“Ten Theses on Creation and Evolution that (Most) Evangelicals Can Support” claims Todd Wilson in an article in Christianity Today 4 January 2019.
Wilson’s ten theses include asserting that creation is “central to the Christian faith” and “God created and sustains everything”, and “Everything in creation finds its source, goal, and meaning in Jesus Christ”. He also claims the Bible is “the Word of God, inspired, authoritative, and without error” and “There is no final conflict between the Bible rightly understood and the facts of science rightly understood.”.
However, it is clear that his view of “science rightly understood” includes evolution. Thesis Number 7 in the list begins “The Christian faith is compatible with different scientific theories of origins, from young-earth creationism to evolutionary creationism”. Under this heading Wilson writes: “If in fact God created the biological diversity we see through mutation and natural selection, then he superintended the process every single step of the way. Evolution would thus be a thoroughly directed process, the means by which God has chosen to bring about life throughout history.”
He also states that “Adam and Eve were real persons in a real past, and the fall was a real event with real and devastating consequences for the entire human race” and that “Human beings are created in the image of God and are thus unique among God’s creatures.” However, he then goes on the say that “Modern science has demonstrated that there is strong biological continuity between human beings and all other animals. Human beings, for example, share 98.5 percent of their DNA with chimpanzees.”
Editorial Comment: Todd Wilson may be correct about most people who claim the evangelical name agreeing with his ten theses, but that does not make them right. Truth is never determined by majority vote. God’s word is true irrespective of how many people do or don’t believe it, and sad to say, the ambivalence of Todd Wilson puts the authority of secular unbelievers above the word of God when it comes to looking at the real world.
Genesis tells us God created a very good world populated by distinct created kinds, and Adam was made from dust of the ground, not from some pre-existing creature, and there was no death, disease or struggle until after man sinned and God judged the earth. This is the opposite of Wilson’s “directed evolution”. Don’t run away from it – evolution is nasty, not nice! It’s a process of death, disease and struggle, none of which is very good. Theistic evolutionists cannot have it both ways. If God used evolution to bring man into being then the world was not very good before man sinned.
Furthermore, modern science has not demonstrated “biological continuity” between humans and chimpanzees. Todd falls for the fallacy that similar genes must mean one creature turned into another. But even though we may have a lot of genes in common with other living things, it is simply because many living things need the same biological process as we have to build and maintain their bodies, and therefore have the same genetic information for them. As the modern science of genetics progresses the much-touted 98.5% similarity between us and chimps is becoming an urban myth. See our report Chimp Genes 83% Non-Human here.
In the same edition of Christianity Today there is also an article lamenting the falling numbers of students attending missions conferences run by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. This is no surprise to us. If you detach God’s Word from the real world, so that being a Christian is a matter of theological theory and emotional experiences, you undermine the motivation to take Gospel to the real world.
The basis for mission is that Creation, the Fall, Noah’s Flood and the Tower of Babel are the real history of the real world, which links all races back to Adam’s sin and the common need for a Saviour. In that historical record it does matter that God did what He said and said what He did. The fact that all people share the same early history affirms that Christ is every nation’s Creator, Judge and Saviour, and all people need to hear the Gospel. Myths, legends and symbolic stories have no authority over people, and atheists know that. See our report Dawkins Challenge to Theistic Evolutionists here.
There is no need to compromise God’s word, and so-called evangelical Christian groups on university and college campuses are sowing the seeds of destruction for future generations of students. Putting a veneer of God’s word over the theories of secular, often hostile academics may satisfy the intellectual pride of one generation, but the next will see that the church has no more to offer than the world, and they will stay in the world, rather than put themselves out for the sake of the Gospel.
For more information see the questions:
THEISTIC EVOLUTION? Why can’t God use evolution if He wants to? Answer here.
HUMAN EVOLUTION? Does it create any problems for Christians who believe it? Answer here.
Also, see our Ten Questions for Theistic Evolutionists here. A printable version is available for free distribution to student groups and churches. Download PDF here.
Evidence News vol. 19, No.1
30 January 2019
Creation Research Australia
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