This is a continuation of our response to an article entitled “Ten Reasons Why Evolution is Dangerous and Evil” published in Clarion in January. See this introductory response for the context and our approach. In the interest of clarity, and to avoid further unnecessary polarization, we presented these responses in advance to the authors of “Ten Reasons” to provide an opportunity to identify any misunderstanding or misrepresentation. No response was received.
Original from Clarion [numbered for our responses below]
Evolution surrenders the historicity of Adam and Eve
Many people who hold to the theory of evolution don’t believe in a literal Adam and Eve. For them we today are simply[19] the result of millions of years of evolving from lower forms.
However, God’s Word in Genesis 2:7 tells that He created the first man out of the dust of the ground and the first woman from a part taken out of the man. They were made specifically by God and in his image.
If there was no literal Adam and Eve,[20] then what about the fall? Where did sin come from? Without a fall into sin, do we still need a redeemer? Without Adam and Eve, then who is Jesus Christ?
What we learn from 1 Corinthians 15:22 is that not only was there a first Adam but that because of his sin, the sin that affected not only him but all his descendants too, there had to be a second Adam.
If we start with God’s Word and if we believe the testimony that it gives us about what He did in creation and in redemption, then there couldn’t have been development from pre-human ancestors. If we begin with God’s Word, common ancestry with modern primates is out of the question.[21] (WG)
Evolution eliminates the antithesis
Our first parents’ tragic fall in Paradise destroyed the unity of humanity. When man fell, the united, God-honouring human race was permanently divided into two groups – the “seed of the woman” and the “seed of the serpent.” “I will put enmity between you and the woman,” the Lord told the serpent in Genesis 3:15, “and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
In subsequent history, that antithesis became clear, as the history of the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent is recounted on the pages of God’s Word. At many points in the history of God’s people, this antithesis has come under attack, as God’s people have attempted to make peace with the enemy, or have simply forgotten about the importance of this “great divide.”
“What does all of this have to do with the issue of Darwinian evolution[22] as it relates to the Christian faith?” you ask. And the answer is, “Everything!” In Romans 1:18-25, the Apostle Paul informs us in no uncertain terms about the nature of those who reject the one, true God: “For although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”
We must never forget the antithesis, the vast chasm that God has placed between his people and unbelievers for our own benefit, and for his glory. Scientists who begin by denying God and his role in the creation and preservation of the universe are, to use the words of Scripture, “the seed of the serpent.” Claiming to be wise, they are actually fools. Beginning with the presupposition that there is no God, they become futile in their thinking. There is no middle ground; we must maintain the antithesis in every area of our lives, for the sake of God’s people, and ultimately to the glory of the Almighty Himself.[23] (JW)
Responses by Reformed Academic
19. The “simply” which WG cites is an example of reductionism, and reductionism is part of the overarching worldview of evolutionism, not part of the biological theory of evolution. We fully oppose all reductionistic forms of anthropology, which make such claims. For more on reductionism, see this blog posting. Certainly the human person is far more than whatever processes or materials were used by God in his/her development, and that is true for Adam as well as for us today.
20. We at Reformed Academic accept Adam and Eve as historical. See this blog posting (comment dated 4 June 2009).
21. Better put, as Calvin would have it: one who wishes to investigate questions of common ancestry, not addressed by Scripture, “let him look elsewhere.”
22. At the risk of being somewhat repetitive, it is not Darwinian evolution which is “the enemy,” opposed to Christianity, but evolutionism. The issues raised in the section are otherwise exactly on the mark.
23. We glorify God also by exploring the works of His hands, as He has revealed Himself in the “creation, preservation, and government of the universe” (Belgic Confession, Article 2). We deny Him glory if we care not one whit for the evidence of processes which He has ordained and overseen. We are perplexed by the enormity of the accusations (“Scientists…denying God…the seed of the serpent”) among people who confess the same faith, but we will take them as well-intended. It is clear, though, that there is a significant degree of misunderstanding, and hence misrepresentation, of what has been posted on Reformed Academic.
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