1 theistic evolution. 2 what is theistic evolution? middle of the road approach §belief in both...
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Theistic Evolution
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What is Theistic Evolution?
“Middle of the road” approach
Belief in both evolution and God - usually in that order
“[They] consider evolution to be a fact, but they believe that it has been divinely directed instead of coming about through natural processes.” (Bolton Davidheiser, “Evolution and the Christian Faith”, 1969)
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The Catholic Acceptance
In the October 1996 statement to the
Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Pope John Paul
II threw the authority of the Roman Catholic
Church behind the theory of evolution, saying that
“. . . fresh knowledge leads to recognition of the
theory of evolution as more than just a
hypothesis.” (See the Catholic Information Network
at http://www.cin.org/jp2evolu.html)
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Growing Acceptance
“The major churches, however,
gradually abandoned their initial
condemnations, and their view of
evolutionist biological theories is
accommodating.” (A
Dictionary of Philosophy,
concerning Darwinism)
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Growing Acceptance
“If we look carefully at the issues about which
we are talking, however, we can find that
evolution and the Bible show amazing
agreement on almost all issues and that one is
not mutually exclusive of the other.”
(John N Clayton, lecturer, “The Source” 1976)
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Various Theories
Progressive creationism, scientific creationism, threshold evolution, etc
God created the building blocks - spontaneous generation took over from there
God created matter and life - but allowed evolution to operate through natural laws
At some point, God endowed a man-like beast with a soul, and made the first human
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Fundamentalist Intolerance
“Evolution is based on the assumption that one
must explain all things naturally. It is
inconsistent to bring in God at the very beginning
of the process, or anywhere along the line. The
miraculous destroys scientific explanations.”
(James D Bales, “Theistic Evolution and
Genesis”, 1974)
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Problems with Theistic Evolution
Theistic evolution requires that the process of creation (evolution) is still occurring
Contradicts what the Bible says: that God finished His creation at the end of day six
If evolution are indeed part of the laws of nature, it must still be happening.
“It is unreasonable to think that evolution would go thus far and no further.”
(Bolton Davidheiser, 1969)
Transhumanism
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Problems with Theistic Evolution
“When a theologian accepts evolution as
the process used by the Creator, he must
be willing to go all the way with it. Not
only is it an orderly process, it is a
continuing one. Nothing was finished on
the seventh day; the process of creation is
still going on.” (Dr Kirtley F Mather, Harvard
University, 1960)
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Problems with Theistic Evolution
Inconsistent with the nature of God
Inconsistent with the omnipotence of God - no necessity for eons of time to effect His creation
Inconsistent with the omniscience of God - evolution postulates that there were many trials and errors and dead-ends in the evolutionary path - God does not work by trial and error
Inconsistent with the eternal purpose of God - creation of man in His image
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Problems with Theistic Evolution
Cannot explain Man as the “image of God”
Man reduced to a “Naked Ape”, merely a “higher animal” and not the image of God
Man was created directly from the “dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7) - not from lower animal life-form that look like humans
Evolution cannot explain presence of a soul in man - if the theistic evolutionist is willing to concede the soul came from God, then why not the body too as Genesis tells us?
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Problems with Theistic Evolution
Cannot reconcile with Eve
Evolutionists believes the sexes evolved from asexual ancestors
But Genesis excludes any possibility of natural evolution Eve was created from a rib taken out of Adam’s side
(Genesis 2:21-23)
Affirmed by Christ (Matthew 19:4)
Totally incompatible with evolution and cannot be reconciled
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Problems with Theistic Evolution
Cannot explain the Fall of Man
Evolution dictates that man is ascending - evolutionary processes continue to improve man generation after generation
Contradicts God’s word which tells us man is degenerating - because sin and death entered the world after his Fall
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Problems with Theistic Evolution
Contradicts what Christ saidChrist affirmed man was made at the beginning (Matthew 19:4,
Mark 10:6). He was at the beginning and all things were made through Him (John 1:1-3).
“The theory that God created the world by means of organic evolution rejects the Bible account of creation in Genesis, and rejects Christ who endorsed these writings, and in so doing makes Christ an ignoramus and the Christian religion a false religion.” (Gus Nichols, “The Bible versus Liberalism”, 1972)
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Problems with Theistic Evolution
What the Bible says What evolution says
Light existed before the Sun wasmade (Genesis 1:3,16)
The Sun is the earth’s firstlight
Life created according to individualgroups and after its own kind(Genesis 1:11,12,21,24,25)
All life came from a commonprimitive life source
First life form were plants (Genesis1:11)
Marine organisms came first
Fruit bearing trees came before fish(Genesis 1:11,20)
Fish evolved before trees
Plants were created before the Sun(Genesis 1:11,14)
The Sun existed millions ofyears before plants
Irreconcilable?
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Problems with Theistic Evolution
What the Bible says What evolution says
Birds created on Day 5 andcreeping things (including insectsand reptiles) on Day 6 (Genesis1:21,24)
Birds developed long afterinsects and reptiles
Man made from dust of the ground(Genesis 2:7, 3:19, 1 Corinthians15:45, 2 Corinthians 5:1)
Man originated from the sea
Humans were made male andfemale from the beginning (Genesis1:27, 2:7, 22, Matthew 19:4)
Male and female evolved frombisexual organisms
Man existed from the beginning(Matthew 19:4, Mark 10:6, Romans1:20, Isaiah 40:21, Luke 11:50-51)
Man is a recent developmentcompared to the history of theuniverse and the earth
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Problems with Theistic Evolution
What the Bible says What evolution says
God’s work of creation finished onthe 6th day (Genesis 2:1-2)
Evolution still in progress –new life forms still evolving
Man has a soul that came from Godand lives forever (Genesis 2:7, 1Corinthians 15:35-58)
Evolution ignores the soul –only attempts to explain thematerial
Man created a moral being (Genesis1:26-27)
Man’s morals a result ofenvironment and not inherent
First man endowed with language(Genesis 2:19ff)
Language skills developedslowly as man matured
Early civilisations and societieswere sophisticated (Genesis4:21,22, 6:14-16, 11:3-6) withagriculture (Genesis 2:9,15-16, 4:2)
Early man was very primitive,technologically backward,culturally uncivilised,learning to cultivate over time
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Theistic Evolution
?
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Intolerance
The American Scientific Affiliation,
comprising of scientists who
believe in theistic evolution, learnt in
1987 how intolerant their evolutionist
peers were, when they tried to issue a call
for more open-mindedness, in view of the
numerous unanswered questions on origin
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Rejected by hardened naturalists
“The official scientific organisations are at war with
creationism and their policy is to demand unconditional
surrender.”
“Mixing religion with science is obnoxious to Darwinists.” (Philip E Johnson, 1991)
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Science vs God
“Whenever “science” and the Bible are in conflict, it is always the Bible that, in one manner or another, must give way. We are not told that “science” should correct its answers in the light of Scripture. Always it is the other way around.” (Edward J Young, “Studies in Genesis 1”, 1964)