The origin of life is the issue we are wrestling with this week. Psalm 33:6 and 9 make a very clear statement about the origin of life for those of us who believe the Bible to be the Word of God: “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.”
When I was pastoring Swan Creek Baptist Church, I borrowed one my teenager’s biology book just to see what they were being taught in our local public school. Her biology textbook clearly pitted evolution against God’s Word:
For thousands of years, most people believed that each separate species of organism had been specially created. This view was set forth in the Bible’s Book of Genesis. From time to time philosophers proposed that the living world changed over centuries, but by the mid-seventeenth century most of the Western World took the word of Genesis literally and believed that animals and plants were created during the six days of the Creation. From about 1750 on, however, many people became convinced that species changed over the ages (Camp, Karen Arms. Biology-A Journey into Life. Saunders College Publishing, page 249).
The biology textbook went on to discuss Charles Darwin, father of the modern theory of evolution, who studied theology and as a young man believed in special creation.
Years of observation and reading, however, presented Darwin with evidence that seemed incompatible with the notion of God as the Designer and Creator of living things, and a more logical explanation for the origin of species took shape. Darwin then was appointed naturalists on the Beagle, a British naval ship embarking on a five year mapping and collecting expedition. In 1859, Darwin wrote The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. In it he marshaled an impressive array of evidence to support his theory. Not until the 20th Century, however, did most biologists fully accept the idea that evolution was by means of natural selection (Camp, page 250, 251).
Did Charles Darwin believe each species was a special creation of God? Let’s hear him on the question:
As many more individuals of each species are born that can possibly survive; and as, consequently, there is a frequently reoccurring struggle for existence, it follows that any being, if it vary however slightly in a manner profitable to itself, under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have a better chance of surviving and thus be naturally selected. From the strong principles of inheritance, any selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form (Darwin, Charles, Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection Chicago: Thompson & Thomas, n.d., page 457).
More and more 21st century scientists and scholars are rejecting evolution. Paul Le Moine, a French scholar clearly represents this growing group: “Evolution is a fairy tale for adults” (Lutzer, Erwin W. Twelve Myths Americans Believe Chicago: Moody Press, 1993, page 31).
What are the tenets of evolution
First, the evolutionist must believe in the Eternality of Matter. Evolutionists don’t know where matter came from for our planet to exist and life to start as my teenager’s biology textbook declared:
If we could trace the ancestry of living organisms, we should find a long line of cells stretching back billions of years. Each cell came from division of a previously existing cell. . . . But where did the first cell come from? Some people say the first organisms came to earth in spaceships or meteorites, but this only moves the question of how life began to a more distant arena beyond our reach to study (Camp, page 307).
Theologian Wayne Grudem cites an example of the above theory. Francis Crick called his theory “Directed Panspermia.” The theory is that life was brought to earth from a far away planet by a spaceship. About Francis Crick, who won the Nobel Prize for helping to discover the structure of DNA molecules, Grudem observed:
It seems ironic that brilliant scientists could advocate so fantastic a theory without one shred of evidence in its favor, all the while rejecting the straightforward explanations given by the one book in the history of the world that has never been proven wrong, that has changed the lives of millions of people, that has been believed completely by many of the most intelligent scholars of every generation, and that has been a greater force for good than any other book in the history of the world (Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology Grand Rapids: Inter-Varsity Press, page 286).
God’s Word declares that God created the universe out of nothing or to use the common Latin phrase, creatio ex nihilo. Creatio ex nihilo is implied but not clearly stated in Gen. 1:1 because the word bara means to create something new and great, such as the universe in 1:1 and man in 1:27. BDB (page 135) defines bara as to shape, fashion, create, always of divine activity but never as something out of nothing. Clearly God used preexisting matter (2:7) to create man. However, John 1:3 does teach creation ex nihilo when it declares “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” There are other verses that use “all things” in relationship to creation: Col. 1:16; Heb. 11:3; and Rev. 4:11. Grudem reminds us of the significance of rejecting creation ex nihilo.
Were we to deny creation out of nothing, we would have to say that some matter has always existed and that it is eternal like God. This idea would challenge God’s independence, his sovereignty, and the fact that worship is due to him alone: if matter existed apart from God, then what inherent right would God have to rule over it and use it for his glory? And what confidence could we have that every aspect of the universe will ultimately fulfill God’s purposes, if some parts of it were not created by him? . . . .The positive side of the fact that God created the universe out of nothing is that it has meaning and a purpose. God, in his wisdom, created it for something. We should try to understand that purpose and use creation in ways that fit that purpose, namely, to bring glory to God himself. Moreover, whenever the creation brings us joy (cf. 1 Tim. 6:17), we should give thanks to the God who made it all (Grudem, page 264).
In my next post, I will discuss other evolutionary tenents such as eternality of matter and spontaneous generation.
