Theistic Evolution

The development of the physical and life sciences in the eighteenth century was accompanied by a widespread acceptance of viewpoints concerning the origin and history of life on our planet that were diametrically contrary to the straightforward grammatical-historical interpretation of the Bible that had previously characterized virtually all Christians and Jews. The influence of respected scientists and the appeal of scientific evidence marshaled in support of the increasingly popular evolutionary viewpoints produced stress for individuals who were reluctant to abandon confidence in the Bible as the trustworthy, authoritative word of God to men of all generations. Faced with denying either the ability of scientists to interpret correctly the data available to them or denying the Bible as a reliable witness to earth history, many Christians and Jews sought a compromise that would retain the essential features of both the modern scientific viewpoint and traditional Biblical concepts.

The resultant compromise, widely accepted today among Christians and Jews, is known as theistic evolution. It accepts the popular scientific hypotheses concerning geologic time and evolutionary processes, while at the same time recognizing the God of the Bible as the originator and director of these processes. According to this view, the Bible reveals who made the universe, and why, but insight regarding how and when must be obtained from modern scientific investigation. According to the basic theistic evolution model, evolutionary processes occur so slowly and imperceptibly that the Creator's activity in introducing a higher order of complexity (such as transition from mollusk to man) would be indistinguishable at any particular moment or even over time spans less than hundreds of thousands of years.

A variety of theistic evolution is popular among conservative Christian groups. ¹ Known as Progressive Creation, this view holds that God instantly performed major steps in the evolutionary process by fiat creation. Each such step occurred within a twenty-four-hour time span, but these various days were distributed over 4.5 billions of years or more. The last of these steps was the creation of humanoid characteristics in selected anthropoid bodies (Adam and Eve) that had evolved from a primitive animal origin.

This modification is readily recognizable as an attempt to attach greater significance to the first chapter of Genesis than is possible with the basic theistic-evolution viewpoint. Basic theistic evolution is an accommodation of the Scriptures to the Darwinian concept of gradual evolution. Progressive Creation, however, is readily compatible with newer theories that conceive of organ isms as evolving by rapid change during a series of brief interludes, or saltations, separated by long ages of comparatively indistinguishable change. ²

Any variety of theistic evolution re quires the first chapters of Genesis to be interpreted as allegory or metaphor and raises serious questions concerning the manner in which these chapters are referred to by subsequent Bible writers. ³ Since theistic evolution accepts the evolutionary scenario as advocated in scientific circles, this scenario should be critically analyzed against the Biblical specifications.

For the following tabulation I am indebted to a presentation by Richard Niessen, of Christian Heritage College, El Cajon, California, that appeared in the Creation Research Society Quarterly, volume 16, for March, 1980, under the title "Several Significant Discrepancies Between Theistic Evolution and the Biblical Account." ⁴ I have taken the liberty to adapt and abbreviate Professor Niessen's tabulation slightly.

1. Evolutionary scenario: Space, matter, and time are eternal.

Biblical specification: There was a period when no time, space, or matter existed. (See Col. 1:16; John 1:3; 1 Cor. 8:6; Rom. 11:36.)

2. Evolutionary scenario: The original atmosphere was reducing (methane, ammonia, and other poisonous gases) and gradually changed into the oxidizing (oxygen and nitrogen) type that we know today.

Biblical specification: The atmosphere was created quickly and has always been essentially the same as it is today. (See Gen. 1:6-8.)

3. Evolutionary scenario: Plant life produced the atmosphere as we know it today.

Biblical specification: The atmosphere preceded all plant life. (See Gen. 1:6-12.)

4. Evolutionary scenario: The first life evolved in the sea, then moved to the land.

Biblical specification: The first life was created on land, followed by sea life. (See Gen. 1:11-13, 20-23.)

 5. Evolutionary scenario: There is, or at least there should be, a continuous transition between the varieties of plant life.

Biblical specification: Plants were created as distinct species, each "after his kind." (See Gen. 1:11, 12.)

6. Evolutionary scenario: Plants evolved over a long time period.

Biblical specification: Plants were created with seeds and fruit on their first day of existence. The Bible teaches creation with the appearance of age. (See Gen. 1:11, 12.)

7. Evolutionary scenario: Life began with simple creatures and progressed to more complex animals.

Biblical specification: The first animals created included "great whales"—highly developed mammals— and then the so-called lower forms. (See Gen. 1:21.)

8. Evolutionary scenario: Reptiles evolved into birds.

Biblical specification: Birds were created before "creeping things." (See Gen. 1:20-24.)

9. Evolutionary scenario: There is, or should be, a continuous transition among the animal species.

Biblical specification: Animals were created in distinct species, each "after his kind." (See Gen. 1:21.)

