CAN CHRISTIANS BELIEVE IN EVOLUTION?
One day a small child came home
from school. The moment he reached home he asked his mother, “Mama, where did I
come from?” Mother answered, “I gave birth to you,” The child asked again,
“Where did you come from then?” The mother answered, “My mother gave birth to
me.” The child asked again, “Where did your mother come from then ?“ The mother
answered again, “Her mother gave birth to her.” Then the child said, “Today, my
teacher told me differently. He said that man evolved from monkeys.”
Basically, there are only two
theories to the origin of all things, i.e., the Theory of Creation and The
Theory of Evolution. The basic principle of Creation is based on the first
verse of Genesis Chapter I which states, “In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth,” This is a miracle which cannot be explained by
scientific methods. Christians have to accept this theory through their faith.
There are four basic concepts in Evolution:
(1) All species evolved naturally.
(2) All species descended from simple organisms to complex forms
through millions of years by gradual modifications.
(3) In addition to evolution, all species undergo variations.
(4) Variations of nature at present can be used as a standard to gauge
the changes in the past.
Questions which the Evolutionists
Find Difficult to Answer
There are some facts which
evolutionists find hard to explain. Take the example of Geology. Basing on the
theory of Evolution this world has gone through many periods, such as ‘glacial
epoch’ (ice age) etc., which amount to billions of years. They estimated the
history of the earth by studying the structures of the earth: the lowest
stratum is the oldest and the upper strata are of latter period. Based on this,
there should be vestiges of simple organisms in the lowest stratum. However,
facts proved that this theory is not valid, examples:
(1) There is neither consistency
in the structures of the earth’s strata throughout nor is there any uniformity
in its positioning. This is because not all the strata are laid horizontally
but some vertically and some slanting with mixtures of clay and rocks.
(2) In every stratum is found
vestiges of simple and complex organisms mixed together.
(3) It was once found in Mount
Alpine the fossil of fishes. Fishes are supposed to thrive in water but why
were they found on a mountain?
(4) In the North Pole, extinct elephants
were found buried in the ice by some explorers. Some of these elephants still
have grasses in their mouths. Their flesh had not decayed. Why should a
tropical animal go to the North Pole?
The above mentioned discoveries
not only stultify the theory of Evolution, they also prove that there was a
great change on this earth. When Christians see all these things, they are not
astonished, because these things testify to the truth of the great flood as
recorded in the Bible. In Genesis Chapter 7 it is recorded: “… all the
fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were
opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. ... And the
waters prevailed so mightily upon the earth that all the high mountains under
the whole heaven were covered … And all flesh died that moved upon the earth,
birds, cattle, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm upon the earth, and
every man; everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life
died. ... And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.”
Next lot us talk about Biology. It
is stated that on this earth there are over 200,000 species of plants and over
70,000 species of animals. Based on the theory of Evolution, all living things
originated from a single cell. After a few million years of evolution, various
new species were formed and these finally changed into the many species found
at present. However this theory is not convincing. Take the world of bacteria
for example: within a few hours, they can give rise to a few generations.
Results of research by biologists showed that in the few generations of
bacteria there might be some changes in their shapes but no new species is
being formed. In 300 B.C., there was a father of medicine in Greek by the name
of Hyppocrates. In his book there were already records of bacteria that caused
Malaria and Tetanus. Biologists in ancient Egypt also found that there were
germs of tuberculosis. As for insects, recently there were people who used
flies as objects for their research. They used certain methods to stimulate the
propagation of these flies. As a result they found that within the few thousand
generations of these flies there were some variations, e.g., the colour, the
wings and the shapes etc. But they never found a completely new insect being
produced.
There were also people who tried
various ways of crossbreeding, hoping to produce a new species. For example, to
crossbreed the horse and the donkey we will get mule. In plants they used the
method of grafting. But the result achieved was only an improvement in quality
but never produced a new species. So even until today a horse is still a horse
and a dog is still a dog.
Further we can ask: “What is the
whole business about the ‘Missing Link’ that the theory of Evolution has made
that assumption?” For example, if man was changed from the monkey, then
definitely there should be the existence of half-man half-monkey,
Many evolutionists think that the Peking Man which was found is the Missing
Link. But we cannot simply assume that this Peking Man
is half-man half-monkey just because his skull was very large. This is because
man may be tall or short and may have a large or small head. Furthermore there
are abnormal people, Another ‘Missing Link’ is the things between ‘lifeless’
and ‘life’,
Another question which
evolutionists find it hard to answer is that where all life originated. They
may say the simplest organism is the cell. But where did the cell come from?
Must Believe That There is an
Almighty Creator
If we believe there is an Almighty
God, then for Him to create heavens and earth in six days is not an
unbelievable event. Let us study the order of His creation. According to the
records in Genesis Chapter 1, God created:
Light on the first day; air on the
second day; land, water and plants on the third day; the sun, moon and stars on
the fourth day; birds in the sky and fishes in the seas on the fifth day;
beasts, insects and man on the sixth.
God is indeed an orderly Creator.
If God had not first created light, air, land and water, then the plants that
were created on the third day could not have multiplied. The creations in the
first three days also sustained the lives of man and all animals.
When God created the world, He did
not create them from existing material (Heb 11: 3). Psalms Chapter 33 states,
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath
of his mouth … For he spoke and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood
forth” (6, 9). This is the mystery of Gods creation and it cannot be fully
understood by human reasoning because man’s wisdom is limited.
Irrespective of whether they are
animals or plants from the day of creation their kinds have been fixed. This is
because after the creation, each living creature must be according to its kind
(Gen 1: 11, 1 2, 21, 24, 25). If any animal or plant does not follow this
simple rule of God, it would face the danger of extinction. For example, a mule
cannot give birth to another mule, Hence since the creation,
although there may be slight variations in their kinds but the rule that ‘each
according to its kind’ as fixed by God shall exist for ever and can never be
changed.
The Bible has clearly told us that
man did not change from another animal but was created in God’s image. Genesis
Chapter 1 verse 27 states, ‘So God created man in his own image, in the image
of God he created him; male and female he created them,”
From the above reasons we know
that the theory of Evolution is erroneous, so Christians should not be deceived
by it.
