Can Evolution & Creationism Be Reconciled?

Many have said that concerning the issue of our origin, "Creationism is a matter of faith; evolution is a matter of science." Without question, creationism is a matter of faith; the Bible clearly states it to be: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” (Hebrews 11:3). While I believe that there is evidence to support this assertion, it is nonetheless an assertion that man will never prove. But by the same token, evolution is also a matter of faith. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, "A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses." By this definition, evolution can never be "scientific" for the testing of a hypothesis is impossible. So the real question is then which faith is the right one. Some have suggested that the creation story and the evolutionary model of origins can be reconciled- that the Bible explains our origins in poetic and narrative terms while evolution describes it in scientific and actual terms. I contend that in order to reconcile the biblical record with evolutionary thought, one must go beyond the flexibility of a gymnast in biblical interpretation and become a contortionist. Simply stated, the declaration of the Bible and that of evolution are irreconcilable.

The purpose of this article in not to prove creationism. As already stated, that is impossible. The purpose of this article is to examine to consequences of accepting evolutionary thought upon the authority of the Word of God. I will be so bold as to say that if evolution is correct as to our origin, then the entirety of the Bible is practically worthless. At first, this looks like I may have overstated the issue. Some will argue that even if the issue of origins is removed, the Bible is still beneficial concerning right and wrong and the issue of eternal life. But the problem of that statement is that the Bible claims that it is truth (John 17:17) and therefore if the declaration of origins is found to be false, then the rest of the teaching of Scripture can be proven false or at least uncertain by the same means. Destroy the foundation of the Scripture's veracity and you destroy the authority of all of its teachings.

One need not go too far in finding the first declaration of Scripture concerning the origin of the universe, in fact, Scripture begins with this declaration: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). Before God states anything else about life, He states that He wants us to know that He is responsible for our very existence. The word that is translated "created" means just that- he brought into existence that which did not exist. The use of this Hebrew word is also not isolated to this opening verse. It is used repeatedly throughout the Old Testament- Genesis 1:21, 1:27, 2:3, 2:4, 5:1, 6:7, Deuteronomy 4:32, Psalm 148:5, Isaiah 40:26, 42:5, 45:12, 45:18, Amos 4:13, & Malachi 2:10. Of particular interest is its use in Genesis 1:1 and 1:27. Since this word is used to describe the origin of both the universe and man, then the process of these things must be the same. If man evolved over millions of years, then it must be that the moon, stars, suns and everything else out there experienced the same process. As far as I know there is not a single scientist that would say that the planets evolved.

The Bible is not only at odds with "science" concerning the process of origins but also with the timing of origins. Evolution requires millions if not billions of years to bring man into the existence he has today. But the Bible states that God created in 6 literal 24-hour days. Some have tried to equate the term "day" in Genesis 1 with something other than a 24-hour time period. To do so is only necessary because of imposing one's theology into interpretation rather formulating one's theology from interpretation. In that Scripture states that the evening and the morning comprised each creative day, there is no reason to understand each day as anything other than a 24-hour period. Likewise in that man was to work for 6 days and rest on the 7th as God had in creation, the days can not be anything other than a 24-hour period.

Then there is the problem of reconciling the order of creation with the order of evolution. The following chart illustrates the difficulties:

Evolution places the appearance of the earth first and man as last, which agrees with the biblical record, but that is about all that is in agreement. There simply is no other conclusion than evolution and creationism can not be reconciled. Therefore, one of these thoughts of origins is WRONG!

Let us suppose for the sake of argument that the biblical record is in error. As I stated above, the veracity of the Bible is then brought to naught. But it goes a step farther. In that the Bible is the Word of God, then God becomes a liar. If He can not be trusted to tell the truth concerning our origin, then can He be trusted to tell the truth about anything else? Can He be trusted at all? In reality, God is not worthy of our worship at all if His record of our origin is false. The issue of our origin is of extreme importance. If evolution is correct then we might as well eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. However, if the biblical record is correct (and it is!) then God has the right to say here is how we must live.