What About Creation and Evolution?
Evolution: fact or theory? Many people assume it is simply a
fact. Christians who by faith accept the truth of God's Word about Creation,
as it is recorded for us in Genesis and elsewhere in the Scriptures, sometimes
wonder how they can help others consider the possibility that there is a Creator.
The purpose of this pamphlet is to provide a starting point
from which to evaluate the claims made by advocates of Evolution.
What is the point of Evolution?
In 1859, Charles Darwin, in his book, On The Origin of Species,
proposed a theory that the various species of animals resulted from a process
of "natural selection," with the "favored races" being
preserved in the "struggle for life." Is this merely a scientific
theory, or is there more?
"Darwin was fully aware that his idea was a frontal assault
on the very notion of an intelligent Designer behind the world. In fact, he
might very well have formulated it precisely for that purpose. The idea of
a spiritual realm apart from matter seems to have been anathema to him as
a young man already. The primary inspiration for his theory of natural selection
did not come from observation of nature. Perhaps not incidentally, his writings
also reveal glimpses of specific antipathy to the God of the Bible, especially
concerning His right to judge unbelievers in eternity." (Wieland).
What challenge to Darwin is found in the details of life?
Evolutionary theory proposes that life forms start out at a
very simple level and then, by natural selection, eventually become more and
more complex as changes occur. However, biochemical and molecular biological
research continues to gather convincing evidence that the living cell is totally
useless unless, and until, it reaches its final form, and then, having reached
that form, any change at all actually destroys, not enhances, its function.
Darwin's greatest challenge comes from the question of how the individual
cell developed. Scientists studying this issue have described the living cell
as "irreducibly complex."
More and more scientists are reaching the conclusion that living
organisms, even the most "simple," show clear evidence of a creator
because of their incredible complexity at even the most fundamental levels.
The scientific literature is strangely silent when it comes to the question
of how these molecular structures, the basis of life, developed. How could
all this have evolved?
Has science accepted Intelligent Design?
Proponents of Intelligent Design have made great headway in
recent years. Their findings have added muscle to the long-held Creationist
arguments on the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which, simply put, says that
the way of all things, both living and non-living, is to go from a state of
order to various states of increasing disorder, not the other way around.
Other arguments being put forward are based on dubious dating-methods used
by evolutionists, and on the fossil record--the latter still showing no conclusive
transitional stages in types or kinds (one would think every fossil would
show a transitional stage). Together, these evidences, along with many others,
form a convincing case for the idea of Creation and Intelligent Design.
What stands in the way of Intelligent Design?
Evolutionists appear unwilling to address the findings of biochemistry
and other related fields. They are quick to say they are defending science,
yet when confronted by an Intelligent Design paradigm that explains the data
better than their own (such as on the human eye, a bird's wing or the processes
of blood-clotting), they offer no scientific defense at all. Instead, they
lash out, ridiculing the Intelligent Design paradigm as nothing more than
"religious."
What is happening in the scientific community?
Those who prefer the Creation and Intelligent Design explanation
for life cannot be conveniently stereotyped as backward, ignorant, flat-earth
fanatics. To the contrary, believers in special Creation and Intelligent Design
are discerning, rational people--tens of millions of them--who, upon weighing
the evidence, have dismissed evolutionary theory as untenable. And these millions
are being joined by growing numbers of biologists, geologists, paleontologists,
physicists, medical doctors, mathematicians and other professionals in the
pure and applied sciences.
A molecular biologist explains that evolutionary theory has
an influence "far removed from biology" and is one of the "most
spectacular examples in history of how a highly speculative idea for which
there is no really hard scientific evidence can come to fashion the thinking
of a whole society and dominate the outlook of an age" (Denton, p. 358).
As one biochemist puts it, "To a person who does not feel
obligated to restrict his search to unintelligent causes, the straightforward
conclusion is that many biochemical systems were designed. They were designed
not by the law of nature, not by chance and necessity; rather, they were planned.
Their designer knew what the systems would look like when they were completed,
then took steps to bring the systems about. Life on earth at its most fundamental
level, in its most critical components, is the product of intelligent activity"
(Behe, p. 193).
Is there room for Intelligent Design?
As much compelling evidence as there is for a young earth and
a worldwide hydraulic cataclysm (the Noahic Flood, which explains much about
our planet's geology and paleontology), Intelligent Design, on its own merits,
can be argued effectively without a single reference to the Scriptures. This
natural knowledge of a Creator is not the same as advancing a set of specific
theological and doctrinal beliefs about that Creator. If evolutionists persist
in saying that creation cannot be divorced from religion, then they themselves
must be prepared to admit that their orthodoxy--that life in all its beauty,
organization and complexity arose from random mutations and other Darwinian
speculations--is just as dogmatic, just as much a religion, really, as what
they scorn.
If Creation is theistic, calling for an intelligent, purposeful
Author of Life, then naturalistic Evolution is atheistic, denying the existence
of that Author and any supernatural acts wrought by His hand. For generations,
Evolution, with all its weaknesses and unexplained gaps, has reigned unchallenged
in American public life in our zoos, science centers, museums and mass media,
and yes, perhaps most clearly in our schools. The theory of Evolution is simply
handed down as fact. Only now, finally, is Evolution being contested on its
own terms: objective science.
On the blackboards of America's public-school science classrooms,
and in the pages and on the screens of the media, the time has come for the
words "Evolution," "naturalism" and "neo-Darwinism"
to make room for "Intelligent Design." Anything less, based on the
evidence, would be intellectually dishonest.
Can we "baptize" evolutionary theory?
It would be a mistake on our part to think that simply by presenting
the evidence for Intelligent Design, a person will become a Christian. Believing
that God is our loving heavenly Father who created the heavens and the earth
is an article of faith. Believing that there is an intelligent designer is
a far cry from believing that we are sinful human beings in need of a Savior
and then trusting in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who is our Savior from
sin, death and the power of Satan.
Such a living hope is a gift of God, given by the Holy Spirit.
It is not a matter of scientific study or analysis. Faith is as miraculous
an event in our life as is God's work of Creation in the world. In fact, it
is no accident that those who are in Christ are called "new creations"
(2 Cor. 5:17).
The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod believes, teaches and confesses
that Adam and Eve were real historic individuals and that the Genesis account
of Creation is true and factual, not merely a "myth" or a "story"
made up to explain the origin of all things. We would also be making a very
serious error simply to accept the theories of science without question. Many
aspects of evolutionary theory are directly contradictory to God's Word.
Evolution cannot be "baptized" to make it compatible
with the Christian faith. Those who attempt inevitably wind up watering down
the teachings of the Bible. Christians have no need to fear the findings of
science, nor do they have any reason to give "science" more credence
than they give the Word of God.
As scientists continue to study and explore the wonders of God's
creation we join the ancient Psalmist in saying, "I praise you because
I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that
full well" (Psalm 139:14).
For Further Study:
Michael Behe, Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge
to Evolution (New York: The Free Press, 1996).
William Dembski, Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between Science
and Theology (Downer's Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1999).
Michael Denton, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (Chevy Chase,
Md.: Adler & Adler, 1985).
Carl Wieland, "Darwin's Real Message, Have You Missed It?"
Creation Ex Nihilo (14(4):16-19, Sept.-Nov. 1992).
Additional copies of this pamphlet may be obtained from
Concordia Publishing House, 3558 S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis,
MO 63118 or call toll free at 1-800-325-3040, request stock number S14979.
© 2000 The Office of the President
The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod
1333 South Kirkwood Road
St. Louis, Missouri 63122
