Evolutionary Creationism: Should We Be Teaching It?

When I taught the Creation story to my Sunday School class, I thought it important to mention that what they learn as school might not match up with what I was teaching.  My students then asked me what is being taught in schools.  As I explained that some people believe we came from apes, one student stared blankly at me.  The other laughed.

REad More...

If a nine-year old boy responds to the Theory of Evolution as too ludicrous to take seriously, how should we respond?

It's not just a difference of opinion.  When we make the claim that man evolved from apes, and apes evolved from organisms until there was one moment of life in a little cell, then we have negated the claim in Genesis that God formed man.  We should not take this lightly.  Either God created man, or man was not created at all.  In fact, God did not create any life according to evolution.   Even if He created the world, life created itself by some wild accident. 

Every born-again believer recognizes that Evolution as Darwin presented it is incompatible with Christian faith.  Darwin presented a theory about the origins of life with the exclusive intent of removing God from the dialogue.  He believed that if God existed, then the physical and logical proof of God would be so overwhelming that everyone would believe in HIm.  I guess he never read Romans 1:20.

Darwin himself said that his theory hinged on finding "missing links."  It's been over 150 years since he published his theory and still no missing link.  Out of all the different forms of life on earth, not one of them is in transition from one species to another.  Apes ares till apes, and man is still man.

So, if a theory that lacks physical evidence is being taught in our schools, why support that theory in the church?

I am baffled by Evolutionary Creationists.  Doctrinally, they want to have God and all of His principles while maintaining an atheists's principles of natural selection and evolution.  The two just don't mix.

Look at what natural selection teaches:  if the fittest survive, then any show of tenderness is a weakness just waiting to be exploited by the cold-hearted.  In Corporate America, this is the mentality; you climb the ladder by stepping on or over somebody else.  Those who exhibit honesty, humility, and good productivity are looked down upon as losers while those who are bold and willing to stoop to whatever level it takes to be noticed are promoted. 

Another consequence of the survival of the fittest is that if you fail, it is because you are not good enough; you are not fit to survive.  What about babies with genetic disorders?  They should be aborted because they are unfit to evolve into superior humans. 

Superior humans?  Doesn't that sound familiar?

That's right, Darwin's evolution is a major contributor to racism.  All men are not equal because they are of different races, and, if of a different race, they are not like us and therefore need to be treated differently, especially since they are on a different stage of the evolutionary line. 

I wish I was making up that last point, but stop and consider it for yourself.  Would you ever consider treating your brothers and sisters as an inferior race?  Of course not.  Asians, Hispanics, Africans, all these people are our brothers and sisters, for we are all the human race. No one is above anyone else because we are all descendants of Adam and Eve.  The Theory of Evolution introduced the notion that we are not all the same, giving hatred a scientific grounded.  After all, if they are no races, how could anyone be racist?  

That's why I believe evolution is a dangerous ideology that we should not be encouraging our children to accept. 

Jesus tells us that we cannot serve two masters; we will hate the one and cling to the other (Mt 6:24).  On the one hand we have God and His Word, and on the other hand is science.  Now, not all science is bad.  It's when we change our view of God because of science that we have erred.  That's what Evolutionary Creationists have done.  Because they feel like science has it right, they then try to reconcile their faith to the "facts."  

Regrettably, it should be the other way around.  Given what God has said, we look to see the how and why of our world.  Our faith should direct our understanding of reality, not science. Science, while valid when studied in conjunction with God's word, is a man-made system. God's word, on the other hand, is derived from God.  Which is more reliable?

Genesis tells us that God created the earth and the universe in six days.  Evolutionary Creationists, trying to make God's word fit with science, say that these were not literal days, and therefore God created the world over billion of years through its many stages as Darwin suspected.  According to Strong's Dictionary, however, the Hebrew word is quite clearly referring to literal days.

Why do they interpret God's word to fit science?  They, like so many, have fallen victim to the idea that science is always right.  Any honest scientist will tell you that all of science is based on theory, not fact.  We see certain phenomena and then pose an explanation for that phenomena and those explanations are constantly changing.  Even our understanding of time is being called into question by modern physicists as we receive new information about the universe. 

Science is a human interpretation of reality.  When we try to make our faith fit with what science teaches, we are altering our understanding of God based on human knowledge.  Instead, we need to allow God to be God, far beyond human understanding (Isa 55:8-9), and allow Him to teach us about His creation.

We should not compromise our beliefs because we are afraid to offend "facts."  We should not feel obliged to make our God fit into the confines of scientific thought.  Instead, we should acknowledge that science is a useful tool and allow it to be just that; a tool to help us understand God's creation.  Not guaranteed truth.