Genesis, the Gospel, and Theistic Evolution

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Genesis, the Gospel, and Theistic Evolution

Introduction

Humans have asked questions about their origin and their purpose on earth for eons. The Bible tells humans that God created them and explains their purpose. However, since the Renaissance, humanism answers questions about origins by naturalistic means and science has been redefined in the process. Most institutions of higher education and many individuals have adopted the naturalistic theory of evolution to explain human origin without considering its effects on faith. In contrast to prevailing thought at Goshen College, a literal six-day creation is foundational to the Gospel message. Combining evolution and Christianity makes one’s faith less logical and opens one’s science to new quandaries.

Theistic Evolution: A Definition

Before delving into the problems with theistic evolution, let us define it. Theistic evolution rejects the Christian tradition of interpreting the creation days as having been normal 24-hour days. It insists that only naturalistic mechanisms be considered when considering creation and the origin of life. Theistic evolutionists believe that humans and all other life forms evolved from a bacterial precursor in the distant past. For theistic evolutionists, naturalistic science carries precedence over the Word of God. However, in order to justify Christian faith, theistic evolution allows for the supernatural in order to explain New Testament miracles. In Biology Through the Eyes of Faith, theistic evolutionist Richard Wright explains that theistic evolutionists rearrange the first chapters of Genesis into topical sections instead of interpreting them in a straightforward manner (2003, p. 92). He argues that the chr...

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...(1995). The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time. Vintage Books: New York.

Wright, Richard. (2003). Biology Through the Eyes of Faith. HarperCollins: San Francisco.

[1] This problem with the theory of evolution was addressed by Stephen Jay Gould and other evolutionists. They postulated the punctuated equilibrium theory of evolution, which does not predict the numerous fossils predicted by the orthodox theory of evolution.

[2] It may be noted that some people have objected to the apostle Paul’s assertion that death first came to earth when Adam sinned on the grounds that animals and humans ate plants. Therefore, plants died before Adam sinned. However, this objection ignores the biblical definition of death. Death is repeatedly defined as being the spilling of blood in the Bible. Consequently, these objections are invalidated.

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