The Lie: Evolution (11 page)

Again, let me state here that abortion certainly existed before Darwin popularized his evolutionary theory. However, his evolutionary theory has been used to give abortion its respectability, and thus we see the great increase in abortion today.

5. Business Methods and Evolution

In the last half of the 19th century, a widespread philosophy known as "social Darwinism" dominated the thinking of many industrial tycoons of the era. They believed that because evolution was true in the biological sphere, the same methods should apply in the business world: survival of the fittest, elimination of the weak, no love for the poor.

In 1985 one of Australia’s large banks (the National Australia Bank), in a commemorative magazine concerning their merging with another bank, was using Darwinian principles of survival of the fittest to justify its merger. There are many other examples in history books of famous businessmen who have accepted evolutionism and applied it in the business field.

6. Male Chauvinism and Evolution

Many try to blame Christianity for the chauvinist attitude of many males in our society. They claim the Bible teaches that men are superior to women and that women are not equal to men. This, of course, is not true. The Bible teaches that men and women are equal, but they have different roles because of the way God created them and because of their reactions to the temptation of the serpent (1 Tim. 2:12–14). In
New Scientist,
Eveleen Richards states: "In a period when women were beginning to demand the suffrage, higher education and entrance to middle-class professions, it was comforting to know that women could never outstrip men; the new Darwinism scientifically guaranteed it." She went on in the article to say, "... an evolutionary reconstruction that centers on the aggressive, territorial, hunting male and relegates the female to submissive domesticity and the periphery of the evolutionary process."
⁶
In other words, some have used Darwinian evolution to justify that females are inferior. However, there are those in the feminist movement today who use evolution to try to justify that females are superior. There are even those who use evolution to justify children’s rights. When you think about this, any theory that justifies either male or female supremacy justifies neither.

Christian women need to realize that the radical feminist movement is pervaded by evolutionist philosophy. Christian women need to be alert and not be deceived by such an anti-God movement.

A whole book could be written about the justification of many of the evils we see today from a foundational acceptance of evolutionary philosophy. But at this stage people start saying to me, "Are you blaming evolution for all the evils in society?" My answer is, "Yes and no." No — because it is not primarily evolution that is to blame, but the rejection of God as Creator. As people reject the God of creation and therefore reject His rules, they abandon Christian ethics and accept beliefs in accordance with their own opinions. Yes — because, in a very real sense, the justification for people rejecting the God of creation is the so-called "scientific" view of evolution. Evolution is the main justification today for rejecting belief in divine creation.

The following illustration is my favorite, and beautifully summarizes what this book is all about.

On the left we see the foundation of evolution. The castle built upon it is entitled "humanism." Associated with the humanist structure are the issues we have been discussing. On the right we see the foundation of creation, and built upon that is the castle entitled "Christianity." As part of the foundation collapses, the structure starts to collapse. However, on the Christian structure, the cannons are either aimed at each other, aimed nowhere, or aimed at the issues of humanism, but certainly not aimed at the foundation called evolution.

Christians are fighting a war, but they don’t know where to fight it or how to aim their guns. This is the real problem. If we want to see the structure of humanism collapse (which any thinking Christian must), then we have to re-aim the cannons at the foundation of evolution. It is only when the foundation is destroyed that the structure will collapse.

You will notice that one cannon is taking potshots at the issues of humanism represented as balloons. Here is another aspect that Christians must consider very carefully. Many might even agree to fight against such issues as abortion, sexual immorality, pornography, and so on. But if we attack only at the level of these issues and not the motivation for their popularity, we are not going to be successful. Even if the laws are changed in our society to outlaw abortion, but the reason abortion has become acceptable (evolution) has not been attacked or destroyed, the next generation will be even more conditioned to evolution and simply change the law again. If the Church wants to be successful in changing society’s attitudes toward abortion, pornography, and homosexuality, it is going to have to fight the issue at a foundational level. The foundational basis of evolution needs to be destroyed and the foundational basis of creation restored to its rightful place of importance.

Another way of summing up what is happening is seen in the following illustration.

You can see in the following diagram that the boat "Christianity" has had its hull "SS Creation" holed by torpedoes of "Evolution" from the submarine "Humanism." Notice the ship, "Christianity." The Christians are looking around and endeavoring to discover why the boat is sinking. They are bailing hard, but the boat is sinking faster than they can actually bail. Their mistake lies in not realizing the subversive nature of the attack — the ship’s "foundations" are being shot to pieces.

Dear reader, there is a war raging. We are soldiers of the King. It is our responsibility to be out there fighting for the King of kings and Lord of lords. We are the King’s army. But are we using the right weapons? Are we fighting the battle where it really matters? Unfortunately, many Christians have what would be viewed militarily as a totally ridiculous strategy. They do not fight the battle where it rages. They are not fighting on the real battleground. They have no hope of winning. When are Christians in the nations around our world going to wake up to the fact that we need to re-aim our weapons and aggressively and actively fight the issue of evolution by restoring the foundation of creation?

