Biblical Creation vs. Evolution

[Soldier4Christ]

I. Evolution Says the Universe Began by Natural Processes. The Bible Says God Created It.
A. Evolution Is a Major Doctrine of Unbelievers.

The doctrine weakens faith in God, undermines the arguments for God's existence, and is a fundamental tenet of all who disbelieve the Bible. True, there are severything evolved from an original life form, but God began the process and directed it. They cannot, of course, take Gen. 1 literally, so they say it is figurative speech or legend.

The purpose of this study is to consider the consequences of accepting the Theory of Evolution. Is it possible to believe both evolution and the Bible? Does evolution necessarily contradict the Bible? Can a person firmly defend evolution and still be a faithful Christian?

Note that it is not here our purpose to consider the scientific evidence for creation or against evolution, though we believe this can profitably be done. Nor will we emphasize the reasons why we believe the Bible. We believe it, not just because it agrees with science, but because of fulfilled prophecy, the miracles done by Jesus and the Bible writers, the resurrection, and other such proofs. But in this study we simply wish to compare the Bible to evolution and see if the two can be harmonized.

So please consider a summary of the contradictions between evolution and the Bible doctrine of creation.

[Soldier4Christ]

I. Evolution Says the Universe Began by Natural Processes. The Bible Says God Created It.
A. Evolution Is a Major Doctrine of Unbelievers.

The doctrine weakens faith in God, undermines the arguments for God's existence, and is a fundamental tenet of all who disbelieve the Bible. True, there are some people who believe evolution and also claim to believe in God. But all unbelievers in God accept evolution. And believing evolution weakens faith in God.
The importance of evolution to unbelief.

Charles Darwin, who popularized the modern theory of evolution, said: "I have never been an atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God. I think that generally (and more and more so as I grow older) but not always that an agnostic would be the most correct description of my state of mind." (Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette, 1/4/82)

The Humanist Manifestos say: "Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created … Humanism believes that man is a part of nature and that he has emerged as the result of a continuous process … Many kinds of humanism exist [including] … atheism, agnosticism, skepticism, … and liberal religion … We find insufficient evidence for belief in the existence of a supernatural … As non-theists, we begin with humans not God, nature not deity … science affirms that the human species is an emergence from natural evolutionary forces" - pp. 8,16,17.

Huxley, an ardent evolutionist, said: "It is clear that the doctrine of Evolution is directly antagonistic to that of creation, … Evolution if consistently applied, makes it impossible to believe the Bible." (HRQ, p. 63)

Charles Smith, former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Atheism, said: "Evolution is atheism." (Evolution: Science False So-Called, 16th Ed., p. 87).

Woolsey Teller, also of AAAA, said: "The God idea cannot be reconciled with our knowledge of evolution." (Evolution: Science False So-Called, 16th Ed., p. 87).

G. M. Price said: "It is thus very evident that there is no similarity between the idea of Evolution and that of Creation; it is all contrast. The two terms are antonyms; they are mutually exclusive; no mind can entertain a belief in both at the same time; when one notion is believed, the other is thereby denied and repudiated." (HRQ, p. 63)

Higley said: "Theistic evolution, then, is a contradiction of terms. To maintain that evolution can be theistic is as inconsistent as to claim that falsehood can be true." (HRQ, p. 63)

After reading Darwin and Spencer, Andrew Carnegie said: "I remember that light came as in a flood and all was clear. Not only had I got rid of theology and the supernatural, but I had found the truth of evolution." (Davidheiser, p. 350f)

Yaroslavsky wrote a biography of Joseph Stalin, published by the Russian communists during Stalin's life. He says of Stalin that, at an early age, "He began to read Darwin and became an atheist." Later Stalin told a friend: "'I'll lend you a book to read; it will show you that … all this talk about God is sheer nonsense'… 'What book is that?' I inquired. 'Darwin. You must read it,' Joseph impressed on me." (Davidheiser, p. 353)

A Russian communist newspaper once explained that they did not need to teach atheism directly in their schools. The could accomplish the same purpose by teaching "the foundations of Darwinism." (HRQ, p. 63)

These quotes clearly show that evolution is a fundamental tenet of unbelief, and that believing in evolution has led many people to become unbelievers. Furthermore, atheists themselves agree that you cannot truly believe in evolution and at the same time truly believe in the Bible.
The Bible repeatedly affirms the doctrine of creation.

Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The passage proceeds to describe the creation day by day.

Acts 17:24 - God made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth.

Hebrews 1:10 - You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

Jeremiah 10:12 - He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.

The Bible repeatedly affirms throughout that the world and the life on it are the result of Divine creation. To deny this denies, not just Gen. 1, but the fundamental essence of the whole Scriptures.

