Theistic Evolution
Trying to Reconcile Evolution and Creation

Many Christians feel compelled to try to reconcile evolution and creation through a view called "theistic evolution." The fundamental flaw in doing so is a failure to recognize evolution for what it is—an essentially atheistic philosophy. For the evolutionist, if God exists he is irrelevant. The following definition of evolution was the 1995 official Position Statement of the American National Association of Biology Teachers and is consistent with what other major science organizations mean by evolution:

"The diversity of life on earth is the outcome of evolution: an unsupervised, impersonal, unpredictable and natural process of temporal descent with genetic modification that is affected by natural selection, chance, historical contingencies and changing environments."

   The concept of evolution being a godless random chance process is emphasized throughout the writings of scientists. For example, consider the words of famous geneticist Richard Lewontin:

"It is not that the methods and insitutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannopt allow a Divine Foot in the door. The eminent Kant scholar Lewis Beck used to say that anyone who could believe in God could believe in anything. To appeal to an omnipotent deity is to allow that at any moment the regularities of nature may be ruptured, that miracles may happen."

   There are two basic categories of theistic evolution. One view is that God created the universe and then stepped back and let things run on their own. Evolution by random chance then took over and became the mechanism by which lifeforms came into being. This view is called deism.
   Deism is totally contrary to the personal God of the Bible. There is a further philosophical problem with deism that has led many theists who have studied philosophy to discard it. The problem is that under deism whatever is, is right. In other words, if God allows all events to happen, how can one say that any event or choice is wrong? Thus ethics has no meaning.
   The second type of theistic evolution says that God intervenes in natural processes as needed. This view is sometimes called progressive creation. The key thing to point out about this view is that for evolutionists, it is branded as heresy for it allows God in the picture.
   Some Christians trying to harmonize evolution and creation will make the statement, "I believe that God used evolution to create." This is a naive statement. In fact, it is an internal contradiction. By definition, evolution is purely a random chance process with no part by a Creator God. We believe it is impossible for the rational Christian to say that God used evolution to create.
   Progressive creation, on the other hand is different. Some legitimate Christians hold to this view. In particular, these Christians are sometimes referred to "old earth" creationists. They believe that God created the universe and all life, but that the 6-days of creation in Genesis were either not literal days or that there were long gaps of time in between the days of creation. They believe that God did his work of creation in big steps over a long period of time.
   There are some interesting theological implications to progressive creation. For example, progressive creationists generally accept the idea that when the Bible says that there was no death before Adam's Fall, it means spiritual death only. This is a necessary belief for the progressive creationist because they assume that man was created by God long after other animals were created, and these animals lived and died essentially as they do now. So physical death came into the world prior to Adam.
   Young-earth creationists disagree, saying that when the Bible says "death," it means physical death as well as spiritual death. And this physical death must applied to animals as well as mankind.
   There are numerous other implications about how the book of Genesis is interpreted in this regard. This all interesting to the theologian. But we would emphasize here that the bigger debate is not about the age of the earth. The key point in the debate with evolutionists is whether God created the universe and life, or whether it was a matter of pure chance. Readers who may wish to study the views of old-earth creationism and young-earth creationism further may email us for recommended materials.
   A final consideration is that some Christians have attempted to reconcile creation and evolution by compartmentalizing science and religion. Under this view, the two disciplines attempt to find truth in different ways, and the disciplines should respectfully not interfere with each other. But this too is inconsistent with Scripture. This is merely succumbing to society's effort to marginalize Christianity. The Bible insists that its worldview is all encompassing (Romans 1:19-20, 2 Corinthians 10:5, Philippians 2:10).
   Some Christians attempt to reconcile evolution with the Bible due to an unfounded concern that the Bible will not hold up to scientific scrutiny. This is an unwarranted fear. Concerning science and Scripture, while the Bible was not written as a science textbook, Christians should welcome the Bible being investigated through scientific endeavors such as archeology, geology, paleontology, etc. The Bible consistently holds up under such tests. It is now even recognized that the Bible correctly demonstrates pre-science knowledge throughout the science disciplines. And there are no scientific mistakes in the Bible (Defender's Study Bible, annotations by Henry Morris, page 1525).
   There are many writing styles in the Bible—parables, allegories, poetry, history, etc.—but not myth. Concerning history, the Bible was written as actual historical accounts—not as mythology as some people may suggest (2 Peter 1:16). Historical passages were plainly written in matter-of-fact language, unembellished by mythological glorifications. Historical passages are plainly evident from context. There are no verifiable contradictions or historical mistakes in the Bible.
   Christianity is not based on blind faith, but faith in evidence. The Bible teaches that we should use our minds (Isaiah 1:18, Matthew 22:37) to "test all things" (1 Thessalonians 5:21) in light of evidence (Acts 1:3, 2:32, 1 Corinthians 15:6, Colossians 2:81), and to contend for the faith intellectually (1 Peter 3:15, Jude 3). The Bible is trustworthy. Christians do not need to discount the Bible or to water down their faith by putting faith in the theory of evolution.
    Conclusion: Creation and evolution are competing worldviews that cannot be reconciled.

Evolution is poor science. It is a bankrupt philosophy that is harmful to society. It is damaging to Christianity. The evidence is greatly against it. Why are you still clinging to it?