What Is the Bible’s View?
Evolution and Christianity—Are They Compatible?
ACCORDING to the theory of evolution, all living things have developed from one-celled organisms that came into existence hundreds of millions of years ago. Supposedly, biological changes alone brought about the infinite variety of plants and animals on earth today.
Among those who accept this theory are many who believe in God. They hold that God began and directed the whole evolutionary process. Do you agree with that view?
Many persons feel that there is no real conflict between the evolution theory and the main principles of Christianity. However, there are some basic matters on which the two absolutely cannot be reconciled.
Outstanding among these is the claim of evolutionists that all forms of life developed from a common beginning and are, therefore, related to one another, at least in the distant past. The Bible, however, states unequivocally that God “proceeded to create” separately, “according to their kinds,” types of vegetable, aquatic, bird and animal life, as well as humans. (Gen. 1:11, 12, 20-22, 24-28; 2:7, 21-23) Should Christians today abandon the Genesis account of creation in favor of evolution? Is it “unscientific” to believe in separate creation ‘according to kinds’?
The most authoritative testimony for Christians is that of Jesus Christ himself. Note his expression to certain religious leaders: “Did you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and will stick to his wife, and the two will be one flesh’?” (Matt. 19:4, 5) It is clear from this that Jesus accepted the Bible’s view of how life originated.
All the Christian Greek Scriptures agree on this point. We read, for example: “For man is not out of woman, but woman out of man.” (1 Cor. 11:8; compare Genesis 2:21-23.) “The God that made the world and all the things in it . . . made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth.”—Acts 17:24-26; compare Genesis 1:27, 28.
But can informed persons accept that view today? Have not discoveries by scientists disproved the Genesis creation account? In some circles it is popular to think so. But how many have really looked into the matter? Have you? The first chapter of Genesis does not say that God created every species of plant and animal separately. As noted above, living things were produced “according to their kinds.” What does that expression mean? Simply that major groups of organisms, such as humans, are distinct from other major groups. This, however, allows for great variety within each Genesis “kind.”
Is not that precisely the way that life forms appear today? Likely you cannot count the varieties of cats and dogs that you have seen in your lifetime. But do they not remain cats and dogs? Never is the boundary crossed between feline and canine. And what about mankind? Though much variety is evident among humans, including hair color, eye color, height, natural abilities and personality traits, they always remain humans. In this regard, a well-known professor of zoology, Theodosius Dobzansky, wrote:
“The living world is not a single array of individuals in which any two variants are connected by unbroken series of intergrades, but an array of more or less distinctly separate arrays, intermediates between which are absent or at least rare.”
What about the fossil record of life in past ages? Do we see there evidence of continuous evolution of all living things? Or does the “record of the rocks” contain further proof of distinction between major groups of organisms? Paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson writes:
“The facts are that many species and genera, indeed the majority, do appear suddenly in the record, differing sharply and in many ways from any earlier group, and that this appearance of discontinuity becomes more common the higher the level, until it is virtually universal as regards order and all higher steps in the [animal and plant classification] hierarchy.”
Do not these facts in the living and fossil worlds fully confirm the Genesis record that life forms came into existence and reproduce “according to their kinds”?
A major Christian teaching is expressed at Romans 5:12: “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” Because of this it was necessary for Jesus Christ to come to earth and die sacrificially as “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) This Christian truth, however, is totally at odds with the theory of evolution. How so? Because that theory claims that, instead of falling into sin at his beginning, man has continued to progress upward. If this were true, there would be no need for Jesus’ sin-atoning death.
And what about Christianity’s main mark of identification? Jesus said: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.” (John 13:35) In his famous Sermon on the Mount Jesus counseled his listeners to show love even to their “enemies.” (Matt. 5:44) Does the theory of evolution comport with the law of Christian love? Paul Raubiczak, a professor of philosophy, mentions some of the effects of evolutionary thinking upon mankind:
“Evolution has been made the basis of a complete philosophy. . . . In fact the philosophy based on Darwinism has exercised an extremely strong influence, far beyond the realms of science and philosophy upon the whole development of European thought. The ruthless life and death struggle for survival has been translated into a new morality, as ruthless competition in a capitalist, as ruthless warfare in the communist world, and as ruthless nationalism everywhere.”
The consequences of accepting the evolution theory can be far reaching. Were you to become persuaded that the Scriptural view of life’s origin is not correct, how would it affect your regard for other parts of the Bible, such as its lofty moral principles? Might it be that this theory would end up in wrecking your faith in God altogether, as it has done in the case of millions of others?
In summary, the theory of evolution denies that major groups of living things are distinct from one another and have remained so throughout the history of life on earth. It denies the truth of man’s fall into sin and the consequent need of Jesus’ ransom sacrifice. (Matt. 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:5, 6) It has brought about large-scale loss of faith in God and promoted a “dog-eat-dog,” “survival of the fittest” spirit that has resulted in untold bloodshed. Evolution and Christianity, therefore, are clearly not compatible.