Evolving Disciple

February 12, 1809 - 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth.
November 24, 1859 - 150th anniversary of publication On the Origin of Species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life.

Have you noticed that this year marks Charles Darwin's book On The Origin of Species' 150th birthday and that it is also Darwin's 200th personal birthday? Evolutionists are hard at work to promote the Darwinian theory with celebratory events worldwide, from a privately chartered Boeing 757 retracing Darwin's journey to countless conferences in Australia, Spain, America, and the Galapagos. Pretty much everywhere in the world, there will be celebrations of something that is essentially false. At home, the Discovery Channel Network already has a full line-up planned for you and your family. One of the shows explains how a small, four-legged, hyena-like land mammal turns into a whale measuring up to 94 feet long and weighing more than 174 tons. Nothing particularly new or enlightening.

One would think that Christians would entirely reject a bottom-up theory driven by natural processes, but this latest Gallup Poll survey has me wondering.



The survey shows that 35% of regular church attendees (over 1 in 3) have no opinion on the subject of evolution. Combined with the 24% who believe in evolution, that is a disheartening 59%! Over half of the people in the church are confused about the subject of origin.

Think for a moment about the two diametrically opposed views. The Bible teaches that in the beginning was the Logos, not the particles. The universe began with mind not matter, and humans along with the animals and the world (the creation) are the handiwork of top-down design.

Inevitably in our midst, we will encounter supporters of neo-Darwinian macroevolution theory influenced by the world, and we need to be ready to gently but boldly confront them on this particular issue whenever the opportunity arises. By world , I mean those who stand in organized opposition to the kingdom of God. I am not talking here about the creation (Act 17:24), which we know to be good, or all the people living on the Earth (Jhn 3:16) whom God loves. I am talking about the world as James describes it (Jam 1:27; 4:4), that is all orderly systems run by fallen human beings headed by Satan in opposition to God. Among them are the public media, the entertainment industry, public schools, secular universities and the political arena in America. When we are asked not to be polluted by the world, it is mainly by these ideas and way of thinking, not non-Christian culture.

The survey does not say which church these goers are attending which would be of interest. We wonder if the 35% with no opinion are in part new believers and have not yet formed an opinion on evolution. The survey doesn't say. Could the 35% have heard about the New Earth/Old Earth debate among Christians (whether a creation day in Genesis is a literal 24-hour period or is it describing a longer interval of time) and figure that no one can know with certainty whether evolution is true, therefore deciding to withdraw from the controversy altogether and claim no opinion? It's unclear. What is clear, however, is that the 35% who have no opinion are also not sure the account of creation is true, and the 24% who believe in evolution certainly do not believe that the bible is truly inerrant.

If one thing must evolve, it is our way of thinking.
The evolution/intelligent design debate, along with the issue of abortion, are two of the greatest battlefields of our lifetime. In fact, the two are very closely tied together. If man evolved from matter rearranged by unguided processes, he can't be worth a whole lot to protect. If he is weak, a burden, too dependent, then he is disposable. If one thing must evolve, it is our way of thinking. We have the best information on the subject. We, as Christians, should not be lukewarm (Rev 3:15-17) or confused about this. We can't; we are in the middle of a battle. Children are being taught falsehood, tiny bodies are being dismembered, people are being euthanized, blood is literally pouring into the ground because of these false ideas. This is our field of expertise! We are to be masters of these issues and should stand up to falsehood with confidence.

The survey starts by saying "belief drops to 24% among frequent church attenders," so even if we don't like the numbers, we can take comfort in the fact that they used to be worse. The good news is that we are winning. After all, we know the final outcome of the battle. Thanks to advances in technology in the last 40 years - high resolution 3-D electron microscope, 4-D Ultrasound, more computing power which translates into better digital image processing, and DNA libraries - we are able to see the invisible world in an entirely new way, and the evidence points overwhelmingly towards an intelligent mind.

We have to ready ourselves to demolish strongholds because our battle is with ideas (2 Cor. 10:3-5). Our weapon is the truth against these ideas (Rom 13:12; 2 Cor 6:7; Eph 6:14; Pro 15:26; Jer 4:14). So what can we do to ready ourselves for battle? Like any training exercise there is work involved. Good warriors do not become great by doing nothing. God provides us with his Word and his undeserved Grace, but he does not make us all knowing. We must acquire new knowledge. We can confidently ask God for wisdom and more knowledge (Jam. 1:2-8). We can also learn from our best warriors by reading and listening to the greatest minds of our Christian movement. This will sharpen and polish our worldview (Pro 27:17). We must come alongside them to advance God's Kingdom. We must engage in the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2).

I've listed some resources that were helpful to me:

Read a book: The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel or watch the DVD.

Read a light book about evolution: Billions of Missing Links: A Rational Look at the Mysteries Evolution Can't Explain by Geoffrey Simmons.

Read more challenging books about evolution and design: The Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence In Biological Systems by William A. Dembski and Intelligent Design 101: Leading Experts Explain the Key Issues by Michael Behe.

Hang out with other warriors at The Discovery Institute, by reading the Fellow Articles.

Read blogs regularly about intelligent design: Uncommon Descent or Design Inference.

Watch a movie: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008) or Unlocking The Mystery of Life by Illustra Videos (preview).

Frank Newport, Belief drops to 24% among frequent church attenders. February 11, 2009. On Darwin’s Birthday, Only 4 in 10 Believe in Evolution. http://www.gallup.com/poll/114544/Darwin-Birthday-Believe-Evolution.aspx