Theistic Evolution: A Wolf in
Sheep’s Clothing
There has been a concerted effort
among some scholars and Christian scientists alike to merge Neo-Darwinism with
theistic creation as taught in Genesis. When I say Neo-Darwinism I am referring
to evolution through natural selection, not microevolution. Selective dog
breeding and a gradual resistance to antibiotics would be examples of
microevolution. An acceptance of microevolution is worlds apart from Darwin’s
evolution through natural selection theory which holds to the belief that all
living creatures evolved from one primordial source that came into existence by
the Big Bang. Over billions of years through mutations and natural selection
creatures became more and more complex evolving into homo sapiens. Theistic
evolution seeks to blend Darwin’s theory of origins with the biblical account
of origins that says that God created all living things. Theistic evolution
states that God started the evolutionary process, “guided” natural selection
and eventually breathed His spirit into Adam and Eve as the first homo sapiens
produced by this evolving process. But this utopic compromise that somehow God
and evolution can work together is a falsehood that undermines biblical
authority and leaves us with more questions than answers.
Theological Issues
Theistic evolution creates all kinds
of doctrinal and theological problems especially with the issue of sin.
According to the Bible, God created a universe that was free from sin, death
and disease. Adam and Eve were naked and yet did not feel ashamed or guilty
(Genesis 2:25) because sin and its consequence was not yet known. Death was not
even existent within the animal kingdom because the Bible points out that man
and animals were vegetarian and not carnivorous (Genesis 1:29-30). This leads
us to believe that from the very beginning God intended for man and beast to
live in a sinless and deathless world. It was Adam’s disobedience to God that
brought sin and death into the world. Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man
sin entered the world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men, for
that all have sinned. A few verses later it is even made clearer that death
did not exist before Adam. Romans 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam
to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s
transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
Theistic evolution would need
billions of years of death. The fossil record that many evolutionists point to
as being millions of years old show animals preying one upon another. There
have been tar pits and ancient swamps where masses of animals all died together
leaving behind a tangled mess of bones and fossils. Evolutionists would claim
that volcanoes and meteor strikes wiped out large populations of dinosaurs and
other prehistoric animals. Evolution paints a picture of death, destruction,
carnivores hunting down other animals and cosmic destruction upon the earth. A
world that would be reeling from the consequences of sin, yet according to
scripture death was not felt until after the fall of man. Romans 8:22-23 tells
us that the whole creation groans and longs for redemption. Theistic evolution
would have a world groaning for redemption from the very beginning although in
the creation account of Genesis 1 God said that His creation was “very good”.
How can a death filled world be considered good by a holy and just God?
Theistic evolution creates irreconcilable differences with scriptural truths.
To be able to blend evolution with Biblical narrative in Genesis, promoters for
theistic evolution are seeking to remove Adam and Eve and the creation story
out of the way by saying that Genesis 1-3 is largely symbolic and metaphoric in
nature and should not be interpreted literally. Denis Lamoureux author of
Evolutionary Creation (2008) says “"Adam never existed, and this fact has
no impact whatsoever on the foundational beliefs of Christianity."[1] If
we are to go so far as to say Adam is not an historical figure and Genesis 1-3
is metaphorical this makes all of scripture suspect. If Adam was not historical
who is to say that Abraham, Daniel or even Jesus was historical?
But look where theistic evolution
leads us: 1) The inerrancy of scripture is doubted 2) Adam and the consequences
of original sin is done away with 3) Once original sin and Adam and Eve are
removed from the equation the very gospel is left in shambles. Why would Christ
come and die for the human race if original sin and was not passed upon
humanity through Adam? In an article in Christianity Today it was pointed out that
the Apostle Paul clearly taught an “Adam Christology that described a fallen
humanity, headed by Adam, and a new, redeemed humanity with Christ as its head.”[2]
Romans teaches us that Christ came to undo the damage that Adam’s disobedience
made upon God’s creation. Jesus is the second Adam who through His obedience to
the Father and his death and resurrection we can be redeemed and delivered from
the curse of sin. The entire gospel message becomes weak and meaningless if we
allow for theistic evolution.