10. Evolutionary scenario: There is, or should be, little difference between the higher animals (apes) and man.

Biblical specification: Animals and man are referred to as distinct kinds. (See Gen. 1:24-27.)

11. Evolutionary scenario: The fossil record speaks of death and destruction from the very beginning.

Biblical specification: God created everything so that "it was very good. " Death did not come into the universe until after the Fall. (See Gen. 1:31; Rom. 5:12.)

12. Evolutionary scenario: Man developed in the image of apes.

Biblical specification: Man was created in the image of God. (See Gen. 1:26, 27.)

 13. Evolutionary scenario: Evolution took place over billions of years.

Biblical specification: Creation took place in six literal days of twenty-four hours each. (See Genesis 1.)

14. Evolutionary scenario: Evolution is a continuous process.

Biblical specification: God finished His creative activity on the sixth day and is no longer involved in completing the created order. (See Gen. 2:1- 3.)

15. Evolutionary scenario: The present is the key to the past. Evolution is based on the idea of uniformitarianism.

Biblical specification: God works suddenly and completely, and sometimes uses major and catastrophic events. (See Genesis 1, 2, 6-8, 11.)

16. Evolutionary scenario: Early animals were carnivorous.

Biblical specification: Early animals were herbivorous and did not be come carnivorous until after either the Fall or the Flood. (See Gen. 1:29, 30.)

17. Evolutionary scenario: It has always rained upon the earth.

Biblical specification: Prior to the Flood there was no rain. (See Gen. 2:5, 6.)

18. Evolutionary scenario: Man was formed from one of the lower animals.

Biblical specification: Man was formed from dust. (See Gen. 2:7.)

19. Evolutionary scenario: One of the lower animals was already alive when it became a man, and God merely added a soul.

Biblical specification: God breathed the "breath of life" into the nostrils of a dead object and it became alive. (See Gen. 2:7.)

20. Evolutionary scenario: There re ally was no one individual we can call Adam; the term refers to a race of early-evolved men.

Biblical specification: The inspired writers of both Testaments clearly speak of Adam as an individual, not as a race of people. (See 1 Chron. 1:1; Rom. 5:12- 19; 1 Cor. 15:21.)

21. Evolutionary scenario: Agriculture was developed late in the evolutionary history of man.

Biblical specification: The first responsibility of Adam was to tend the Garden of Eden. (See Gen. 2:9, 15, 16.) Cain, his son, was a farmer by occupation. (See Gen. 4:2.)

22. Evolutionary scenario: Language took a long time to develop in man.

Biblical specification: Man was created with an enormous vocabulary and grammar and conducted intelligent conversations from the beginning. (See Gen. 2:18-24.)

23. Evolutionary scenario: Since Adam evolved from one of the animals, there is very little difference in the psychological makeup of animals and man. (This is a fundamental premise of modern psychology.)

Biblical specification: Man was created so distinct from the animals that he was unable to find one physically and emotionally compatible with him. (See Gen. 2:20.)

24. Evolutionary scenario: Woman, like man, evolved from an animal.

Biblical specification: Eve was a direct act of special creation, taken from the side of Adam, not another animal. (See Gen. 2:21-23.)

25. Evolutionary scenario: Marriage is a developed, cultural institution.

Biblical specification: Marriage was instituted by God for the first couple. (See Gen. 2:24.)

26. Evolutionary scenario: Man has been in existence only the last l/200th of the time complex in which animals have existed on earth.

Biblical specification: Man has existed, except for three literal days, from the beginning of organic life on earth.

(See Matt. 19:4; Mark 10:6.)

27. Evolutionary scenario: The Gar den of Eden is a myth.

Biblical specification: All inspired Biblical writers understood Eden to be a literal place. (See Eze. 28:13; 36:35; Joel 2:3; Amos 1:5.)

28. Evolutionary scenario: The Cain and Abel incident is a myth; we cannot ascribe those events to any known individuals.

Biblical specification: Hebrews 11 lists Old Testament persons who are cited as examples of faith. One of these is Abel, who is contrasted with Cain. (See Heb. 11:4.) Jesus verified the historicity of the death of Abel. (See Matt. 23:35; Luke 11:51; cf. 1 John 3:12.)

29. Evolutionary scenario: Early man was quite primitive and technologically immature.

Biblical specification: Early civilizations, within only a few hundred years of man's creation, were already building sophisticated musical instruments and refining alloys in blast furnaces. (See Gen. 4:21, 22.) Consider also the technology involved in building Noah's ark and the Tower of Babel. (See Gen. 6:14-16; 11:3-6.)