Romans 1:20 - Further, the Bible uses creation as evidence of God's existence, wisdom, power, etc. To deny creation is to deny one of the fundamental reasons why we should believe in God. [Psalm 19:1]

No wonder that, when people come to believe in evolution, they so often lose their faith in God. They have denied an obvious proof of God's existence, they have accepted a major tenet of unbelief, and they have called in question a doctrine found multitudes of times throughout the Bible.
B. Biblical Creation Teaches that God Was Directly, Personally Involved in Each Step of Creation.

Those who try to harmonize the Bible with creation will say God began the evolutionary process and then just let it run, maybe helping it at difficult points.

Genesis 1 shows that God personally and directly ordered, caused, and brought about each step. It is repeatedly said that He spoke and commanded, etc. In Genesis 2 He formed the man (v7), put him in a garden (v15), gave him instructions (v16f), brought animals for him to name, (v19f), and created woman from his side (v18-24).

Further, as a result of God's involvement, all kinds of plants and animals were created in great abundance from the very beginning (v11f,20f,24f). God did not personally make one or a few simple kinds at first and then just allow natural processes to take over and gradually produce the other kinds. God's direct involvement produced all the many kinds that came into existence.

Psalms 33:6,9 - By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. Note God's personal involvement. He spoke and it happened. And this is true of all the host of what was made.

John 1:3 - All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. Jesus (v1) was involved in every step of creation. Nothing that was made, was made without His involvement.

2 Peter 3:5 - For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water.

David, John, and Peter confirm what Moses said in Gen. 1. They do not take the accounts as legend or figures. They do not picture God as starting the basic process and then just letting it run. Rather, they show God's personal involvement in each step and each thing created. To reject this is to deny the whole Scriptures.

Even the most basic Bible teachings about creation are in conflict with evolution. The best that can be said, after just this first point, is that theistic evolution is an extremely dangerous position. As we proceed we will find it Biblically impossible to hold.

[Soldier4Christ]

II. Evolution Says the Universe Evolved over Billions of Years. The Bible Says All Was Created in Six Days.

Our introductory quote claimed that the earth was new "billions of years ago," and the first living thing began billions of years ago.

In 1977 the American Humanist Association published a Statement Affirming Evolution as a Principle of Science. It said: "It is also verifiable today that very primitive forms of life, ancestral to all living forms, came into being thousands of million of years ago." (Christian Citizen, 5/81, p. 1)

Genesis 1:31-2:3, however, says God made heavens and earth and all the host of them in six days and rested on the seventh day. What is the significance of "day"? Should the days be understood to refer to the natural concept of a day of essentially 24 hours?

Some say the days were long ages, thousands of years each. This is an attempt to harmonize the Bible with evolution. It is a compromise which will almost certainly lead to deeper compromises.

But consider the evidence that the days in Gen. 1 are natural days, essentially 24 hours long as we think of natural days. Note that the 7 "days" must all mean the same throughout Gen. 1. God itemizes them one after the other and makes no distinction among them. Each consists of "evening and morning," each is counted, etc.
(1) The normal, accepted meaning of the word day, in a historical context, is that of a natural day (24 hours) or the daylight period of a day.

The word does have various usages. It may be used, especially in prophecy, to refer to a period of indefinite duration (Isa. 2:12-22; 2 Pet. 3:8; Jer. 46:10). However, this is not the normal meaning of the word.

The overwhelming usage is for a natural day (24 hours) or for the daylight period of a day in contrast to night. In a historical context, the normal use should be accepted unless there is reason in the context to accept another view.
(2) The "day" is defined repeatedly in all six cases to consist of "evening and morning."

This implies the days consisted of a dark period and light period as in a 24-hour day. The use of such language always refers to 24-hour days except in prophecy. Consider these examples:

Exodus 18:13 - On the next day, Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening.

Ezra 3:3,4 - The people offered burnt offerings to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings. They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day.

[See also Ex. 27:21; Lev. 24:3; Num. 9:21; I Chron. 16:40; 2 Chron. 2:4; 13:11; 31:3; Job 4:20; Psa. 55:17; 65:8; Dan. 8:26]
(3) The morning refers to the daylight period and the evening to the darkness.

1:3-5 - God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." This was the evening and the morning of the first day. The sun is said to rule the day and the moon to rule the night (1:16). Since each day consisted of "evening and morning," we conclude that each of the six "days" consisted of a period of darkness followed by a period of daylight.

If each day were thousands of years long, then there would have been thousands of years of darkness followed by thousands of years of light. Neither plants nor animals could survive such "days."
(4) The days are counted and distinguished one from another.

They are listed as a definite series, each having a beginning and an ending (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.). This sequential counting of days is always literal in the Pentateuch.
(5) Plants and animals are so highly dependent on one another, that they could not possibly have survived if the days were thousands of years long.

Plants were made the 3rd day, but no animals till the 5th and 6th days. How could plants survive thousands of years without animals? Many plants cannot even reproduce without animals. Many need bees and other insects to pollinate them. The Yucca plant must have the Yucca moth to fertilize it.
(6) God rested the 7th day - 2:2,3. Was that a period lasting thousands of years?

