Theistic Evolution
By Jeff Bunce
Jeff Bunce, Swansea
Introduction
Theistic Evolution (TE) is far more widely held among churches and individuals in the UK than perhaps is realised. Our young people and those who attend university will undoubtedly be faced with this teaching from within Christian circles, and may also be pressurised into accepting its tenets. Advocating TE are high-ranking scientists who are Christians[1] and well-known evangelical Theologians.[2]
To assess the merits of TE it will be necessary for us to be reminded of the terms used in its title and to examine in more detail their meaning. “Theistic” means belief in the existence of God, a Supernatural Being, who has revealed Himself in the Scriptures of the Bible. “Evolution” means the theory that the existence of all life on earth today has evolved from simpler forms over an immense period, with emphasis on the belief in Neo-Darwinian theory.
The view of “Theistic Evolution” therefore, accepts the Theory of Evolution in its entirety, but at the same time considers that this process was begun by God and that He intervened from time to time to direct it. The important questions, therefore, are: can this view be supported by 1] Science and 2] The Bible?
1. Science
There are two competing world views involved: the “Atheistic World View (AWV) and the “Biblical World View (BWV).” The AWV, with its commitment to the Neo-Darwinian Theory of Macro-Evolution (Molecules to Man, with its 21st century reliance on random cell mutations to give us all the astonishing variety and complexity of life we see today), can be called a “faith-based religion.” A “faith” which is not supported by scientific evidence, in other words it is a “blind faith”! Ironically, Richard Dawkins is fond of accusing Christians of having this kind of faith!
This AWV has replaced the Creator God of the Bible with a theory of Macro-evolution, with its apparent ability to cross the genetic boundaries from one kind of organism to another over an incredible period of time. The AWV has no credible scientific evidence to support it. One leading atheistic geneticist, Richard Lewinton,[3] has honestly written, “We take the side of science (naturalistic) in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs … in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for its unsubstantiated ‘just so’ stories, because we have an a-priori commitment to materialism … and that materialism is an absolute, for WE CANNOT ALLOW A DIVINE FOOT IN THE DOOR” (my capitals).
It is, therefore, extremely important from the atheist’s perspective, that this Theory is understood to have replaced the existence of God when accounting for everything that exists. In its view, everything has originated and evolved by chance – completely random events, with no purpose in view. Any criticism of this is dismissed immediately, while any antagonists are belittled and regarded as ignorant (including those who are high-ranking and accomplished scientists)!
None of the scientific disciplines however, including Mathematics, Biology, Physics, Geology and Palaeontology, can be invoked as supporting evidence for these Macro-evolutionary ideas.[4] [5] [6] Rather, these disciplines CAN be invoked to credibly and satisfactorily support the BWV of “Special Historic Creation” by an Intelligent Designer. The scientific evidence stacks up in favour of Intelligent Design and a Creator God, while at the same time much true science is completely contradictory to the Theory of Evolution (for example, the first and second laws of Thermodynamics – these are two of the most fundamental laws in science and are continually demonstrated to be true); and even scientists who are not Christians [7] [8] give impossible mathematical probabilities that the Theory of Evolution could be true. Sir Roger Penrose,[9] mathematical physicist, (and one time collaborator with Stephen Hawking), has put the probability against The Big Bang and the whole of the rest of the Theory of Evolution occurring by chance, as 1 in 10 to the power of 10 followed by 122 zeros. A number so incredibly large that it is said to be more than the total number of particles in the Universe! This means that the probability of the Theory of Evolution actually occurring is effectively ZERO! It is, therefore, strange that many Christians are content to join with Macro-evolutionists in maintaining their cause!
The answer to the first question – can TE be supported by Science? – is that true science does not allow for even the remotest possibility that the Theory of Evolution (Macro) is valid, and so it should NOT be invoked nor relied upon by Christians to support a Theistic Evolutionary view.
2. The Bible
Is there support in the Scriptures for Theistic Evolution?
a] An Historical Perspective
Until the early 19th century, it was considered that the Earth and the Universe that contained it, although ancient, was yet relatively young. This is when compared with the dates given today by naturalistic, secular evolutionary scientists.
However, the Jewish Nation, the Israelites, having been given the Hebrew Old Testament, revealed by God and delivered to them firstly by Moses (the first five books, known as the Law), were always capable of calculating the age of the Universe up to their point in time!
The first eleven chapters of Genesis would take their history from the beginning of creation (Chapters 1 and 2), up to the death of Terah, Abraham’s father. The chronology given in chapter 5 and in chapter 11 would enable them to trace the timeline from the worldwide Flood (Chapter 5), through the genealogy of Shem up to Abraham.
