This is an essay I wrote for a recent college assignment. Its not a publishable article, but I think I make a valid point here.
How Evolution Gained Prominence
Evolution was not a new concept with Charles Darwin. It had been proposed a few times before and largely rejected by the scientific community. What was new with Darwin was the concept of evolution being powered by natural selection. His book On The Origin of Species took the scientific world by storm, and as they say, the rest is history. Evolutionary theory has since been the foundation of many fields of science.
Since evolution had already been a rejected idea, why did the addition of natural selection morph it into a foundational theory? After all, natural selection is a rather simple principle. On its own it could not have transformed evolution into the entire thrust of science. Creation doctrine is what made evolution popular.
Creation doctrine in Darwins time was very unrealistic. Based on references the Bible makes to animals being kinds and reproducing after their own kind it was held that, outside of domestic breeding, creatures have not changed from the moment God created them. Never mind that the Bible doesnt define kinds of animals this way. The Bibles use of the word kind to categorize animals is in reality a broad definition that loosely describes the forms animals possess. A horse is a horse whether Arabian or mustang. And a finch is a finch whether it is a goldfinch or one of Darwins Galapagos finches. Contrary to the old creation doctrine, changes in animals do occur. This is not contrary to the Bible itself, which never attempts to narrowly define the animals God created. For some reason Christians of that time did not see this clearly and believed contrary to both the Bible and observable phenomenon all around them. The stage was set for a small truth to have great persuasion.
This is where natural selection gained its power to move evolution into the forefront. Not from itself, but from the closely held error of a dogmatic creed. This wrong view made societies ripe for mass deception.
Enter now Darwins invasion with his little army of finches. With just a few songbirds closely resembling each other the world saw evidence that animals can vary over time. This fact made people look at nature with a different set of glasses, and they saw even more evidence of natural selection. Observed were such things as the color morphs of Painted Desert squirrels, size differences between lion species and, ultimately, the skin color variations in humans themselves. Nearly everything in nature shows variation.
Now we can see all of the damage done. One hundred-fifty years later intellectuals of our culture mock Christianity, and many of those rejecting Christ do so because they have been taught that evolution is the omnipotent creator. One unbiblical doctrine fed the fire of evolution, and to this day salvation is ignored as irrelevant, and sin is redefined as choice. It is now more difficult to be a witness for Christ if you do not know what evolution is, and what the evidence against it is. When Christians are not well versed in creation science, they often cannot get past the origins debate when witnessing for Jesus, and many have even tried to put evolution and God together in a compromise known as theistic evolution.
Things have gotten better, though. Christians today have a more correct understanding of creation, and are beginning to understand that natural selection does occur in the natural world. The debate between creation and evolution is heating up again, as it well should. But we can easily lose sight of the real controversy, for it isnt merely a matter of theological or even scientific correctness. It is a matter of saving souls. Multitudes are dying with the belief that there is no God and no salvation. Our Christian forefathers made a huge error, and it is now up to us to regain lost ground surrendered to Darwins finches.
How Evolution Gained Prominence
Evolution was not a new concept with Charles Darwin. It had been proposed a few times before and largely rejected by the scientific community. What was new with Darwin was the concept of evolution being powered by natural selection. His book On The Origin of Species took the scientific world by storm, and as they say, the rest is history. Evolutionary theory has since been the foundation of many fields of science.
Since evolution had already been a rejected idea, why did the addition of natural selection morph it into a foundational theory? After all, natural selection is a rather simple principle. On its own it could not have transformed evolution into the entire thrust of science. Creation doctrine is what made evolution popular.
Creation doctrine in Darwins time was very unrealistic. Based on references the Bible makes to animals being kinds and reproducing after their own kind it was held that, outside of domestic breeding, creatures have not changed from the moment God created them. Never mind that the Bible doesnt define kinds of animals this way. The Bibles use of the word kind to categorize animals is in reality a broad definition that loosely describes the forms animals possess. A horse is a horse whether Arabian or mustang. And a finch is a finch whether it is a goldfinch or one of Darwins Galapagos finches. Contrary to the old creation doctrine, changes in animals do occur. This is not contrary to the Bible itself, which never attempts to narrowly define the animals God created. For some reason Christians of that time did not see this clearly and believed contrary to both the Bible and observable phenomenon all around them. The stage was set for a small truth to have great persuasion.
This is where natural selection gained its power to move evolution into the forefront. Not from itself, but from the closely held error of a dogmatic creed. This wrong view made societies ripe for mass deception.
Enter now Darwins invasion with his little army of finches. With just a few songbirds closely resembling each other the world saw evidence that animals can vary over time. This fact made people look at nature with a different set of glasses, and they saw even more evidence of natural selection. Observed were such things as the color morphs of Painted Desert squirrels, size differences between lion species and, ultimately, the skin color variations in humans themselves. Nearly everything in nature shows variation.
Now we can see all of the damage done. One hundred-fifty years later intellectuals of our culture mock Christianity, and many of those rejecting Christ do so because they have been taught that evolution is the omnipotent creator. One unbiblical doctrine fed the fire of evolution, and to this day salvation is ignored as irrelevant, and sin is redefined as choice. It is now more difficult to be a witness for Christ if you do not know what evolution is, and what the evidence against it is. When Christians are not well versed in creation science, they often cannot get past the origins debate when witnessing for Jesus, and many have even tried to put evolution and God together in a compromise known as theistic evolution.
Things have gotten better, though. Christians today have a more correct understanding of creation, and are beginning to understand that natural selection does occur in the natural world. The debate between creation and evolution is heating up again, as it well should. But we can easily lose sight of the real controversy, for it isnt merely a matter of theological or even scientific correctness. It is a matter of saving souls. Multitudes are dying with the belief that there is no God and no salvation. Our Christian forefathers made a huge error, and it is now up to us to regain lost ground surrendered to Darwins finches.