This was the basis of the 7-day week and the Old Testament 7th-day sabbath. But the days of the week and the sabbath day were literal days, so why assume that the days of creation, on which the sabbath and the week were based, were not literal days? (Ex. 20:8-11; 31:15-17). Could it be that God is still resting?
(7) Other passages tell us God made heaven and earth in six days:

Exodus 20:11 - For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. [31:17]

Hebrews 4:4 - For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works."

Note that the word "day" in these contexts clear refers to 24 hours. Yet they are referring back to the creation account.

These writers viewed the creation account as literal history. They take the days to mean natural days. To deny this is to reject much more than Gen. 1.
( 8 ) Evolution cannot be harmonized with the Bible or with science even if we take the view the days were long periods.

There is no reason, scientifically or Biblically, to try to harmonize the Bible with evolution. There are many other major objections to evolution from the Bible account, as we will see. There are good scientific evidences that the earth is only thousands of years old.

Why take a view of the Bible which contradicts its apparent meaning in order to satisfy an unproved, man-made theory with which the Bible can never harmonize anyway? Compromise here just leads us to surrender more and more Bible truths.

Some say "a day is as a thousand years with God" to justify their view of long periods in Gen. 1. But days of 1000 years each would still not harmonize with evolution. Evolution would need days of nearly a billion years each, and there is absolutely no verse that uses the word "day" for periods that long!

To deny that the "days" of Gen. 1 are natural days, is to undermine the historical accuracy of Genesis and therefore of the whole Bible. We should let the BIBLE itself convince us what it means. We should never allow unproved human theories determine how we view the Bible. To do so is to begin the long road to religious liberalism and ultimate rejection of the authority of Scripture.

[Soldier4Christ]

III. Evolution Says Life Originated from Non-living Matter. The Bible Says Life Came from the Eternal God.
Consider what evolutionists claim:

Some people think that evolution has nothing to do with how life began, but only deals with the progressive development of life after it began. However, many evolutionists claim evolution does deal with the origin of life.

Our introductory quote said that billions of years ago the first living thing came from a primordial soup in which nothing was alive.

Sir Oliver Lodge said: "The law of evolution not only studies change and progress, it seeks to trace sequences back to antecedents; it strains after the origin of all things. But ultimate origins are inscrutable." (HRQ-60)

George Wald, a Nobel Prize winner and head of the department of biology at Harvard, said: "I think a scientist has no choice but to approach the origin of life thru a hypothesis of spontaneous generation … One has only to contemplate the magnitude of this task of evolution of primeval life from inorganics to concede that the spontaneous generation of a living organism is impossible. Yet here we are - as a result, I believe, of spontaneous generation." (quoted in Torch, 7/75, p. 13).
This belief of evolution conflicts with both the Bible and science.

Genesis 1:11,20,24,26 - The first living creatures were created by the eternal, living God. This is what the Bible teaches throughout.

Acts 17:24-29 - God is the giver of life, breath, and all things. In Him we live, and move, and have our being, because we are His offspring. Since we are His offspring, we should not think God is lifeless, material matter.

We partake of the nature of that from which we are the offspring. We are the offspring of God, so we must realize that He is alive and is the giver of life. Evolution, in contrast, says that life began by accident in a primeval swamp. Then from that life came all the present kinds of living things. This could only make us dead, lifeless matter.

One of the most firmly established laws of science is the Law of Biogenesis, which says that life comes only from living things. There is no evidence that dead, non-living matter can spontaneously generate life. The Bible agrees with this scientific fact, for it says that life came from the eternally living Creator [cf. also Acts 14:15]. However, evolution contradicts both science and the Bible since it demands that dead matter must have sometime come to life.

[Soldier4Christ]

IV. Evolution Says Kinds of Life Came from Other Kinds. The Bible Says Kinds Come from Their Own Kind.

Our introductory quote claimed that non-living matter somehow produced the first living thing and from that came all the current kinds of life: "microbes to men."
Genesis 1 says living things reproduce after their own kind.

Genesis 1:11,12 - God made the kinds of plants at the beginning and made them to reproduce after their kind. There is great diversity or variation within each kind, allowing for adaptation to environment, yet each kind remains the same basic kind. This agrees with what we see in nature today, but conflicts with evolution.

Reproduction after the same kind occurs because of the power of seed. Each kind of living thing has its own seed, and science has discovered that each seed has its own unique genes and chromosomes which determine the kind of plant that will develop from the seed. Therefore, each seed produces the same kind of living thing from which it came, just as Genesis says.

Genesis 1:21,22 - On the fifth day God created every kind of living thing to dwell in the water and every kind of bird. They also all reproduced "after their kind." As it was with the plants, so with the fish and birds. The kinds have existed since the beginning and they always form the same kind of offspring as the parents were.