For Jewish Christians, and subsequently Gentile Christians, they could trace the chronology of the Lord Jesus Christ back to Abraham, because the Gospel of Matthew begins, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac …”
It is possible therefore, that the 21st century Christians today, using the genealogy in Genesis chapters 5 and 11, together with that of Matthew’s Gospel chapter 1, should be able to arrive at the age of the Earth.
It is crucial however, that to trust the age of the earth calculated in this way from the Bible, three criteria need to be met,
i] That the Scriptures are infallible and without error.
ii] That 2 Timothy 3:16,17 is true.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
iii] The first eleven chapters of Genesis are read as LITERAL HISTORY. It is these criteria which Theistic Evolutionists will not accept.
There have been numerous efforts to calculate the age of the Earth using the Bible. The most famous perhaps, is Bishop James Ussher (1581 – 1656).[10] He established from scripture the creation of the world as 4004 years BC.
Another was astronomer, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630),[11] famous for his laws of planetary motion, with a date of 3952 years BC. One of the greatest scientists of all time (the greatest perhaps), Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), (Wikipedia also describes him as a Theologian),[12] established the date of creation as 4000 years BC.
It was certainly true that the historical view of the Church and most of the general public accepted these dates. For example, under the heading of “Astronomy,” in “A table of remarkable eras and events,” the 1771 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica placed the creation of the world at 4007 years before Christ.[13]
Why, then, was there a pivotal change during the 19thcentury? There were a number of “innovations” which conspired together to begin to change the Biblical and Scientific landscape after the turn of the 19th century. There was the “Higher Criticism,” which originated in Germany. This cast doubt on the integrity of the Holy Scriptures.
There were also men like James Hutton (1726-1797) and Charles Lyell (1797- 1875), Scottish Geologists who thought that the “key to the past is the present.” These geologists taught that the Sedimentary geological rock strata was laid down by sediment which was carried and deposited by flowing water, BUT at the rate of deposition then currently observed (and now too); this is called Uniformitarianism. This inevitably led to an incredibly expanded time scale, known as “Deep Time” with no place in it for the catastrophic worldwide Flood recorded in the book of Genesis.
The greatest influence, however, was to be a publication called “The Origin of Species” (this is the short title), by Charles Darwin. He then extrapolated these ideas to include the development of primitive organisms into Homo Sapiens (you and I!). His book was entitled “The Descent of Man”,[14] Chapter One of which is entitled “The Evidence of the Descent of Man from some Lower Form.” Darwin’s book became popular, but was extremely controversial at the time. The great Baptist minister and “Prince of Preachers,” C.H. Spurgeon, said of Evolution, “In all its bearing on scriptural truth, the evolution theory is in direct opposition to it. If God’s Word be true, evolution is a lie. I WILL NOT MINCE THE MATTER: THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR SOFT SPEAKING” (my capitals).[15] (It is crystal clear from Spurgeon’s statement here, where he stood on Theistic Evolution !! )
The scene was now set for a new paradigm in the interpretation of origins’ science and a re-interpretation, by many Christians, of the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis.
b] The Current Perspective
Evolutionary Theory, treated as fact by many scientists and accepted now as the new paradigm by almost every educational establishment, includes the idea that Mankind has arrived here by chance occurrence with no ultimate responsibility to any higher authority. It has taken almost 4.5 billion years of development from inanimate chemicals through to primitive life- forms, then lower forms of sub-human life, to Homo Sapiens, all by Natural Selection (survival of the fittest); i.e. disease, pain, suffering and death.
Theistic Evolutionists rigidly hold to this position, but believe that God had intervened to start off the process by creating the “chemicals” to begin with, then producing life from these chemicals, and allowing the “survival of the fittest” to take its course! The TE view, then, necessarily puts death and destruction BEFORE the Creation and Fall of Adam and Eve.
The problem for TE is to try to interpret Scripture in the light of these characteristics, while still giving predominance to the evolutionary paradigm. Can this be accomplished?
It is accepted by them that Genesis chapters 1 to 11 must be re-interpreted in a novel way. These chapters are considered to have a genre of poetry or mythology or allegory, but must not be considered in the traditional grammatical-historical-literal interpretation, as in the past. They hold that literal historical narrative only begins at Genesis chapter 12. “Deep Time” is forced between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, or between Genesis 1:2, and 1:3.
c] The true biblical perspective
The first book of Moses, called Genesis (‘origins’), has in its first verse “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This is a remarkable and astonishing verse, and sets the scene for the remainder of the Bible. It is the foundational statement; the most important declaration, as everything subsequently written hinges on the truth of these words.