This is a good introduction to a very important topic. I think that I can say accurately that this is the topic I have run into most often when having any kind of theoligical discussion with a non-Christian person. This post raises some of the questions that we need to be able to answer (where did life come from? what are the views of evolution and the problems with those views?). Its also a good reminder that the Bible really leaves very little room for discussion on the method of creation which is important for any one who is going to claim to be a biblicist to remember.
This is a very good point. We are so often trained to defend our faith against cults and other religions, but our defense for the literal, six day creation of the earth is lacking. We should further our knowledge for defending not only our faith, but defending a main part of our faith which is the creation of the earth by the words of an eternal God in six literal, twenty-four hour days. This will not only help defend our faith, but also witness to the lost by giving clear evidence for Intelligent Design.
Basically we can believe in an eternal God who created all things or eternal aliens who may or may not have decided to release their waste compartment on their UFO on their way past future earth. I don’t know, seems like a hard choice to me. In all seriousness this is a interesting topic to me.
One of many reasons scientists use for not being in Intelligent design is that no matter the evidence pointing against their model for the creation of the universe, they refuse to believe and admit to an almighty authority over them. They would rather believe an explosion of an eternal matter that can not be mathematically explain because of the impossibility of this statistically happening. This is seen when clear evidence is ignored, their “proofs” being scientifically proven false and the evidence of an intelligent designer being seen throughout this universe and in the body of man. Their view would be drastically changed if their was an open mind to the evidence being presented. Their strong presupposition of against a higher person than themselves is clouding their view of the facts
The greatest reason for the theory of evolution is the tendency of main to reject a higher authority. I have always found it interesting that evolutionists don’t have a problem saying that matter is/was randomly created somewhere far out in space, yet they cringe at the possibility of an eternal God. Often, the scientific community is quick to defend the laws of science only as long as the laws suite them. No one dare question the laws of thermodynamics as long as they help prove scientific theories. But when someone demonstrates that their theories of evolution don’t match up with established laws, suddenly the questioner becomes an ignorant fool who isn’t worth having a discussion with. As has already been stated, that makes it all the more pertinent that believers be “ready to give an answer” knowledgeable in theological, scientific, and philosophical disciplines.
One of the most disturbing and annoying tenants of evolutionism is to downplay and dismiss any evidence to the contrary of their own position. In fact, I have heard some evolutionists claim that the term evolutionist should not exist because it is simply a reality that should not even be considered a position. Any question as to why their blanket position on Creationism is just to reject without examination is, “because it is dumb.” The evolutionist’s analysis of creationism is not at all scientific.
Tim,
I agree, Anytime someone feels so strongly about something, they are going to deny any facts or truths that you may bring up no matter how sincere we might be. You used the word downplay. That really is exactly what they do. I was talking with someone that believed in evolution, and after everything was said and done, after hours of just talking back and forth, even though I had most of the facts on both sides of the spectrum, and I presented a very clear presentation on how evolution just can’t be true. He just shrugged and said, oh well, I’m not sure why I believe it, I just do. It gets frustrating sometimes.
There was nothing scientific about Darwin’s Theory. It was man’s futile attempt to abandon God’s authority and seek refuge in a place so far away (eternal matter) he could now claim to be the sole authority as he advanced beyond the rest of the animal kingdom. Remember, he is not made in the image of God.
Evolution as a theory is just a way to exclude God from the picture. It is the least logical view of origins and it is the least scientific view. It takes pure faith to believe in it and even a more blind faith to believe it. It is truly amazing what God did in creating the universe out of nothing and it is the most logical view.
This is probably one of the most feared topics that Christians don’t like to argue with non-christians because they are unsure of how to defend creation. That’s because they don’t know enough about evolution I believe. I’m a youth pastor at a small country church in north Georgia and all my teens go to public school. They come to me with questions about this topic alone all the time. Why? Its because everyone is interested in where they came from. Some more than others. Creation verse Evolution is probably the most famous of debates out there in our world. Based on some of the questions that I’m getting from my teens, we need to understand what scientists are saying about evolution so we can combat it. After all, their theories change every day.
Man wants credit on something that he will and can never take credit for. The theory of evolution consists of man’s unending search on the beginning and evolving of creation without ever reaching a definite conclusion. Today scientists will find a fossil bone and date it 28 million years old. The next day another one will be found and they will date it 52 million years old. These are the same evolutionists that believe the necks of giraffes became longer so they could reach higher branches. If this were true shouldn’t there be evidence of short, medium, and long necked giraffes showing the change and evolution over time?
Very interesting…makes me aware of the necessity to understand what I believe and be able to execute my thoughts to those who do not understand the truth in regard to creation.
The age we live in in infiltrated with deceivers who teach the false history and science of evolution. It is time for us, as a body of believers, to grow in knowledge and share the truths of God.
I never knew how Biology textbooks from public schools directly talk about the Bible. That is amazing to me. despite the attempt, Christianity and creationism will not die. Unfortunately the alternative is that our society will slowly become more polarized. This is a sad trend and only the Gospel can change this trend.