Genesis 1:24,25 - On the sixth day God made the animals to dwell on dry land. Again everything reproduced after its own kind. What was true of the plants, fish, and birds, was also true of the land animals. This thoroughly contradicts evolution.
This doctrine is also taught elsewhere throughout the Bible.

Matthew 7:15-20 - We can use the principle that things reproduce after their own kind to recognize a false teacher, even in disguise. False teaching produces false practices like thistles produce thistles. Good teaching cannot produce evil practices & vice versa.

But if evolution is true then, given enough time, thistles could produce grapes. So given enough time, maybe false teaching could lead to salvation and true teaching could lead to error! There would be no way to know what teachings lead to salvation & what do not. [cf. Matt. 12:33; Luke 6:44]

Galatians 6:7,8 - Don't be deceived, God is not mocked. We reap what we sow. Sow to the flesh and you reap corruption; sow to the Spirit and reap eternal life (cf. 5:16-26).

But if it were true that sowing long enough could lead us to reap something different, then if we live in sin long enough maybe we could still get eternal life. Or maybe if we live faithfully long enough we could still be lost! That is exactly the consequence of evolution. But such views mock God, and those who believe them are deceived. [Cf. Jas. 3:12.]

1 Peter 1:23-25 - The word of God is compared to seed which causes us to be born again as children of God, in comparison to physical seeds which reproduce plants. If plants could reproduce different kinds given enough time, then perhaps after enough time had past, obeying the gospel would not make us children of God but children of the devil!

Other passages teach the same as Gen. 1 that living things reproduce after their kind. Variation within the kinds does occur as does adaptation to environment, but these variations are limited and do not permit change into a completely different kind of life. To deny this principle is to deny the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus Himself. And it would be a denial of the very basis on which God will determine who will or will not receive eternal life.

Hence, whether atheistic or theistic, evolution simply cannot be reconciled with truth.

[Soldier4Christ]

V. Evolution Says Man Is an Advanced Animal. The Bible Says Man Is Unique from the Animals.
A. Evolution Says Men Came from Animals.

Our introductory quotation said regarding the original life: "From such unfeeling chemicals, Earth eventually filled with a teeming diversity of life, from microbes to Men."

Richard Leakey, a famous paleontologist, said: "There is no law that declares the human animal to be different as seen in this broad biological perspective, from any other animal." (Quoted by Bert Thompson, in "Can America Survive the Fruits of Atheistic Evolution?")

Note this quote from prominent evolutionist George Gaylord Simpson:

"Few doubt that [man's] closest living relatives are the apes. On this subject, by the way, there has been too much pussyfooting. Apologists … state or imply that man is not really descended from an ape or monkey at all, but from an earlier common ancestor. In fact, that common ancestor would certainly be called an ape or monkey in popular speech by anyone who saw it. Since the terms ape and monkey are defined by popular usage, man's ancestors were apes or monkeys (or successively both). It is pusillanimous if not dishonest for an informed investigator to say otherwise."
B. The Bible Says Man Was Created in God's Image.
Genesis 1:26-28

Unlike the animals, man was created in the image or likeness of God. As a result, God gave men dominion over the animals. [Note that Adam, in the image of God, in turn had a son in HIS image - Gen. 5:1-5].

What is involved in the "image of God"? It appears that man is similar to God (though not on His level) and unlike animals in the following ways:

1. Man has rational intelligence. He has ability to reason, invent, communicate, etc., in ways far beyond animals. His ability in this regard allows him to communicate with God and understand God's will for him.

2. Man has a will, and a power to choose. He is a free moral agent. He is able to choose between alternatives and determine which course he will pursue. He is therefore accountable before God to make the choices and pursue the goals that God instructs him to.

3. Man has emotions. He can experience joy, love, anger, hatred, sorrow, etc. The Bible also attributes such feelings to God.

4. Man has a conscience. He is able, not only to distinguish right from wrong, but also to have an inherent sense of guilt when he has done wrong and a sense of approval when he has done right.

5. Man has a spirit nature which has the opportunity to be with God in eternity. [Cf. John 4:24 to Ecc. 3:21; 12:7; etc.]

The image of God may involve more than this, but it surely includes all this. In all these ways men are like God, but unlike animals.
Other Scriptures confirm that man is in the image of God.

James 3:9,10 - Men should not be cursed because they are made in the likeness of God. But if man is not really in God's image, but just an advanced animal, would it be all right to curse them? Could it be that the reason why we today hear so much cursing and profanity is that people no longer believe man is in God's image? [Gen. 9:6]

1 Corinthians 11:7 - Man is the image & glory of God.

Psalm 8:4-8 - God placed man over all creation, including all animals (quoted in Heb. 2:6-8).

These verses show that Gen. 1 is not to be taken as myth. What it says about the nature of man is intended to be taken as historical truth, and is so treated throughout the Bible.

