Theories abound regarding the age of the earth and the role of humans relative to the rest of nature. Christ-followers know God’s Word is true, but sometimes the science-types appear to make good points. Even if you’ve never wondered (even just a little, your children may ask how what they learn in school jives with what you teach them from God’s Word.
Can Darwin and Christ Coexist?
I’m a fan of simplicity. Let’s stick to a few simple concepts and consider if Darwin’s Theory and the Cross of Christ can coexist. Why not apply logic to issues of faith? In fact, faith usually stands on a logical foundation.
If you believe God created man and Genesis is true as I do, did God create Adam as a newborn baby? If so, who would have cared for him? There wasn’t anyone else. Was Eve created from Adam’s little-bitty baby rib thus leaving two helpless infants for the critters to raise and care for?
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” – Genesis 1:1
Most creationists believe Adam was created as a mature man and Eve a mature woman. One second after God breathed life into Adam he probably looked like he’d been around for a long time. If Adam stumbled across a fully outfitted crew of anthropologists and physicists, they would (logically) swear he’d been born, survived puberty, and was somewhere between 20 and 60 years old. No rational expert would believe this fully-grown human was only one second old.
Paradoxically, rational expert insists that this is precisely how the Big Bang happened. From nothing to a whole lot of something in a tiny fraction of a split second.
What if God didn’t create a baby planet? Perhaps He created trees, seas, creatures, and man as fully developed beings and systems. That’s certainly what His word suggests. Scientists see something that walks, talks, and acts like an old planet so reasonably conclude that it is. Who could blame them? Perhaps a seemingly 500-million-year-old planet appeared in an instant; just like the universe. Bang! A mature planet.
God’s Big Bang was spectacular. Creating one little mature planet is nothing when compared to setting an entire universe in place in the twinkling of an eye.
Pesky Problem for Christian fans of Darwin’s Theory
If humans evolved from some lesser animal, yet you base your eternity on faith that Jesus died for the sins of all – how many human “ancestors” do you expect to meet in heaven? Homo erectus? Gorillas? Lemurs?
If you don’t believe Jesus died on the cross for a lemur, where exactly do you draw the line between the last human-type animal not eligible for salvation and the next one who is? How far back in the long, slow, bumpy evolutionary process did the blood of Christ become ineffective or moot?
Take a moment. This isn’t that tough. If macro-evolution is true, were is the point when the power of the Word made flesh fails?
No matter what date you prefer, Jesus died millennia after recorded human history began. How far back does the cross reach? What is its limit? If it goes back to the Garden of Eden to include Adam and Eve, how much further back? What animal produced Adam? Was his mother saved? What about his sire?
Where does the Cross of Christ lose its power?
The moment you dismiss the fact of God’s Word you open a can of worms that is as impossible to put back as the evils from Pandora’s Box. If humans evolved, then so did salvation. That means Jesus didn’t die for all, and some folks and some sins won’t not be covered. Or at least some folk’s mothers…
If you’re willing to go that far, then there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be spending eternity with some very interesting folks. The bad news is Jesus won’t be there with you.
Faith is security. Faith is simple – as a little child. God is or He is not. Jesus is or He is not. Death didn’t enter the world until Adam and Eve fell from grace or God’s Word is incorrect or misleading.
I’m not a betting person, but if you want to talk odds on who knows best, Charlie Darwin or God – my money and my eternity is on “I AM.”
Do you know…?
Pandora’s Box: “As a wedding present, Zeus gave Pandora a box (in ancient Greece this was called a jar) but warned her never to open it. Pandora, who was created to be curious, couldn’t stay away from the box and the urge to open the box overcame her. Horrible things flew out of the box including greed, envy, hatred, pain, disease, hunger, poverty, war, and death. All of life’s miseries had been let out into the world. Pandora slammed the lid of the box back down. The last thing remaining inside of the box was hope. Ever since, humans have been able to hold onto this hope in order to survive the wickedness that Pandora had let out.”
Charles Darwin factoid: Mr. Darwin was an educated man with one university degree – in Divinity.
If you find this content interesting or thought-provoking, consider Fifteen Minutes into Eternity – The War Between the Human Spirit and the Holy Spirit.
You’ll discover a huge walk-in closet full of things that you might think are true, but aren’t.
