Evolution

Bottom Line

Evolution is a theory that seeks to explain the existence of humankind without a Biblical worldview. It stands as a contrast to the Bible's description of humankind as a special creation by a Divine Creator. A Christian rejects an evolutionary worldview.

Thoughts

One day my youngest daughter came home from preschool. I started asking about her day and what she had learned. She said, “Daddy, today I learned that all of the trees are blue.” I laughed. She didn’t. She continued, “Daddy, that’s not funny. You’ll hurt the trees feelings.” “Well, baby. I’m not trying to hurt anyone’s feelings but I have never seen a blue tree. Maybe blue flowers on the tree but not the tree itself.” She started to get upset. I finally told her not worry about it and we would figure things out the next day. The next day we went to school and the teacher cleared things up quickly. They were learning about trees and the ocean on the same day. It was simple misunderstanding. Whew. Imagine if I went to the teacher and she said, “Yes. The trees are all blue. That’s a scientific fact. There’s nothing that can be done. It’s over.” I would have been highly confused and you would too. This is how I feel when people come up to me and talk about evolution. While there are some scientific facts that can lean toward evolution having merit, there are many more that leave scientists baffled. The bottom line is evolution is a theory for how the world began, nothing more. The main reason it is so widely accepted is because it is taught at the lowest levels of education. Think about it. When you were in elementary school, were you given many different possibilities for creation and taught how to use the scientific method to sort it out for yourself? If you went to public school, the answer is probably not. The theory of evolution was crammed down your throat so much that it’s now hard for many adults to imagine anything else could be true. In the links below, there are many different resources to help you give the theory of evolution a second look.

First, here are a few quick questions to sort out.

According to Miriam-Webster, what is Evolutionary theory?

The process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth.
The gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form."the forms of written languages undergo constant evolution"

Where did the theory of evolution come from?

Charles Darwin is commonly cited as the person who “discovered” evolution, when he published his book “On the Origin of Species” in 1859.

Is evolution a fact or theory?

While many biologist consider evolution to be scientific fact, it is filled with unprovable issues. Therefore, it is still technically considered a theory.

Is the theory of evolution compatible with a Biblical worldview?

While a minority of Christians try to jam both together, evolution and a Biblical worldview are mostly incompatible. Those who do are called “evolutionary theists.” This means they believe God chose evolution to create everything we see. This mainly seen as a way to somehow coexist with two prevailing theories.

The main reason evolution and Christianity are opposed is due to the first 3 chapters in Genesis. In these chapters, God’s Word lays out a system of creation that does not sound like evolution at all. Among many other difference, evolution is considered random chaos. Biblical creation has order and symmetry.

Why do Christians care?

Christians see evolution as a direct attack on the authority of Scripture. Some examples include:

Young creationists say the world was created in 6 days, according to Genesis 1. Evolution says it took millions of years.
Biblical creation says humanity was a special creation by God, made in His image. Evolution says we evolved from lower life forms.
Biblical creationists say evolution undermines the authority of Scripture.

If you believe in evolution as the scientific reality for all creation, are you doomed to hell?

This is a tough question. On one hand, no. What is required to enter Heaven is to believe Jesus is the Son of God and accept His work on the Cross for the forgiveness of your sins. On the other hand, embracing the theory of evolution starts someone down a bad road of questioning the authority of Scripture. No it will not keep you out of Heaven, but you are walking on dangerous territory to possibly eventually denying God’s Word to be true.

Questions for my evolutionist friends…

Where are the “gap species?”
Evolutionary theory states all lifeforms are in a constant state of flux and continual adaptation. While there have been a limited few species pointed to as being at an evolutionary “dead end,” where are the rest? There should be many different versions of animals in varying degrees of evolution all around us. For example, where are all the ‘in-between” species between modern day primates and humans. There is some discussion of Neanderthals being that “in-between,” but I see no evidence for this. Where are the rest?

Can’t common DNA can have two meanings?
Yes, humans and primates share 90% similar DNA. Humans and squirrels share something like 60% similar DNA. Evolutionist say this is a sign of a common ancestor. Couldn’t it also be the sign of a common Creator? Why wouldn’t God use the same basic genetic code for all life on the same planet because He made all that life to exist side-by-side. Seems more like the genius of a Designer and not coincidental design.

Can you explain the human eyeball?
Evolutionary theory says life-forms develop over millions of years. If this is so, how do they explain the human eye. It is a developmental marvel with many different things having to work in sync perfectly at the same time for us to be able to see in daylight and then quickly for our eyes to adjust to darkness. We can look far away and quickly focus up close. There are many more amazing things we can do and all these things must be working at the same time for it to work at all. It simply would not be able to develop one piece and then another a thousand years later. We would not have been able to survive.

Bible Verses Against Evolution

The Entire First Half of Genesis
(Romans 1:20-27) For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
(Psalm 14:1) The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.
(Psalm 33:4-11) For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.
(Isaiah 42:5-9) Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
(John 1:3) All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
(Colossians 1:16-17) For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
(Hebrews 11:1-3) Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
(2 Peter 3:3-6) Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
(Exodus 20:11) For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
(John 3:16-17) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
(Job 12:7-9) But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?
(Revelation 14:6-7) Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
(Acts 17:24-28) The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’"