How I Changed my Mind About Genesis 1 and Science, Part 5 of 5

I am incompetent to endorse evolution. My point is that the scientific consensus endorses it, and, like B. B. Warfield, as an exegete and biblical theologian I see no need to interpret natural selection for the origin of species within an atheist worldview. Natural selection can be accepted within a framework of trusting Scripture as inerrant as to its source and infallible as to its authority for faith and practice; the Bible does not prescribe how God created the cosmos.[1] -Dr. Bruce Waltke, retired professor of Old Testament and Hebrew

I couldn’t agree with Dr. Waltke more and yet here’s the problem:

  • A 2009 Pew survey of scientists reveals that 97 percent of them accept that living organisms, including humans, were created through an evolutionary process.[2]
  • Notwithstanding, “according to a recent Gallup poll, 69% of Americans who attend church weekly believe that God created humans in their present form less than ten thousand years ago.”[3]

Like Nacho Libre, many Christians devalue science or see it as the enemy:

Humor aside, why did I write this series? To show the majesty of God. To promote literacy. To help Christians think, love God with their minds, and correctly handle the Word of God. To underscore the truth above that there’s “no need to interpret natural selection for the origin of species within an atheist worldview… the Bible does not prescribe how God created the cosmos.”

Recently, I attended an event for church leaders where the host pastor, who was also retiring that year, chose to make his swan song message about young-earth creationism. He implied that those who cared about mainstream science and didn’t follow the plain, literal sense of Gen. 1 were being unfaithful to God and the Bible. One of the things I’ve attempted to do in this series is show that young-earth creationism’s interpretation of Genesis 1, often a fear-based response to secularism, reflects a profound ignorance of the original world of Genesis 1. When you study Genesis 1 alongside other documents from its time it becomes clear that, rather than being “the only faithful view,” young-earth creationism is a less rigorous and respectful handling of Scripture. Further, this irresponsible treatment of the Bible drives many intellectually-wired people away from God rather than toward him. I’m sure this good-hearted pastor had no idea that his legacy speech made some like me want to run. Worse yet, later I had a difficult time even taking communion when he chose to tie his preparatory remarks—how we were to examine ourselves—to a recommitment to young-earth creationism (yeah, he really did that).

My heart with this series is to take the church back to more honorable ways of handling both science and Scripture. In that spirit, I can’t think of a better way to conclude than to quote the church father that all three branches of Christianity love to claim as their own, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430). It’s hard to believe that this amazing and wise quote is from the fourth century!:

Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of the world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and the seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones and so forth, and this knowledge he holds to being certain from reason and experience.  Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn.  The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the household of faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men.  If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehood on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason?  Reckless and incompetent expounders of Holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren when they are caught in one of their mischievous false opinions and are taken to task by those who are not bound by the authority of our sacred books.  For then, to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon the Holy Scripture for proof and even recite from memory many passages which they think support their position, although they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make an assertion [quoting 1 Tim. 1:7].”[4]

Here are my final take-aways:

  • The Spirit of Christ teaches us not to be afraid (2 Timothy 1:7). As James K.A. Smith points out, “This means I don’t need to fall into fight-or-flight mode, driven by fear to either crush all threats or hide from difficult questions. It also means I don’t need to confuse a particular position with the only way to follow Jesus. While Christians need to wrestle with and work through difficult questions at the intersection of faith and science, that intellectual labor needs to be rooted in the core conviction that all things hold together in Christ (Colossians 1:17).”[5]
  • Give a respectful hearing to all views, especially views like evolutionary creationism that keep both God and mainstream science front and center. Creation versus evolution is a false dichotomy when God is in the picture.
  • Be accurate about how you characterize evolution. For example, many Christians will say, “Evolution teaches we came from monkeys.” This isn’t true. More accurately, evolutionary biology shows that chimpanzees and humans share a common ancestor. Interestingly, the same DNA science that shows this, is the same science we now solve crimes with, or on which our favorite crime shows are based (e.g. C.S.I. Miami, etc.).
  • Parents and grandparents, encourage kids to explore God’s amazing world, trust Scripture, not be afraid of science, and be okay with questions that humans can’t answer. Our children should never face a choice between faith and science when there are so many people of faith who are also scientists that wisely and richly integrate the two.

Recommended for further study:

[1] https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2010/april/ot-scholar-bruce-waltke-resigns-following-evolution.html

[2] Public Praises Science; Scientists Fault Public, Media,” Pew Research Center (July 9, 2009), 37. www.people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/528.pdf.

[3] Applegate & Stump, How I Changed My Mind About Evolution (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2016), 16.

[4] Mark A. Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994) 203.

[5] Applegate & Stump, How I Changed My Mind About Evolution (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2016), 28.