10. EVOLUTIONISTIST WORLDVIEW
BY DR. EARL PARVIN
8/26/19
INTRODUCTION
In the 21st. century, Evolutionists have made grand assumptions in the world of academia which have been almost universally accepted as established fact without substantial scientific evidence. It is an amazing fact that in less than 200 years a nation of God-fearers who came here to escape religio-political tyranny, have been led blindly and carefully not only to ignoring God, but now abandoning Him for a new ‘Significant Other’ -- Humanistic Evolution.
This transformation of a
whole country of God-fearers was accomplished very subtly. First there
was the creation of a large wealthy middle class who were fully employed, essentially healthy
and self-sufficient, therefore; who did not seem to need God. The
State was providing the essentials of the good life by social welfare for
everyone. .
Second, Aas
God was mostly quietly and systematically scrubbed from the public square and
the public school, so the churches found they were less important in the lives
of the public who were now consumed with social media and pursuing the ‘good
life’.
Third, The
educational system underwent an astounding transformation from being a place of
learning the basic skills needed in an upward mobile productive society to one
of indoctrinating, and even bullying a very moldable, unsuspecting public into
a liberal mindset of a hedonistic, self-centered narcissistic public square.
This clearly permeated not only the college, and
university and graduate schools, but also
tragically the theological seminaries. Only Bible Colleges
seemed to hold the line.
How has our society so easily lost its way to church, adopted a lifestyle and language in the public square which would make a sailor blush. Why are so many consuming opioids, desire to chang their birth gender and wholesale committing suicide? Why the disrespect of our committed police? Why have politics become so disgusting and those in authority become so immoral?
Thus, evolution has oozed its way into an uncaring society which has little need of God and therefore, happy to look for anything which might explain how life happened without a Master Architect or rigid self-condemning rules. There seems to be little interest in considering some basic questions such as:
THE PRESUPPOSITIONS:
1. THE NECESSITY OF FAITH
Remember the definition of faith. “Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence”. It is shocking to discover that the concept of FAITH, as the dictionary defines it, is absolutely essential for those who present the evolutionary model of origins. It is also absolutely essential to understand how an intelligent scientist, who claims to be a Christian, can hold to an evolutionist position for which there is ‘no logical proof or material evidence’. A position to which he is driven because he is not willing to accept the directives of the Bible alone as the Word of God without error, and sees it as irrelevant in matters of origins, relegating Intelligent Design to the realm of religion and thus untrustworthy.
Because the Evolutionist is also bound to dictionary definitions in any language for the purpose of communication, he is forced to admit that he too is operating on the basis of Faith. Thus the often trumpeted cliché that Evolution is based on science and Creationism on the Bible now rings hollow, for both are on the same footing… Faith without any incontrovertible scientific evidence for either position. Dr. Roy Spencer PhD acknowledges this when he writes, “True evolution, in the macro-sense, has never been observed, only inferred. Natural selection is supposedly the mechanism by which evolution advances…it can indeed preserve the stronger and more resilient of a gene pool… it cannot explain entirely new kinds of life. Similarities between different but related species attributed by evolutionists to Common Ancestry can better be attributed to a Common Design. One finally comes to the conclusion that both Evolution and Intelligent Design are matters of FAITH”.
However, when it comes to a position which doesn’t violate known, accepted scientific laws, Creationism clearly provides a more cogent model of origins which is more in line with observable facts.
2. THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
Even the Atheist believes in
the concept of a Significant Other, which is defined by the dictionary as ‘the
principle object of faith and worship’. Tragically for him, he sees himself as
the end of all things and therefore he becomes his own ‘object of faith and
worship’. He lives in a very small, limited world, imprisoned within his own
intellect, and thus is limited to what his mind can conceive or seek to understand.
[Note however, that he would deny this and say that he is liberated from the
narrow confines of Biblicism!] But, he may still admit that there is much in
this world that cannot be scientifically explained, or understood or
reduced to a mathematical formula; and is
therefore, either in denial, as by a
so-called Christian Science practitioner, or considering something yet to be
discovered by science.
As a Christian, the Creationist has access to the unlimitled knowledge of his omniscient God through the power of prayer and the indwelling Holy Spirit, as well as the counsel of other godly Christians. Indeed, he is free of worldly boundaries and has knowledge of and access to the limitlessness of eternity, with Christ Jesus. But how does he come by that understanding of God?
However, the typical Evolutionist has eliminated God from his thinking, unless he purports to be a Theistic Evolutionist. God is not needed in his realm of accepting only that which he can scientifically investigate, or explain via a mathematical formula. The Creationist on the other hand, is rewarded in his search for an understanding of the cosmos, for his model more accurately represents conditions as the Bible reveals them, and how they have become what the Christian discovers them now to be.