Here is another major contradiction between the Bible and evolution. If man evolved from animals, then as Acts 17:24-29 shows, we must partake of the nature of that from which we are the offspring. If we evolved from the animals, we are just animals. But if God created us, then we are the offspring of God and we partake of characteristics in common with God and distinct from the animals.

[Soldier4Christ]

VI. Evolution Says Man Evolved from Animals. The Bible Says God Made Man from the Ground.

Quotes in the previous section show that evolution says man came from lower animals.

Genesis 2:7 - The Bible says God made man from the dust of the earth. Then God breathed into the man the breath of life. If man came from the lower animals, he would already have the breath of life for they surely have it. [3:19]

The Bible pictures the creation of man as a direct miraculous creation, not a formation from previous animals.

[Soldier4Christ]

VII. Evolution Says Woman Evolved from Animals. The Bible Says God Made Woman from the Man.

Again, the quotes earlier show that evolution says people came from lower animals.

Genesis 2:21,22 - But the Bible says woman was created by a direct act of God. She did not evolve from lower animals. She was formed from matter taken from the side of man, after God had caused the man to sleep.

This story is the crowning blow that proves evolution, theistic or otherwise, to be hopelessly incompatible with the Bible account. There is no way anyone can take this as truth and still believe woman evolved from a lower animal.

If woman evolved from lower animals, why would God include a statement like this? Don't say that God knew ancient people could not understand evolution so He did not try to describe it. They could have understood it as well as we can. But even if they could not, that is no excuse to tell them bare-faced falsehoods. God could have simply said woman developed from other animals over a period of many ages, if that were true. But instead He said she was made from the side of the man.

1 Corinthians 11:8,9 - The man was not created for the woman but the woman for the man. Here is an express New Testament confirmation of the Genesis account of creation of woman. She did not evolve from lower animals, but was created for the man as Genesis says.

Further, we will see under the next point that other passages, including New Testament passages, confirm the Genesis account of the creation of the woman.

We must either accept the Bible and reject evolution, or else accept evolution and reject the Bible. There can be no compromise or harmonizing them.

[Soldier4Christ]

VIII. The Bible Says God Made an Original Man and Woman and Ordained Marriage. Evolution Denies This.
A. Was There an Original Man and Woman?

Evolution says people developed gradually from lower animals over millions of years, so you could not say who was the first man and woman. To harmonize this with the Bible, the references to Adam and Eve are taken as symbols, legends, etc.
However, Genesis affirms there was a first man and woman.

Genesis 2:7,21-24; 3:19 - The man was made from dust and the woman from the man's rib. God ordained marriage for them.

Genesis 3:20 - The woman was named "Eve" because she is the mother of all the living. This clearly teaches that she was the first woman and that all other people have descended from her. This in turn clearly contradicts evolution.

Genesis 5:1-5 - Adam had children the same as other historical characters did, he lived a certain number of years and then died, etc. He is listed in a genealogy as a man like other men, but he is the FIRST man. What could be more historical than a genealogy? (5:1-5ff).
Likewise other passages confirm the Genesis account.

1 Chronicles 1:1; Luke 3:38 - Genealogies begin with Adam and name many generations including Abraham, David, even Jesus. Were these other men mere legends too? If the account of Adam is not historical fact, then these other men must not be history either. But if these other men are historical characters, then so must Adam be.

Further, the genealogy in Luke is the genealogy of Jesus. Jesus and Adam are in the same genealogy! If Adam was a mere legend, then was Jesus just a legend? How can a man be a true disciple of Jesus and believe Jesus never really existed? Yet Adam was just as real as Jesus. Belief in evolution leads to unbelief in Jesus!

Matthew 19:4-6 - From the beginning God made male and female. These two become one in marriage (one man and one woman). Jesus confirms the Genesis account of creation of one original man & one original woman - two people. Jesus treated Moses' account of creation as factual history. To deny it is to deny the word of Jesus. [Mk. 10:6-8]

1 Corinthians 15:22,45,47 - Adam is the first man (cf. to Jesus). He is called by name. He became a living soul. All die as a consequence of what he did. This expressly confirms the Genesis record as history. Furthermore, it compares Adam to Jesus. If Adam is legend, why should we believe in Jesus? There is no more reason to believe in Jesus than in Adam. [I Cor. 11:8,9]

1 Timothy 2:13 - Here is confirmation of all the basic facts Genesis states about Adam & Eve. Both are named. Man was created first, then woman. [Jude 14; 2 Cor. 11:3]

To deny the historical accuracy of the Genesis accounts of Adam & Eve is to deny the accuracy of many major parts of Scripture, including the teaching of Jesus Himself. Adam was as much a historical character as Jesus. To consider Adam a legend is to compel yourself to the conclusion that Jesus was merely a legend.
B. What about the Institution of Marriage?

