immense rapidity. Its influence converted many to the cause of materialism and
humanism. Science was heralded as the Bible’s greatest antagonist and Biblical
skeptics used it to undermine the integrity of the Bible. It was in this century that
Darwin’s theory of evolution was first advanced and later crammed down the
throat of the unassuming masses. The insidious evolutionary theory has since
affected many “unstable and unlearned” Bible-believers to compromise their faith
in the inspired record. Today, many “of our Christian college science professors,
et al., have been seduced by pseudo-scientific ‘proof’ that the earth is old, i.e., four
or five billion years old” (see Miller, 1996, p. 33). As these liberal theologians
crumbled under the pressure of the scientific community, they attempted to
reconcile Biblical creationism with the evolutionary theory. The result? These
cowardly “Christians” began to promote theistic evolution as a third alternative to
the origins of the universe.
Theistic evolution and the "time" factor
According to Mark Jennings, “ ‘Theistic evolution’ states that God did create and
develop the universe and its components, but that He did it by evolutionary
processes” (n.d., p. 3). Theistic evolutionists thus began the seemingly impossible
task of harmonizing the Biblical record with the theory of organic evolution.
Their biggest obstacle, however, proved to be time. In his book, Theistic
Evolution, Dr. Bert Thompson observes: “Evolution, theistic or otherwise, by its
very nature, requires vast amounts of time. If time was not available, evolution
could not have occurred. The theistic evolutionist must find some way to interject
these vast amounts of time into the Genesis account – else, NO THEISTIC
EVOLUTION!!! (sic)” (1977, p. 96). The time factor has led many theists, like
highly esteemed Batsell Barrett Baxter as he commented on Genesis 1:1-2, to
conclude that “there may have been a long period of time between God’s initial
creation and the forming of the earth into its present likeness” (1976, p. 98). This
has become affectionately known as the “Gap theory”, for it attempts to find
millions or perhaps even billions of years between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 with the
express purpose of reconciling the Biblical narrative with the notion of organic
evolution. But can this reconciliation be genuinely realized? Is the theory of
organic evolution really compatible with the Bible?
An unseemly union
The evolutionary theory and the Biblical narrative would indeed make a rather
unseemly union, if they could in fact be merged. So many fundamental
contradictions between the two exist that their amalgamation would be a most
unholy matrimony. For instance, while the Bible maintains the position that the
Earth was in existence before the Sun and the stars (cf. Gen. 1:1-19), evolution
has it just the reverse, and contends that the Sun and the stars existed for billions
of years before the Earth ever came into existence. Also, plants, according to the
Bible, were the first forms of biological life, whereas evolution gives marine
organisms that distinct privilege. Furthermore, and most pointedly, the Bible
portrays God’s creative act as being something done once for all time (cf. Neh. 9:
6; Rev. 10:6). It emphatically affirms that the “heavens and the earth were
finished, and all the host of them” and that God “rested” after the first six days
(Gen. 2:1ff). On the other hand, theistic evolution demands the notion that God is
still “creating” the world. If theistic evolution were true, the heavens and the
earth has never and will never be “finished”. These fundamental differences make
it difficult to find any middle ground between evolution and the Bible.
From the beginning it was not so
The allegation is often made that man is a relatively new phenomenon on the
global scene. Evolutionists of every sort (i.e. Atheistic, Theistic, Progressive…)
assert that the only thing that existed at the beginning of the creation was a sort
of watery womb or primeval soup. Man was nowhere to be found at the
foundation of the world. But, according to the Bible, from the beginning it was
not so.
In a remarkable section of scripture, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptizer,
claims that the “holy prophets..have been since the world began” (Lk. 1:70). Peter
makes a similar statement in Acts 3:21. In Luke 11:50 Jesus spoke of “the blood
of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world”. Contrary
to the evolutionary theory, these verses place man nearer to the beginning of the
world rather than away from it. Man has lived “since the world began”, and “from
the foundation of the world”. Statements like these inflict great harm to the
theory of theistic evolution. In my estimation, however, the most compelling
Biblical citation in this regard is found in Mark 10:5-7. In answer to a question
regarding marriage and divorce, Jesus said “from the beginning of the creation
God made them male and female”. When mankind came into being, they were
created “male and female”. We didn’t evolve into our respective genders. As
Henry M. Morris remarks: “It was at ‘the beginning of the creation’ that ‘male
and female created he them’ (Gen. 1:27), not – as theistic evolutionists and
progressive creationists assert – some billion years after the beginning of the
creation that bisexual reproduction evolved, and then over 3.5 billion years later
still that men and women evolved (or ‘were created’)” (1994, p. 223). Mark 10:5-7
delivers a mortifying blow to the one who wishes to harmonize the Bible with the
theory of evolution.
The evolutionary theory: not new under the sun
The rudimentary principles of evolution were in existence even in Biblical
times. In fact Jeremiah writes about this very problem. Recording the words of
God, Jeremiah says: “As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of
Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their
prophets, saying to a stock, Thou art my father, and to a stone, thou hast brought
me forth: for they have turned their back unto me” (Jer. 2:26, 27). Paul writes
with reference to the Gentile world that “when they knew God, they glorified him
not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and
their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things” (Rom.
1:21-23). In these verses the evolutionary theory – at least to some extent – can
be seen to have been believed and propagated by men and, in turn, clearly
condemned by God. The nineteenth century was merely “history repeating itself”.
Conclusion
The theistic evolutionist has nowhere to turn. Although he exalts science as a
bona fide demigod and despite the fact that he views the Bible with great, though
lesser, veneration, science will not make room for these middle-of-the-road
thinkers and, what’s more, the Bible has been indisputably shown to be the
theistic evolutionist’s nagging nemesis, and neither allows nor supports their
precarious doctrines.
The Christian does not need to compromise the Biblical account of creation in
order to satisfy the whims and discharge the bombast of the scientific
community. And to cleave to both the Bible and evolution is an even greater
blunder than to renounce the Bible altogether. The bottom line is this: One
cannot believe the theory of evolution along with the Bible any more than one
can ride two horses traveling in opposite directions at the same time. It can’t be
done! To quote the venerable Guy N. Woods: “The Genesis account of creation
and the evolutionary theory are in utter variance; it is impossible to harmonize
them; one may be accepted only be rejecting the other. Any teacher whether in
the church or out, who seeks to leave the impression that one can believe
evolution and the Bible is guilty of undermining faith in God and his word” (1976,
p. 248). Rather than trace our lineage back to stocks and stones, or birds and
beasts, or whatever other kind of creeping things under the sun, we ought to
learn from the lessons of the past and leave the evolutionary theory to the
ingrates and fools of this world.
REFERENCES
Baxter, Batsell Barrett, I Believe Because…A study of the evidence supporting
Christian Faith, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
Jennings, Mark, Theistic Evolution (A tract), Fort Worth, TX: Star Bible
Publications.
Liddell, Bobby Ed., 1992 Belleview Lectures: Current Crises Challenging the
church, “Creation vs. Evolution” by Garry K. Brantley, Pensacola, FL: Austin
McGary and Company.
Miller, Dave, Piloting the Strait, Pulaski, TN: Sain Publications.
Morris, Henry M., Biblical Creationism, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
Ramm, Bernard, The Christian View of Science and Scripture, Grand Rapids, MI:
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Thompson, Bert, Creation Compromises, Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press, Inc.
Thompson, Bert, Theistic Evolution, Shreveport, LA: Lambert Book House, Inc.
Woods, Guy N., Questions and Answers – Open Forum: Freed-Hardeman College
Lectures, Henderson, TN: Freed-Hardeman University.