Science Issues
Proponents for theistic evolution
want us to believe that science trumps the Bible and when it is shown to do so
we must rethink our biblical interpretation. We are given the impression that
science does not fit within a young earth creationist view. But theistic
evolution has its own issues to deal
with when it comes to science. Francis Collins, founder of Biologos (a group
that promotes theistic evolution) states in his book The Language of God,
“reported scientific indications that anatomically modern humans emerged from
primate ancestors perhaps 100,000 years ago—long before the Genesis time
frame—and originated with a population that numbered something like 10,000, not
two individuals.”[3]
But how was Collins coming to this conclusion? Was it solid scientific data or
construed and biased data? It appears that he was basing his conclusion upon
“junk DNA”. Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell writes that “Collins further asserts that
similarities in the silent mutations in between the coding genes unequivocally
prove a common ancestry. But like vestigial organs once mistakenly thought to
have no function, we cannot be certain that those “silent” mutations in
nonfunctional portions of chromosomes are really non-functional.”[4]
Again, scientific claims are being made on assumptions.
Another issue for theistic evolution
is the age of mitochondrial “Eve”. Paul Bechard explains how Mitochondial DNA
helps to calculate the age of a species. “Ideally, after a cell has replicated
its DNA, each chromosome will have produced another identical chromosome. For
the most part, this is true; the machinery used to replicate DNA strands is
exceedingly accurate. However, the machinery occasionally makes a mistake. The
likelihood that a mistake will be made in the same spot the next time
replication occurs is incredibly small. Thus, the error will be passed along to
subsequent generations of daughter cells. Over time, DNA will accumulate more
and more errors, which have two uses for genetic researchers. The first is that
they can be used to establish relatedness between individuals or species. The second
is that assuming a constant rate of error, or mutation, the amount of time
required for a certain number of mutations to accumulate can be calculated, and
therefore, the time since the two species diverged can also be calculated.”[5]
Some studies have shown that Mitochondrial DNA can be dated back to
approximately 6,000 years which would fit the biblical narrative. By
recalibrating the mitochondrial clock, we are getting a much younger age which
causes a crisis for evolutionists.[6]
Conclusion
However, you look at it, theistic
evolution is not compatible with the Bible or even science. Those who promote
theistic evolution appear to be the experts, they sound like they know what
they are talking about and their evidence seems “sound”. But a closer look
shows glaring problems. The Bible warns us time and again to be separate from
the world, to be alert for false prophets and to be watching for erroneous
doctrines. Theistic evolution is a marriage between naturalism and
Christianity, an ungodly mixing of truth and fiction. A wolf in sheep’s
clothing that is a direct attack on biblical authority and a slap in the face
of the gospel. Christians beware!
[1]
Ostlilng, Richard. “The search for the historical Adam: the
center of the evolution debate has shifted from whether we came from earlier
animals to whether we could have come from one man and one woman”. Christianity
Today 55 no. 6 June 2011, pg. 22-27. ATLA0001839721
[2] “No Adam, No Eve, No Gospel.” Christianity
Today 55 no. 6 June 2011, pg. 61. ATLA0001839757
[3]
Bates, Gary. 2018. “DNA Battles.” Creation Ministries International, August 16.
Accessed March 9, 2019. https://creation.com/dna-battles
[4]
Mitchell, Dr. Elizabeth. 2011. “The Search for the Historical Adam and Population
Genomics”. Answers in Genesis, June 3. Accessed March 9, 2019. https://answersingenesis.org/bible-characters/adam-and-eve/the-search-for-the-historical-adam-and-population-genomics/
[5]
Bechard, Paul. 2005. “Mutation Rates as a Creationist Clock”. The Age of the
Earth and the Formation of the Universe Honors Seminar (UHON 390), fall 2005.
Accessed March 9, 2019. http://apps.usd.edu/esci/creation/age/content/creationist_clocks/mutations.html
[6]
Gibbons, Ann. 1998. “Calibrating the Mitochondrial Clock”. Science, 02
Jan 1998: Vol. 279, Issue 5347, pp. 28. Accessed March 9, 2019. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/279/5347/news-summaries