If man and woman just gradually evolved, then the marriage institution itself must also have gradually evolved. The conclusion of many evolutionists is that marriage is not ordained of God but is simply a social custom that developed. It is not divine and may be set aside by those who do not wish to honor it.

Genesis 2:24 - Marriage is clearly ordained of God. Since He created it, it is part of His wise plan and provision for man. It is part of that which is "very good" (1:26-28,31).

Matthew 19:3-9 - Jesus Himself quoted Gen. 2:24 as the basis for His teaching that marriage is ordained of God and must follow the intention of God. He used this to teach that marriage is a lifetime commitment and divorce is contrary to God's will. Could it be that one reason we see so much divorce and violation of marriage law is that people have come to believe the evolutionary doctrine that marriage is not from God?

Ephesians 5:31 - Paul also by inspiration quoted Gen. 2:24. In fact he compared marriage to the relationship between Jesus and the church (Eph. 5:22-25,31-33). To belittle the marriage relationship - to say it just evolved, is not ordained of God, and was not part of God's plan - would be to say all these same things about the relationship of Jesus and His church!

The New Testament expressly confirms the Genesis account of the origin of marriage. If Genesis is legend, then so must Jesus' teaching be and also that of Paul. But if the account of the origin of marriage is historical truth, then so must be the creation of woman. And that destroys evolution, theistic or atheistic.

[Soldier4Christ]

IX. Evolution Implies that Man Is Wholly Material. The Bible Says Man Will Exist Eternally.
The consequences of the theory of evolution:

Not all evolutionists accept all the conclusions that appear to follow from evolution. But many accept the conclusions, and accepting the theory surely tempts men toward conclusions that appear to follow.

One conclusion is that, if man has evolved from lower animals and is essentially the same in nature as the animals, then man must be wholly physical in nature like animals. When he dies that is the end of his existence. He has no spirit that continues to exist after death. Hence, there is no life after death and no eternal rewards for how we live on earth.

George Gaylord Simpson, famed evolutionist, said that "evolution is a process entirely materialistic in its origin and operation." (Evolution: Science Falsely So-called, 19th Ed., p. 81)

Richard Leakey said: "There is no law that declares the human animal to be different as seen in this broad biological perspective, from any other animal. There is no law that declares the human species to be immortal." ("Can America Survive the Fruits of Atheistic Evolution?", Bert Thompson)
The teaching of the Bible:

2 Corinthians 4:16-5:1 - Man has both an inner man and an outer man. When this earthly tabernacle (body) is dissolved, we yet have an eternal home with God in the heavens.

Luke 16:19-31 - After death, Lazarus and the rich man continued to exist is a state of comfort or anguish, depending on how they lived in this life (v24,25). Unlike with animals, death is not the end of man's existence.

Matthew 22:23-33 - Jesus argued for the resurrection of the dead by showing that men who had died physically were still alive to God. God is not the God of the dead but of the living. Could this be said regarding animals? Did these dead men pass out of existence like animals do?

Matthew 25:46 - In describing the judgment, Jesus said the wicked would go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. So there is an eternal reward for those who are righteous, and that reward is eternal life. It is the opposite of eternal punishment for those who are unrighteous. [Rom. 2:5-11; I Thess. 4:16-18; 5:9,10; Rev. 20:11-15]

1 Corinthians 15:20,21 - We will be raised by Jesus when He comes again. This is contrasted to the death that came upon all men as a result of Adam's sin. But if, as evolution says, there was no real Adam and his conduct did not really bring sin and death into the world, then why should we believe there was a real Jesus who arose and will return to raise us up?

Accepting evolution leads logically to a denial of the spiritual nature of man and eternal rewards when this life is over.

[Soldier4Christ]

X. The Bible Says Death Is the Consequence of Sin. Evolution Says It Was Part of Man's Development.
The teaching of evolution:

Evolutionists, as already cited, believe that men evolved from lower animals gradually over millions of years. This means death must have existed among lower animals for thousands of generations and was a necessary part of the process of developing new kinds including man.

It follows that the ancestors of men died and, as men developed, they inherited death as a part of the natural process of existence on earth. Death would not be a punishment for sin but a part of the natural order. This would allegedly be confirmed by the fossil record of the death of animals and man's "early ancestors."
The teaching of the Bible:

If evolution is true, there was death throughout the days of creation. Death is a destructive, decay process. How can it be compatible with creation?

Genesis 1:31 - What God made throughout creation was all "very good." If death existed then, it would be a part of that which was "very good." Why then does the Bible present death as an enemy which Jesus must defeat (1 Cor. 15:26)?

Genesis 2:16,17; 3:17-19 - God said man dies as a result of sin. This includes physical death, for the man had been formed from the dust and would return to the dust (cf. Psa. 104:29; Ecc. 12:7). Later he was cut off from the tree of life so he could not live forever (3:22-24).

