I'm going to be relatively short and to the point in this post. Christians who hold to theistic evolution are starting in the wrong place. Specifically, their authority is wrong when it comes to creation.
When the bible is the place we begin, and we read Genesis 1-2 in a straightforward manner, we can see that God created this world in six 24 hour days. Interestingly, the facts of science support this.
When Christians begin with secular scientific findings, they end up with evolution. This puts them in a pickle. What can they do? Answer: they force Darwinian theory upon scripture and come up with theistic evolution. This theory basically says that God controlled evolution to bring about this world.
This is not a science versus bible issue. Rather, it is a secular atheism versus Christian theism issue. The problem with theistic evolutionists is that they have surrendered authority on the issue to the secular academy. They have bought into secular theories about the world's beginnings in the hope of being accepted by secular scientists.
Scripture makes it clear that as followers of Jesus we will be outcasts in society. Our view of how the world began is part of this. We reject Darwinian theory in favor of what God has done. In His grace, God has shown us what He did. He's given us plenty of details in Genesis 1-2, and, more broadly in Genesis 1-11.
This is not a core gospel issue (theistic evolutionists can be saved). However, it does have theological and interpretive consequences. As an example, scripture tells us that we all fell when Adam fell. Because of this, all can be redeemed through faith in Christ. If evolution is true, then all did not come from Adam. Various humans would have evolved from different sources. This being the case, how are those saved who did not come from Adam? Theistic evolution lends itself to all sorts of theological problems.
The worldview of scientific naturalism wages war against biblical Christianity. We must not accept it in any way. We have to have the correct starting point for our beliefs. The bible must be the place we start. If we begin in the right place, we have a great chance of drawing the right conclusions. A correct beginning leads to a correct ending.
All scripture has been breathed out by God. When Paul writes this in II Timothy he is talking about the Old Testament. This includes Genesis 1-2. While the bible is divinely inspired and free of error, science is imperfect at best. Even Christian scientists are imperfect people looking at imperfect data in an imperfect world. Science has flaws.
When we look to scripture as our authority, we will have an accurate understanding of this world and its beginnings. True scientific data will only support what we have already read in the bible. A great example of this is the fossil record. It corresponds perfectly to the global flood account.
Let's begin with the bible.
Proverbs 9:10, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is insight."
3 comments:
Just curious on your thoughts.
If this is not a salvation issue, then why the worry if you interpret the scripture literally versus someone else that interprets it differently.
I like to start with Christ and He has always been, so there really is no starting point (or ending point either). He has always existed way before the bible was structured.
As long as someone believes that God created everything from nothing (in some form or fashion) and Christ is who He is, then why the worry?
Doesn't this boil down to an agree to disagree type issue?
Brian, for me it is foundational to whether I can trust anything the Bible says. Not to go all Ken Hamm here but if you talk about Jesus based on the Bible but start off saying I think that the beginning of this book should be treated as an allegory, it isn't a very long walk to saying the same thing about the resurrection. It is an interpretive issue just like teachings on baptism, on gender, on the church, etc. How you treat Scripture in one place speaks to how you treat it in others.
Swanny,
I admit to being somewhat dogmatic about this issue. However, I do not believe Christians should divide over it (as some unfortunately do).
We should start with Jesus. No argument there. However, how do we know Him? Certainly through the testimony of the Holy Spirit. Also through scripture. We must treat this book fairly.
God has stated what He did. Why, as Christians, should we mess with this? We don't question the literal nature of Jesus' miracles, so why refuse to accept this first miracle of creation as it is described?
I'm not worried. Rather, I'm striving for accuracy and consistency. No fair reading of scripture even hints at any sort of evolutionary process in creation.
It is an important issue, as I stated in the post, because theistic evolution has serious theological problems.
It is an issue worth taking a stand for because the world's view of creation should not determine what the bible means.
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