3. THE WORD OF GOD
The fact that the
evolutionist doesn’t need a God, he obviously doesn’t need an absent God to speak
forth a revelation or Bible. He is completely consumed with the notion that
there are established Natural Laws which have always existed and he needs but
to discover these preexistent Laws. The catalog of these NLs is all
the basis the evolutionist needs… not ahis Bible
substitute.
4. THE STANDARD OF TRUTH
The standard of truth for the Evolutionist is the Scientific Method of trial and error by postulating an experiment which can be replicated by peers which appears to be a cogent explanation most of the time of a particular phenomenon. It is a work in progress.
The Evolutionist examines all phenomenon with the following premises: 1. All existence can be explained by Natural Laws [NL]…either known or to be discovered, 2. All NL are eternal, 3. All NL determine the survival of the fittest, by trial and error, 4. All living things are in progress of surviving conditions, 5. Since life evolved here, why not elsewhere!, 6. Scientists by means of new TECHNOLOGY [ie: NL] can enhance the survival of the fittest [which was taking too much time through nature] by improving on nature by manipulating the genome.
It needs to be understood
that microevolution has been taking place through genetic engineering by
agriculturalists for a long time. Medical research has found amazing cures for
certain diseases. Hearing has been improved by implanting electronic devices,
etc, which means that person is a “cyborg”. He has both organic and
‘biomechatronic’ body parts. We have done cloning, but no enhancement. But not
one new species has been invented. Scientists are bent on merging man and
microchips, but man will still be man, though more and more bionic. TIME
magazine headline is insisting: “Beyond Human. Like any other species, we are
the product of millions of years of Evolution. Now we are taking matters into
our own hands”. [D.T. Max pp 40-63 Ap. 2017]. He concludes: “We may not know
yet where we are going, but we’ve already left where we we’ve been”. [I
add, Aand it
gets more fearful as we go.] Even
the scientists are nervous about the changes which potentially can be made by
such tools as Crispr Cas-9.
Technology. They discovered it by
learning how Bacteria is able to read the DNA of a
virus and destroy it.. This
new exciting tool has tremendous potential to help alleviate disease, but
do we want to be able to create Designer Babies? Or eliminate class of so
called: ”undesireables”? It
is true they are learning so much about the human
genome, but in reality they know
almost nothing about God’s perfectly designed
cell, chromosome, genome,
DNA, RNA, and Protein
stored in its double helix.
Please Note: the Evolutionist now proclaim in writing that Evolution is now FACT, not theory thus violating Reality, for there is no proof. It is indeed FAITH, for there is no evidence. The spin is that Fact means Data; therefore, it can mean both Fact and Theory.
Paul said, When men reject God, they ‘suppress the truth in their wickedness’, Ro 1:18. They ‘exchange the truth of God for a lie, worshipped and served created things instead of the Creator’ 1:25.
Barna’s research again reveals that less than half of ‘born-again’ adults believe there is absolute truth. By a margin of three to one, adults say that truth is relative to the person in their situation.
5. THE STANDARD OF ETHICAL MORALITY
Morality is not a subject of
special concern for the Evolutionist. His is a world of natural laws which seem
to function most of the time for him, answering the questions he is willing to
ask in his world of a work in progress..
The Bible speaks of a time when everyman did that which was right in his own eyes, or as he sees fit, Du 12:8, Ju 17:6, 21:25 or he does what seems right to him, Pr 12:15, 21:2. Every time Israel did this, they found themselves in deep trouble. God’s standard of right and wrong keeps a person out of trouble and sets him free from a guilty conscience. Jn 8:32 says, ‘you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free’.
Barna and Hatch concluded in their book, Boiling Point, that ‘moral anarchy has arrived and dominates our culture today’ as witnessed by widespread pornography, highway speeding, income tax cheating, computer hacking, copyright violations, runaway cohabitation, adultery, plagiarism, financial scandals, homosexuality, spousal and child abuse, euthanasia and desire to legalize marijuana and other drugs to mention a few of the current maladies.
CONCLUSION:
An Evolutionist Worldview may be expressed as follows:
Ethics cannot be relative or situational, which can only lead to anarchy, but it must be based on Absolute Biblical Truth. If everyone would live by the same Biblical ethical standards, then real peace would be enjoyed by all.
DISCUSSION:
1. How can I as a committed Christian better prepare myself to give a witness to a committed evolutionist?
2. What are the questions I can raise which will create the least friction in dialog with an evolutionist?
3. What are the strongest issues the Evolutionist can raise in presenting his case?
4. Discuss the Hebrew words involved in the creation account and how they relate to: Time, Space, Matter, Energy