1 Corinthians 15:21,22 - The consequence of death passes on to all people who have lived from Adam and Eve on, but the problem will be overcome by Jesus who will return and raise all men from the dead (v25,25).

Hebrews 2:14,15 - The devil has the power of death. Jesus had to become a man and die and be raised to defeat the power of Satan, thereby delivering man from the fear of death. In heaven we will experience none of these problems brought on by the curse of sin (Rev. 21:4; 22:3).

But if death existed even during the days of creation as a part of the natural creative process, how can it be the power of the devil and why should it be something for men to fear? How can it be a consequence of sin, since it existed before sin occurred? Why would Jesus want to defeat it?

The Bible doctrine of death also contradicts evolution. Yet this doctrine is also taught throughout the Bible. To accept evolution is to deny the Bible throughout.

[Soldier4Christ]

XI. The Bible Says that Creation Ceased after Six Days. Evolution Says New Kinds Can Still Evolve.
If evolution is true, there is no reason to believe it has ceased. It is a natural process which ought to be continuing in the present.

Andrew Carnegie, after his conversion to evolution, said that from lower life forms man "had risen to the higher forms. Nor is there any conceivable end to his march to perfection." (Bolton Davidheiser, p. 351)

Some of the "evidence" used by evolutionists to defend evolution would require that it still be occurring. They talk about how flies have become resistant to DDT and moths have changed colors to adapt to their environment, etc. These examples prove animals can adapt to their environment - something no creationist denies. They do not prove new kinds of living things have evolved from previous kinds. But the fact evolutionists make the arguments prove they believe evolution is still occurring.
The Bible, however, presents creation as a process completed in the original six days of creation.

Genesis 2:1,2 - The heavens and earth and all the host of them were finished in the six days (cf. 1:31). On the seventh day He ended His work and rested from the work He had done. The Bible presents the work of bringing living things into existence as a completed work. God did the work, then ceased because the job was done. [cf. v3]

Exodus 20:11 - The teaching of Gen. 2 is confirmed. God made the heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them in six days. Then He rested on the seventh day. Again the Bible says everything was made in six days. The process of introducing new kinds of living things is no longer continuing.

Psalm 33:6,9 - The heavens were made. God spoke and it was done. The action is complete in the past tense. David confirms Moses.

Acts 17:24 - Paul likewise confirms it. God made the world and everything in it.

The Bible throughout presents creation as a completed activity. It is not continuing by any means. Evolution again contradicts the Bible, not only in Genesis but repeatedly.

[Soldier4Christ]

XII. Evolution Says Man Is at the Peak of Development. The Bible Says Man Is a Fallen Creature.

If evolution is true, man is the highest form of life that has evolved - the highest peak of evolutionary development. And it follows that he should be getting even better. As Carnegie said, "Nor is there any conceivable end to his march to perfection."
The Bible says that man is a fallen creature.

Man was created "very good" (Gen. 1:26,27,31). He was placed in a garden with all his needs supplied, with no death, suffering, or hardships (2:7-10).

However, the serpent tempted the woman so she and the man disobeyed God (3:1-7). As a result severe curses came on mankind and on the earth. Women had to bear children with pain (3:16). The earth was cursed so it would not produce for man as before. Hence, the whole world is under a curse because of man's sin (Gen. 5:29; Heb. 1:10-12; Rom. 8:20-22).

Man would also die physically as a result of sin (3:19). He was cut off from the tree of life so he could not live forever (v22-24).
Other Scriptures confirm this account, treating it as a historical event:

2 Corinthians 11:3 - The serpent beguiled Eve. Despite the seeming legendary nature of the Genesis account of the fall of man, Paul treats it as absolute fact.

1 Timothy 2:14 - Adam was not deceived, but the woman (Eve - v13), was deceived and fell into transgression. [John 8:44]

Romans 5:12 - Through one man (Adam - v14) sin entered the world.

1 Corinthians 15:21,22 - Furthermore, the New Testament confirms that the consequence of death passes on to all people who have lived from Adam and Eve on. [Cf. Rom. 5:12-18).

Again we cannot reject the Genesis account without rejecting the Bible as a whole. Evolution says man has evolved from lower animals to his highest point, hence, man is better now than he ever has been. However, the Bible repeatedly affirms that, because of sin, man has fallen to an accursed state, not as good as originally.

[Soldier4Christ]

XIII. Evolution Implies that Life Has No Real Purpose, but the Bible Says Man Was Created to Serve God.
Evolution leads many people to conclude life has no meaning.

If evolution is true, then life exists as a result of a series of accidents in nature. There could not possibly be any real meaning to it. Not all evolutionists accept this conclusion, but many do. And it must be accepted, if evolution occurred by wholly natural processes.

Aldous Huxley, grandson of well-known evolutionist Thomas Huxley, classed himself among those who find "no meaning in the world." He said, "I had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning; consequently, assumed it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption … For myself, as no doubt for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation." ("Can America Survive the Fruits of Atheistic Evolution?," Bert Thompson)
The Bible says man was deliberately created by God to serve Him and receive His blessings.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 - The whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commands.

