Evolution has become widely accepted as an explanation of human origins. It used to be called a theory, but now it is almost a dogma. I thought science was supposed to be about humble discovery, changing hypothesis to make room for new facts, etc. But evolution (along with climate change) has somehow been elevated to the level of orthodoxy.
It has even crept into Christian educational circles. There is a movement to ‘reconcile science and religion’, but it seems the that the main goal is to integrate evolution into Christian thinking.
I have not found the Christian promoters of evolution to be very good at explaining the problems caused by their beliefs. They would rather talk vaguely about how science is not the enemy of religion–and hope you don’t ask too many questions.
I don’t want to get into the controversy of young earth/old earth. I just want to say that I don’t believe in evolution. Here’s why.
1. First of all, it does not fit into the biblical account of the creation of man and woman.
The Bible says, “…the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being,” (Genesis 2:7).
Man is made directly from the dust. There is no hint of him coming from lower life forms. Only he is given the image of God. There is clear distinction between man and the animals.
This is a miracle. The scientific age has brought many benefits–especially in the field of medicine. But it has some negatives. One of them is that it seems to take a dim view of miracles. Science is focused on predictable, observable laws of nature and has no place for those laws being broken–like a man being made directly from the dust of the earth. But God, who made the laws, has the right to break them, reverse them, speed them up…He is God. He is not under the laws of nature; they are under Him. And if anyone believes in God, they should also believe that He can do miracles. This should not be hard to believe.
If a Christian believes that God raised Jesus from the dead (and he must believe this or he is not a Christian), then it is a short step to believing that God can do other miracles–like making a man from the dust of the earth.
2. The genealogies of the Bible go back to Adam, then stop.
There are three biblical genealogies that go back to Adam (contained in Genesis, 1 Chronicles, and Luke). The one in Luke traces Christ lineage back through David, Abraham, and all the way back to Adam. In all these cases, they stop at Adam. No apes, no lower life forms, nothing.
3. A historical, literal Adam is important to salvation theology.
Evolution necessitates the elimination or downgrading of a historical Adam. But this cannot be done without shredding the theology that is based on the existence of a historical Adam. Namely, salvation theology–the way we are saved. This is important!
In Romans 5 Paul talks about the problem of sin and the solution for sin, which is grace. Adam brought the sin; Christ brought the grace. In 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 he returns to the same theme: “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” Adam is mentioned as just as literal and historical a figure as Christ is. Both had their place (Adam for bad; Christ for good) in the matter of our rescue from sin. To undercut Adam as a literal person character (which evolution does) also undercuts this doctrine which is built upon his existence. Are these Christian evolutionists thinking through what they are doing when they tell us that Adam is a fictional character?
Some other considerations.
Evolution implies an endless gradualism. God’s timeline is one that includes decisive events, with a beginning and an end. It is not an endless loop. It is a timeline; and we are in it. There are decisive events in it: creation, the flood, the giving of the law, the coming of Christ, and the second coming of Christ, which is yet to come. The endless gradualism implied by evolution dilutes the sense of God’s timeline which has a beginning and end.
The human body has the ‘dust of the earth’ in it. We have more in common with the earth than we might think. We all need minerals–salt, potassium, zinc, iron and others–that are necessary for our bodies to survive. These earthly elements point to a connection with the dust from which we came.
Adopting evolution will not aid in evangelism. One reason evolution is being promoted is that people don’t want the church to be seen as slow to adapt. We don’t want to be seen as stuck in the mud. I was once told by a church university professor that young people today see the church as behind the times and anti-science. That was his reason for his organizing an obviously pro-evolution science/creation conference. The reasoning ‘we better bend to what they want or we’ll lose them’ is questionable at best. It made me wonder what we are going to bend to next. What will people say they want next? And, if the church conforms to them, do they immediately join the church? It is not my impression that they do. I read today of a revival among an unexpected group in an unexpected place: 18-24 year-olds in Britain. Britain has seen a serious shrinking of Christianity in recent years, to the point where Christianity has become a minority while Islam and atheism have been rising. But church attendance among young people is up; belief in God among them has tripled since 2021. The reason? The article made some guesses, but the church accommodating modern trends was not among the guesses. The people seemed to be searching something better than what secular society had to offer. The secular orthodoxies have not satisfied them. They were looking for something higher.
There will always be a temptation for the church to bend to fit popular trends. There will always be a temptation to water things down in the name of evangelism. It’s wrong and it doesn’t work.
What works is also what is right: to let God’s word stand. The truths of the Bible will never return empty (Isaiah 55:11). If the biblical story of creation is out of sync with the spirit of our age–so be it. God’s Word has never let us down and we should not let it down when it is challenged. Let’s just let it stand and believe in it.