Evolutionary theory and some fun

Have a little fun with the cartoon above!

The view of evolution espoused above is an extreme one that would be rejected by most scientists, but it is one that is perhaps most often found in popular culture. Note that nature has been anthropomorphized. In straight secular evolutionary theory–which I do not agree with–there is no such thing as an “experimental phase” to nature. The viewpoint above turns nature into Nature, as though there were some type of semi-intelligence that is guiding evolution. More than that, it assumes that we are the culmination of evolution. Frankly, the purely secular evolutionist makes no such assumption. No, the viewpoint above demonstrates the desire for there to be meaning to life. The honest person who opines that secular evolution is the best explanation for what we see would say that there is no meaning to life, except perhaps what the person himself gives to it. Thus early 20th century writers, such as Albert Camus in books such as The Stranger and the French writer Jean Paul Sartre wrestled with what it meant to say that there is no meaning to life outside of what meaning we assign.

The reality is that purely secular evolutionary theory actually has several hypotheses about how the process worked. The agreement between them is in several link areas where all agree that the process took a certain path. The problem is that the real data available is somewhat limited. Note that having limited data does not mean that the conclusions are automatically questionable. Many would argue that there are enough signposts in the data to make it clear that the process of evolution is present, even though all the details are not worked out.

Christians are Creationists. That is, we believe that God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing. But, that does not mean that we agree on what process God used to do the creation. Was it a young-earth creationism? Was it a gap creationism? Was is a progressive creationism? Was it a day/age creationism? Was it a theistic evolutionary process? Is the understanding of Genesis 1 to be a cosmic time creationism? You can look up each of those terms and see what they mean. For instance, gap creationism was popularized in 1909 by the Scofield Reference Bible. Day/age creationism appears to be the view that was held by St. Augustine of Hippo. Cosmic time creationism is a new interpretation of the days of Genesis based on both Einstein’s theory of relativity and on quantum mechanics. I should note that various Christian groups have serious questions about whether theistic evolution should be classified as one of the creationist theories, but others say that since such a person clearly states that God began the universe out of nothing that they should be included within the creationist group. But, look it all up.

Meantime, look a the chart below if you want to see the spectrum of opinions on the subject of what was the process that got us here. The chart is just old enough that cosmic time creationism is not included.

After you have looked at the chart, it is very important that you note that Young Earth Creationists try to make the claim that literally everyone else in the chart is wrong. It is unfortunate that the chart included Flat Earthers. However, Geocentrists are still around, though in the minority, and are still active. For instance, the Creation Science Association of Mid-America is a Geocentrist organization that testified within the last 11 years before the State of Kansas to try to get their textbooks to drop all references to evolution. Young Earth Creationists are the ones who have drawn all the headlines. They are the ones who claim that no one, other than themselves, is faithful to Scripture. It is they who insist that only the way they interpret Scripture maintains the true authority of Scripture. Sadly, they are the ones who have lumped all Old Earth creationists into the class of Scripture-deniers. In doing so, they have actually done a tremendous disservice to the Body of Christ and caused even schisms within local churches by not just their unwillingness to accept  the possibility of any other creationist position but theirs, but also by their active condemnation and accusations of heresy against any who dare to disagree with them.

So, do research the different available positions. But, do also remember that to be a Christian is to believe that God created the universe out of nothing, as well as creating humanity. “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” The rest is opinion about the process.