Tag Archives: Bible

Creation Manifesto

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Tell me if you’ve heard this before, “Could God have used evolution as his creative mechanism?”

I have had several friends tell me that the evolutionary origins story is compatible with the whole biblical narrative and that there is no need to reject the evolutionary story. I would like to take on that claim and analyze it against God’s Word and later against some scientific observations.

The purpose for writing this manifesto is this:

  1. Define evolution and look at its history / intent
  2. Look at scripture to see if (as a whole) it can accommodate evolution. If not, what are the implications of trying to dissolve evolution into the biblical narrative?
  3. Look at the scientific reasons why evolution might not be on as solid ground as we’ve been led to believe.

Introduction

  1. Disclaimer
  2. Wrong Information
  3. Definitions
  4. History of Deep Time
  5. Did Darwin embrace Christianity?
  6. Evolutionary Mechanism
  7. Quotes

Not only is the acceptance of evolutionary thought unnecessary for Christians, but it is dangerous. The acceptance of the evolutionary origins story within the Christian church will erase the conviction of the historicity/truth of God’s Word. If the foundations of scripture (established in Genesis) can be marginalized as mythical or poetic, why should we not also be able to reinterpret doctrinal and historical scriptures to match the latest cultural/societal/scientific paradigms? For example, as homosexuality becomes more and more acceptable in today’s culture, it is feasible (seeing how pliable Genesis has been redefined) to expect Christian churches to ordain homosexual ministers. This is already happening in Episcopal, Presbyterian (PCUSA), and Anglican churches. So the battle for the integrity of God’s Word is not just about Genesis, but about the historicity/veracity of the Bible.

The battle of creation/evolution has been waged on many fronts and in many forums. Can my entry into the fray make a difference? My tiny blog may not turn the tide of the many battles, but for those who get a chance to read the following Manifesto, I hope that:

  1. Non-Christians come to faith in Jesus because they see that they can trust God’s Word.
  2. Christians are encouraged to trust God’s Word as cohesive and foundational.
  3. Christians are persuaded not to compromise the clear teachings of scripture simply to accommodate the currently popular paradigm and avoid falling into apostasy.
  4. Everyone is encouraged to study God’s Word for themselves and grow closer to the Creator.

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The intended audience of this manifesto is brothers and sisters in Christ who are unsure of the Biblical teachings regarding origins, Christians who purposefully incorporate the evolutionary story into their worldview, and non-Christians who have categorically dismissed the teachings of the Bible because of the belief that the Bible conflicts with the modern academic paradigm. I have sincerely tried to remove wording that would be inflammatory, and my hope is that this presentation will instead be persuasive in order to help bring unity to Christians.

  1. Biblical reasons to exclude evolution in preference of a biblical creation model
    1. Genesis – Writer’s intent
    2. Literal days leave no room for metaphor
    3. God called his creation good
    4. Chrono-genealogies
    5. Adam and Eve were truly the 1st humans
    6. Death came by sin not before
    7. Jesus is not mythical, so neither is Adam
    8. Is there a gap?
    9. Like the Creator did, work six days and rest on the 7th
    10. At the beginning of creation God made them male and female
    11. Worldwide Flood
    12. Deep Time in scripture? Where?
    13. Can we help?
    14. Why not question scientific principles of other miracles?
    15. Is there a better way?
  2. Scientific reasons to exclude evolution
    1. Cosmological
      1. Short term comets
      2. Decaying Magnetic fields in planets, heat on planets/moons
      3. Faint Young Sun Paradox
      4. Super nova Remnants
      5. Laws of Thermodynamics
    2.  Geological
      1. Worldwide flood
      2. Polonium halos
      3. Erosion rates
      4. Hydrogen in Zircons
    3.  Biological/Genetic
      1. Human population growth
      2. DNA in fossil dinosaur bones
      3. Human mutational decay rate
      4. Mitochondrial Eve/Y-chromosome Adam
      5. Information Theory
      6. Living Fossils/stasis
    4. Misconceptions, Misinformation
      1. Junk DNA
      2. Chimp/human similarity
      3. Radiometric dating
      4. Geologic Column
      5. Evidence for evolution
        1. Antibiotic resistant bacteria
        2. Homology
        3. Horse evolution
        4. Whale evolution
      6. Convergence
      7. Missing Links
      8. ALL scientists believe in evolution

Yikes!

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A new friend relayed a story to me, and I’m very troubled by his response. See, my new friend is a youth minister with the daunting task of living as somewhat of an authority figure on the Bible and the things therein.

The story:

One of the kids from my youth group went off to college to major in some science. He called me one day saying that his geology professor convinced him that the Bible was wrong. His geology professor told him that there was no evidence for a worldwide flood, so that Bible could not be correct. The young college kid was really distressed. So, I told him not to worry. The writer of this passage was probably a shepherd in a pre-literate civilization and he just got that story wrong.

I listened to his story with utter disbelief. What is this young college student now to think about the authority of scripture? When someone next challenges the youth about the prophecies of Daniel, what can he learn from this exchange? Well, Daniel was a slave in a pagan culture, so he surely would have embraced mysticism. His mystical writings about dreams can be ignored. What about the resurrection of Jesus? Since the accounts of the death and resurrection of Jesus was written by a crooked sellout accountant, a quitter evangelist, a historian, and a man who saw visions of dragons, can they be trusted? Should we expect them to understand the scientific impossibilities associated with someone coming back to life after being beaten, scourged, crucified, and impaled? That is…if they can be believed in their account at all.

It’s a slippery slope to doubt the source of the Bible. Is the Bible the inspired and inerrant Word of God or it is a collection of pre-literate shepherd’s ramblings? The answer has profound implications for your faith. Our understanding of the veracity of scripture will be a foundation upon which to build our faith. Will that foundation be built with mythological sand or trustworthy granite?

Since God is pre-supposed as the ultimate authority, then the absolute truth of his written revelation to us in the form of the Bible is a necessary precondition for intelligibility.