contradiction to Romans 1:20. On the other
hand, creation is a consistent theme throughout the Bible.
- There is no hint of evolution in the Bible. While this is an argument
from silence and thus does not necessarily preclude evolution, such
an important concept as to origins would surely have been suggested
in the Bible due to its theological implications. On the other hand,
creation is a consistent theme throughout the Bible. It is mentioned
approximately 64 times in 18 books of the Bible.
- Evolution is a philosophy based on naturalism and materialism. Naturalism
holds that nature is all there is and that the universe is self-sufficient
without a supernatural cause or control of the world. Materialism
regards matter as the original cause of all—that matter did its
own creating. Materialism denies the existence of the soul. The philosophical
assumption of evolution is therefore essentially atheistic or agnostic,
thus clearly incompatible with special creation and the other miracles
of the Bible. With evolution, if God exists, He is so distant as to
be irrelevant.
- The Bible teaches that God created man by fiat, that is, by supernatural
power, not by natural processes. (Genesis 2:7, Psalm 33:6,9, Psalm
148:5, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Hebrews 11:3)
- Some 75 passages of Scripture including those by Jesus, refer to
the creation narrative of Genesis 1-2, confirming it as actual history.
(Matthew 19:4, Mark 10:6, Luke 3:38, Rev. 2:7)
- Evolution appears to be contrary to God's characteristics of omnipotence,
love, and grace. As put by Henry Morris in his book Scientific
Creationism (page 219), "The history of evolution, as interpreted
by evolutionary geologists from the fossil record, is filled with
extinctions, misfits, evolutionary cul-de-sacs, and other like evidences
of very poor planning. The very essence of evolution, in fact, is
random mutation, not scientific progress. The supposed fact of evolution
is best evidenced by the fossils, which eloquently speak of a harsh
world, filled with storm and upheaval, disease and famine, struggle
for existence and death. The accepted mechanism for inducing evolution
is overpopulation and a natural selection through extermination of
the weak and unfit. A loving God would surely have been more considerate
of His creatures than this." The biblical interpretation of the
fossil record is that species were created suddenly and fully functional.
Only after creation and the Fall into sin did struggle and extinctions
occur. In fact, the biblical view of the fossil record is more scientifically
as well as theologically accurate. (See the article on this site regarding
the scientific aspects of evolution.)
- There is an important reason to interpret from the Bible that Adam
was a real person. Unless the concept of original sin through Adam
is true, Jesus' coming makes no sense. That is, Christians believe
that Christ's atoning sacrifice for our sins was necessary because
of man's sin nature inherited in some sense from Adam. The Bible teaches that Jesus
was the "second Adam." So if Adam was not real, thus did
not bring sin into the world, Christ's redemptive sacrifice was not
necessary. (Genesis 3:15-19, Romans 4:22-25, 5:12-21, 1 Corinthians
15:21-23,45-57, 1 Timothy 2:13-14). Annotations in the Concordia
Study Bible (page 1724) state: "Physical death is the penalty
for sin. It is also the symbol of spiritual death, man's ultimate
separation from God. The context shows that Adam's sin involved the
rest of mankind in condemnation and death. We do not start life with
even the possibility of living it sinlessly; we begin it with a sinful
nature."
- The overarching theme of the Bible is Creation/Fall/Redemption.
(God created the universe "very good." Then man spoiled
it by his rebellion—the "Fall", necessitating God's
redemption of mankind through Christ.) This sequence is crucial to
Christian theology. We argue that evolution, which is explained as
a gradual process of step-by-step change, is inconsistent with this
biblical doctrine. Here are some questions to consider: Did God really
create things bad (incomplete or filled with struggle and death),
not "very good" as the Bible says (Genesis 1:31)?
If things were bad to start with, the Fall becomes a superfluous concept.
(The Fall presupposes that there was something good from which
to fall.) Or if the Fall did occur, and if man evolved gradually
with no clear point of distinctive existence, when did the Fall occur?
According to Scripture, between the time of the completion of Creation
and the Fall everything was very good, and only after which
there was sin and death for mankind (Romans 5:12). Did the so-called
"ape-men" that evolutionists keep hoping to find in the
fossil record experience sin and death? Only if there is a distinct
line between man and any predecessors does the Fall make any sense,
because Christians believe that man, not animals, created the sinful
condition we know as the Fall. Thus, a major point of tension exists
between the Bible and evolution at the heart of the biblical doctrine
of the Fall. Note the following quote from G. R. Bozarth, The
American Atheist magazine, September 1978, 30:
"Christianity has fought, still fights, and will fight science
to the desperate end over evolution, because evolution destroys
utterly and finally the very reason Jesus' earthly life was supposedly
made necessary. Destroy Adam and Eve and the original sin, and in
the rubble you will find the sorry remains of the son of God. If
Jesus was not the redeemer who died for our sins, and this is what
evolution means, then Christianity is nothing."
- Evolutionism, indeed, denies that man even has a sinful nature
or else suggests that we should not be faulted for our human nature
because "that is just our nature." Thus evolution is inconsistent
with the Christian belief that man is indeed fallen and in need of
a savior.
- The theory of evolution itself has continually changed over time.
This is in contrast to biblical creationism, which has not changed
over time.
- Morality in evolutionary thought is a function of natural selection,
survival of the fittest, or situation ethics. The Bible teaches transcending
moral truth, given by God. (Exodus 20:1-17, Isaiah 5:20-21)
- Evolution is closely associated with the philosophy of secular humanism,
which accepts human beings as the ultimate source of meaning and value.
The Bible, of course, places God as the ultimate source of meaning
and value.
- The Bible teaches that man was created for a special purpose.
Evolution denies that man has a divine purpose, or at least implies
that man's purpose in life is whatever one wants to make of it (secular
humanism). (Isaiah 43:7, Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 6:10, Romans 8:28,
14:12, Galatians 1:15, Ephesians 2:10, 3:21, 2 Timothy 1:9, 1 Peter
4:10)
- Since evolution offers no real purpose for life, it results in an
absence of meaning, and therefore an absence of moral absolutes.
This is clearly in conflict with the Bible. Evolution results in a
philosophy of nihilism (the denial of any basis for truth), which
ultimately ends in despair. The Bible claims to have the
Truth, which gives ultimate hope. (John 14:6, Colossians 1:27)
- The Bible not only fits the evidence of scientific investigation,
it provides an answer for why the world was created. Evolution
does neither.
 |
 |
| |
|
| |
|
|
We encourage you
to
read God's Word for yourself.
Click on the icon below to open the entire online Bible
in another window:
|
|
|
|
|
|
