Christians Who Believe in Evolution

Spiritual Warfare, Interpreting Scripture, and the Forms of

Compromise

Invisible attack of the AIDS virus

Attack on Genesis

Attack on the Bible

What do we believe about the Bible?

Do you hold all the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures to be the inspired Word of God and the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, drawn

from them and confessed in the Small Catechism, to be faithful and true?

“We believe, teach, and confess that the only rule and norm according to which all teachings, together with all teachers, should be evaluated and judged (2 Timothy 3:15-17) are the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and New Testament alone. For it is written in Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” St. Paul has written, “even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8).– Concordia, The Lutheran Confessions, A

Readers Edition of the Book of Concord, p. 491.

“Did God really say”

Genesis 3:1

“You will not surely die,”

Genesis 3:4

“your eyes will be opened, and you will

be like God”Genesis 3:5

“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were

naked”Genesis 3:7

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of

the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD

God”

Genesis 3:8

“I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I

was naked”Genesis 3:10

Interpretation Principles - 1

STICK WITH THE PLAIN AND OBVIOUS

MEANING OF A TEXT

Take the words of Scripture in their

normal, intended sense unless the

context compels us to understand the

words in some other way.

How to recognize figurative language

A. The literal meaning is impossible.

A simple example appears in Psalm 5:9. A throat cannot be a grave.

How to recognize figurative language

B. The literal meaning is possible, but probably never true.

We find a figure of this type in Psalm 25:15. It is not impossible that my feet would, under peculiar circumstances, become entangled in a net and that the Lord would deliver me from it. But the psalmist is not talking about a real net. He is referring to any trap set by an enemy.

How to recognize figurative language

C. The literal meaning is trivial.

A good example is the metaphor in Isaiah 55:1-2. There is no logical difficulty in supposing that the prophet is calling people to buy food and drink, but to view the passage in this way trivializes it and misses the point. The prophet has a spiritual message here. He wants us to forsake worldly things for the eternal things that yield true satisfaction.

Interpretation Principles - 2

SCRIPTURE INTERPRETS SCRIPTURE

The second principle is that passages

dealing with the same topic can be used to

explain and support each other. Thus, clear

passages help us understand difficult

passages.

Interpretation Principles - 2a

SCRIPTURE INTERPRETS SCRIPTURE

In Mt. 4:6-7, Jesus Interpreted Ps. 91:11-12 by appealing to Dt. 6:16

Interpretation Principles - 3

PAY ATTENTION TO THE CONTEXT Explain the parts in light of the whole.

Interpretation Principles - 3a

PAY ATTENTION TO THE CONTEXT

Zechariah 2:8 could be incorrectly used to support the idea that the political nation of Israel is the only Israel in the Bible. But Zechariah 2:11 says God’s

people will include more than political Israel.

Interpretation Principles - 4

INTERPRET SCRIPTURE IN LIGHT OF THE RULE OF FAITH.

This principle emphasizes the unity of Scripture. The whole of Scripture - all 66

books of the Bible - defines the rule of faith, that is, what God's people believe about

God and His salvation.

Interpretation Principles - 4a

In Mt. 19:3-12 Jesus refutes the attempt of the Pharisees to use an exception (Dt. 24:1-4) by directing them to the rule (Gen. 1:27; 2:24)

Interpretation Principles - 5

INTERPRET SCRIPTURE CHRISTOLOGICALLY.

The entire Scripture should be read in the light of God's redeeming activity in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the center and purpose of

Scripture.

Jn. 5:39; Acts 10:43; 2 Tim. 3:15

Interpretation Principles - 6

DISTINGUISH LAW AND GOSPEL.

The proper distinction between Law and Gospel is necessary to understand

Scripture.

Jn. 1:17; 2 Cor. 3:6

What are we dealing with?

• There are multiple ways in which Christians have compromised a literal interpretation of the six-day creation– Theistic evolution– Progressive creation– Gap theory

• What are the differences in these interpretations?

Three primary categoriesGap Theory: This is the idea that there was a long, long time between what happened in Genesis 1:1 and what happened in Genesis 1:2. During this time, the 'fossil record' was supposed to have formed, and millions of years of Earth history supposedly passed.

Progressive Creation: This is the idea that God created various creatures to replace other creatures that died out over millions of years.

Theistic Evolution: This is the idea that God used the process of evolution over millions of years (involving struggle and death) to bring about what we see today.

How widespread are these beliefs?

The Catholic Church

“Today, more than a half-century after the appearance of that encyclical, some new findings lead us toward the recognition of evolution as more than an hypothesis. In fact it is remarkable that this theory has had progressively greater influence on the spirit of researchers, following a series of discoveries in different scholarly disciplines. The convergence in the results of these independent studies -- which was neither planned nor sought -- constitutes in itself a significant argument in favor of the theory." - John Paul II (1996)

Home schooling and Sunday School Materials

• When was the universe made? The study of paleontology has rendered it virtually impossible for a serious scientist to make a case for a six day creation about six thousand years ago, as Christians would once have believed without question. At the same time, the study of ancient literatures has rendered it understandable that the first chapters of Genesis should use the kind of language technically known as 'mythological' to explain the origins of the universe." - Bible study materials from Scripture Union

Popular Christian Organizations

• . . . but you need to know that the ministry of PK takes no stand on issues like this ... Since different churches and individual Christians hold varying views about creation, it is one of those things we believe falls under the category of "secondary doctrines," just as we do such things as spiritual gifts, eternal security, the rapture, etc." - Carolyn Bearse, assistant to Bill McCartney, founder and president of Promise Keepers

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

• Officially have no position on creation/ evolution issue

• http://thelutheran.org/article/article_buy.cfm?article_id=6094

• Mark Hollabaugh (an ELCA astronomer) and others argue against intelligent design in schools and for various forms of theistic evolution in “The Lutheran”

Quotes from the article

• “I believe biological, geological, and astronomical evolution is a fact.”

• “Most of us in the ELCA aren’t literalists. We understand the Bible has layers of meaning and importance.”

• “Gordon (chair of biology department at St. Olaf college) told us a student had come to his office in tears because of what she had learned in biology class about evolution. Her faith had been shattered. Arnie, a man I knew had a deep Christian faith, said: “I just can’t understand the fuss. Why is it creation or evolution? Why can’t it be creation by evolution?”

• “… I marveled even more at the unconditional love of God given to us in Christ Jesus. That love and grace – not the scientific inaccuracy of biblical texts – are what really matter in our lives.”

Evolutionists!

• "I attended the "Teaching Evolution" seminar yesterday - led by Eugenie Scott ... An awful negative was suggested to those experiencing opposition from students. The teachers were advised to suggest to the Bible-believers to consult their clergy who would usually assure them that belief in evolution is OK!!" - personal letter to AIG, 1996

Personal examples