Dante Duran
Compromising Christians often caricaturize us Biblical Creationists as believing that how one interprets the Book of Genesis is more important than whether one believes the Gospel. They will sometimes say, ‘as long as we are preaching the gospel, then it shouldn’t matter how we interpret Genesis.’ However, everyone needs to realize that the way in which one interprets Genesis either provides a foundation for the Gospel, or, leaves it foundationless.
The Gospel, as many know, is that Jesus died to take the penalty we incurred for our sins and by doing so, made it possible for us to be reconciled with God, and that He also rose again after the third day, and that if one believes on Him, His blood can count for such a one.
So where does Genesis come in? First of all, Yeshua (Jesus) died for our sins, right? What would have happened to us if Messiah had not died for our sins? God would condemn us to Hell to punish us for our sin and our sinfulness. According to evolution, man evolved as a result of millions of years of creatures murdering and raping other creatures in the hopes of continuing their race. If one tries to fit evolution into the Bible, then, according to this scheme of things, man would have originated from a process of sin and exploitation, and continued in such a state for millions of years before God ever cared to give moral guidance. The main issue here is that if God used evolution then man would have been created originally in a state of sinfulness. Man’s sin and sinfulness, then, would not be the fault of man but of God. Just like Adam, when confronted by God about eating the forbidden fruit, pointed the finger at God saying, “this woman which You gave me…”
Where does Adam fit in the evolution scheme of things anyway? Adam, according to the Bible, was the first human being and the father of the entire human race. The Bible says that the world was created in a “very good” state and that Adam’s sin, the first human sin, subjugated the world to corruption and decay. The Bible makes clear that one day the world will be restored to its original pristine condition. But evolution leaves no room for Adam. It says that Homo Sapiens evolved as a group and that there was no first man or father of the entire human race. Theistic evolution makes clear that the world would have been created in a state of decay and corruption. Luke very clearly takes Yeshua’s lineage back to Adam. If Adam did not exist, then what about Yeshua who is a descendant of Adam? What about Abraham, about Moses, and about Noah? If evolution is true, then the Good Book becomes a book of myths about mythical people written by some very misinformed people. How can one expect such a book of myths to accurately convey important truths? If the Bible is a mythical work, then why should we believe that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day? After all, “science” tells us that dead men don’t rise. For what reason, then, should we believe that Yeshua is God, that he took our sins or that His righteousness will be imputed to us? Why should we believe in life after death?
Jesus said to Nicodemus (John 3:12), “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?” If you do not believe God about the beginning: of life, the world, and humanity, then you do not really believe God about the end: of life, the world, and eternity. Or at least if you do believe God about the end but not the beginning of things, then you are “blessedly inconsistent.” Inconsistent because you do not believe God about the earthly but do believe God about the spiritual; blessed because such a state is better that being consistent in rejection of God’s truths.
Evolution, on the surface, does not seem to preclude the Gospel, but below the surface it destroys the foundation of the Gospel. The Gospel is about how the human race, in addition to the individual, can be reunited with God. This assumes, however, that humanity was once already united with God, for which evolution leaves no room. Let me make the whole issue about Adam and evolution a bit more clear.
Major Premise: God Created Adam.
Minor Premise: Adam Did Not Exist.
Conclusion: God Does Not Exist.
This argument is deductive and follows the form “Modus Tollens.” It is the same form as the argument: If I had eaten an entire pizza then I would be full, I am NOT full, therefore, I had not eaten an entire pizza. Since the argument is deductive, if the conclusion is false then at least one of the premises are false. Is the conclusion true? Does God exist not? He most certainly does exist. So which premise is wrong? If the major and the minor are both true then the conclusion follows. If the major is false then the conclusion still follows. The only way to avoid the conclusion is to reject the minor premise, that Adam doesn’t exist. Rejecting this premise means rejecting evolution, as I have already argued that evolution precludes Adam.
Let me make this absolutely clear to my readers. I do not think that a Christian who believes evolution is necessarily unsaved, but I do think that such a one is inconsistent. I challenge you to be consistent in your belief in God, to believe in what He said about heavenly things as well as about earthly things.
I leave you with a quote from the pen of Elizabeth Rundle Charles (often misattributed to Martin Luther), “If I profess, with the loudest voice and the clearest exposition, every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christianity. Where the battle rages the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battle-field besides is mere flight and disgrace to him if he flinches at that one point.”
Always, And In All Things, Let God Be Glorified.