Matthew 6:33 - We should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Romans 12:1,2 - Present your bodies a living sacrifice to God.

2 Corinthians 5:14,15 - Christ died for us so we should not live for ourselves but for Him who died and rose again for us.

Life has meaning only if there is a God who made us. The Bible repeatedly confirms this to be the case, but naturalistic evolution denies this and leaves man without reason for life.

[Soldier4Christ]

XIV. Evolution Implies We May Follow Human Wisdom. The Bible Says the Creator Must Guide and Save Us.
Quotes from evolutionists:

Huxley said: "It is clear that the doctrine of Evolution is directly antagonistic to that of creation … Evolution if consistently accepted, makes it impossible to believe the Bible." (HRQ, p. 63)

Robert Ingersoll said: "Morality does not come from the clouds; it is born of human want and human experience." (HRQ, p. 57)

Prof. S. J. Holmes: "Darwinism, consistently applied would measure goodness in terms of survival value." (HRQ, p. 59)

Evolutionist George Gaylord Simpson: "Man stands alone in the universe, a unique product of a long, unconscious, impersonal material process with unique understanding and potentialities. These he owes to no one but himself, and it is to himself alone that he is responsible. He is not the creature of uncontrollable and undeterminable forces, but is his own master. He can and must decide his own destiny." (Thompson)

Aldous Huxley: "I had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning; consequently, assumed it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption … The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics; he is also concerned to prove there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do … For myself, as no doubt for most of my contemporaries, … we desired … liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom." (Thompson)

Dr. Edmund Leach published an article entitled "We Scientists Have a Right to Play God," in Saturday Evening Post, 11/68. He said: "There can be no source for moral judgments except the scientist himself. In traditional religion, morality was held to derive from God, but God was only credited with the authority to establish and enforce moral rules because He was also credited with supernatural powers of creation and destruction. Those powers have now been usurped by men, and he must take on the moral responsibility that goes with them." (Focus on the Family Newsletter, 4/80)

Carnegie, after his conversion to evolution, said man had "risen to the higher forms. Nor is there any conceivable end to his march to perfection." (Davidheiser, p. 351)

Darwin himself said: "As natural selection works solely by and for the good of each being, all corporeal and mental endowments will tend to progress towards perfection." (Evolution: Science Falsely So-Called, 16th Ed., p. 79).

Harlow Shapley, Director of Harvard Observatory, said: "Our god is humanity; our creed is effective participation in universal evolution." (Evolution: Science Falsely So-Called, 19th Ed., p. 81).

A 1963 Biology textbook ends: "The possibility of the biological improvement of our own species through a wise application of the principles of evolution makes one hopeful of the future progress and happiness of mankind." (Davidheiser, p. 359)

Prof. E. C. Woodcock of the Univ. of Durham said: "Christ was produced by one of those mutations destined to start a new species." (Evolution: Science Falsely So-Called, 16th Ed., p. 9).

A founder of the United Church in Canada is reported to have said, "It is possible through evolution for the human race to produce a greater man than Jesus Christ." (Evolution: Science Falsely So-Called, 16th Ed., p. 9).

Belief in evolution tends to lead men to doubt and reject much if not all of the Bible. Instead, it leads men to trust in their own wisdom to know how to live life.
Teaching of the Bible

Genesis 3:5 - From the beginning, Satan tempted people to sin by appealing to the common desire of men to "be as gods." Men never seem to be satisfied with their position above the animals. No matter how richly they are blessed, they want more. They want to be as high or higher than God.

Isaiah 55:8,9 - "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

Evolution convinces us we are the highest wisdom in the universe, so we can direct our own lives by our own thinking without revelation from God. Creation corrects us by showing that the all-wise Creator is much wiser than we are. The very nature of the world He created is, in many ways, beyond our understanding. Surely He is wiser than we, so we should trust Him for guidance.

Jeremiah 10:23 - O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. Because God is so much wiser than we are, we should not attempt to decide right from wrong nor solve the problems of life without His guidance.

Proverbs 3:5,6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Instead of following human wisdom to deal with life, we should trust in God's wisdom. Let Him direct our lives.

2 Timothy 3:16,17 - All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The directions of God are found in the Scripture and provide us with the answers we need to know what is good and pleasing to God to do in every situation.

Acts 4:12 - "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." When we disobey God, as all people do at times, we have a means of forgiveness. Salvation is only through Jesus.

Jesus is not a highly evolved human. He is the Son of God who came in the flesh to die for our sins. No one else can match him now or ever. He is the only means of salvation.

Evolution is not only false, it leads men away from the true source of guidance. By leading people to think they must devise their own solutions and there is no higher source, evolution leads men to deny and ignore God's source of true wisdom, the Bible.