Before the beginning there was only our Trinitarian God. There existed no physical/material matter, energy, space nor time. There were no invisible entities or spiritual beings. Hebrews 11:3 states, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” God created all “ex nihilo” – out of nothing and by Divine Fiat. He then goes on to reveal to us in the rest of Genesis chapter 1, (verses 2 to 31) how He accomplished this. When referring to the creation in Psalm 33:6-9, David says in verse 9, “For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” The implication in all this is that creation was “sudden, immediate and supernatural,” giving no credence to ideas of “process of time.”
This further comes out in the “days of creation.” The Hebrew word for “day” in the Old Testament is “yom,” (with an accent over the “o”). In virtually every case,[16] [17] the word refers to a 24-hour day, except in rare cases where the context requires otherwise. This is the case in four places during the creation narrative where “day” refers to the daylight side of the rotating Earth, separating daylight from darkness. However, the day here refers to 12-hours, with 12 hours of darkness, but is still part of the 24-hour day. The plural form of “days,” is “yamin,” (with an accent over the “a”), as used in Exodus chapter 20:11, “For in SIX DAYS the Lord made the heavens and …” (my capitals). Where “yamin” is used in the Old Testament it again always means literal days of 24 hours.
Each day of creation ends with the words “the evening and the morning were the..” This must indicate a rotational period of 24 hours, as the Earth rotates once on its axis; this being established for the first time during the first day.
The consecutive nature of each day is corroborated by the inclusion of a “number” at the conclusion of each, e.g. “The first day,” “the second day,” etc. Taken together, these observations overwhelmingly undermine any attempt to include Deep Time into Genesis chapter 1; they demand it must be regarded as grammatical-literal history.
The rest of the scriptures, both Old and New Testament, including our Lord’s references to Genesis and the creation, always refer to it as historical fact. There are massive theological problems which are encountered if the first 11 chapters of Genesis are regarded in some other novel way. Professor James Barr, although a theological liberal, has stated, “So far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who does not believe that the writer(s) of Genesis 1-11 intended to convey to their readers the idea that Creation took place in a series of six days which were the same as the days of 24 hours we now experience.”[18]
In conclusion, scripture does not allow for any novel interpretation of Origins, Deep Time, death before the Fall or Adam made from a sub-human creature. What of Theistic Evolution then? It is not supported by Science or The Bible, and therefore should be rejected from a Christian’s World View. The Bible is the Creator’s Revelation to us (and to the whole world for all time), and must always take precedence over any competing paradigm, including that of the “science falsely so-called” of Theistic Evolution.
[1] One example is Francis Collins, Head of the Genome Project, “The Language of God – A scientist presents evidence for belief,” Pocket Books.
[2] One example is the late John R. W. Stott CBE, Rector of All Souls Church, Langham Place, London. Also, Honorary Chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen. “Understanding the Bible,” Scripture Union Publishers, page 63.
[3] Quotation from, “The Delusion of Evolution” publication, 6th edition, page 4.
[4] “Evolution’s Achilles’ Heels”, Ph.D. scientists explain evolution’s fatal flaws, in areas claimed to be its greatest strengths. Creation Ministries International.
[5] “Genetic Entropy and The Mystery of the Genome”, Dr. J. C. Sanford, FSM Publications.
[6] “Wonders of Creation, Design in a Fallen World”, Stuart Burgess and Andy Mcintosh, Editor, Brian Edwards. Day One Publications.
[7] “Evolution, FACT or Fiction”, John Blanchard, Evangelical Press, page 22. Astrophysicist, the late Sir Fred Hoyle.
[8] As above, page 22, Statistical Probability expert, Dr. James Coppedge.
[9] “Dealing with Dawkins,” John Blanchard, Evangelical Press, page 13; Mathematical Physicist, Sir Roger Penrose.
[10] Ussher Chronology, Wikipedia, Bishop James Ussher (1581-1656). En.m.wikipedia.org
[11] Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), Wikipedia, en.m.wikipedia.org,
“Can science explain everything”, John C. Lennox, page 20, The Good Book company.
[12] Isaac Newton (1642-1727), Wikipedia, en.m.wikipedia.org
[13] “Evolution and the Christian Faith, Theistic evolution in the light of Scripture”, Philip Bell, Day One Publications, page 24.
[14] “Darwin, The Descent of Man,” Wordsworth Classics of World Literature
[15] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, from a sermon preached on 25th July 1886, entitled “Hideous Discovery.” From answersingenesis.org, “Spurgeon on Evolution.”
[16] “The Early Earth” revised edition, John C. Whitcomb, “An Introduction to Biblical Creationism.” Baker Book House, Grand Rapids. Pages 28-36.
[17] “How the World Was Made”, K. B. Napier, Lulu.com
[18] James Barr, Oriel Professor of the interpretation of the Holy Scripture, Oxford University, England, in a letter to David C.C. Watson, 23 April 1984.