In Western nations most churches compromise with evolution. Many theological and Bible colleges teach that the issue of creation/evolution does not matter. They teach that you can believe in both evolution and the Bible because you do not have to bother about taking Genesis literally. This compromising stand is helping to destroy the very structure they claim to want to remain in society — the structure of Christianity. Chapter 10 challenges all those involved in pastoral and teaching positions in our churches to take a positive stand for the God of creation and thus oppose the anti-God philosophies that are destroying our nations.

Chapter 9

Evangelism in a Pagan World

There is a war going on in society — a very real battle. The war is Christianity versus humanism, but we must wake up to the fact that, at the foundational level, it’s really creation versus evolution.

Having agreed on all this, however, we must remember that our enemies are not the humanists and evolutionists themselves, but the powers of darkness that have deceived them. We must demonstrate grace toward humanists and evolutionists and let them see clearly in us the fruits of the Spirit — in all we say, write, and do.

When Christians understand the foundational nature of the battle, it is a key that unlocks for them the reasons for the happenings in society. It is also a key to unlock an approach to society enabling us to combat its increasingly anti-Christian emphasis.

It wasn’t so very long ago that biblical creation was the basis of our society. Creation was taught in the universities and the school system. People automatically sent their children to Sunday school or similar places, so they would learn Christian absolutes. Even people who were not Christians, by and large, respected and obeyed these laws based upon the Bible. Sexual deviancy in all areas was outlawed. Abortion, in most instances, was considered murder.

But, what happened? Charles Darwin popularized the theory of evolution. (There have always been evolutionary views opposing the true record of creation. Darwin did not originate the idea of evolution — he just popularized a particular version of it.) Evolution was promoted as science, but it is not science — it is a belief system about the past. The Church was caught off guard because it did not know how to handle the situation. Because they did not understand the true nature of science, many people believed that Darwinian evolution was science. And so this view of origins began to permeate our society.

Atheistic evolution is a belief system that says there is no God. We are a result of chance. No one owns us; we own ourselves. Non-Christians easily accept this view because the Bible tells us that men love darkness rather than light, as they are sinful creatures (John 3:19).

As stated in the previous chapter, the clash we see in our society at present is the clash between the religion of Christianity with its creation basis (and therefore absolutes) and the religion of humanism with its evolutionary basis and its relative morality that says "anything goes." What can we do about it? We must preach the gospel. This means teaching the whole counsel of God to ensure that Jesus Christ is given the glory due His name. But what is the gospel? Many don’t really understand the full substance of the gospel. This gospel consists of:

1. The foundational teachings: Jesus Christ is Creator and He made man; man rebelled against God, and sin therefore entered the world; God placed upon man the curse of death.

2. The power of the gospel and what is central to the gospel: Jesus Christ, the Creator, came and suffered the same curse of death on a cross and was raised from the dead (thus conquering death); all those who came to Him in repentance for their sin (rebellion) can come back to the perfect love relationship with God that was forfeited in the Garden of Eden.

3. The hope of the gospel: the whole of creation is suffering the effects of sin and is slowly running down; all things are to be restored (the consummation of all things) when Jesus Christ comes to complete His work of redemption and reconciliation (Col. 1; 2 Pet. 3).

Many people use 1 Corinthians 15 as a passage that defines the gospel and claim that it only talks about Jesus Christ being crucified and raised from the dead. However, in 1 Corinthians 15:12–14 Paul says: "Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: and if Christ is not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." In other words, Paul is talking about the people who do not believe the Resurrection. But now have a look at the tack Paul takes. In verse 21, he goes back to Genesis and explains the origin of sin. "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead." He sets the foundational reason as to why Jesus Christ came and died on the cross. It is important to realize that the gospel consists of the foundational aspects as well as the other elements as outlined above. Therefore, to preach the gospel without the message of Christ as Creator and the entrance of sin and death is to preach a gospel without a foundation. To preach a gospel without the message of Christ and His crucifixion and resurrection is to preach a gospel without power. To preach a gospel without the message of the coming kingdom is to preach a gospel without hope. All these aspects constitute the gospel. Therefore, to understand the gospel message properly we must understand all aspects.

Methods of Evangelism

Many Christians feel that it is sufficient to preach concerning the death of Christ for our sin, the need for repentance, and the receiving of Christ as Saviour, leaving the outworking to the Holy Spirit. However, it is quite evident that the Early Church evangelists used different presentations according to the people they found before them. Examples abound in Acts and the Gospels:

John 4 — Jesus used the "living water" approach at the well.

Acts 2 — Peter used the explanation of the circumstances of the Day of Pentecost as a starting point.

Acts 3 — Peter used the healing of the lame man to speak of God’s power.

Acts 7 — Stephen gave a history lesson to the Sanhedrin.

Acts 13 — Paul preached Jesus as the Christ in the synagogue.

Acts 14 and 17 — Paul preached the
Creator God
to the Gentiles.

The Lord has raised up creation ministries worldwide so that all necessary methods for evangelizing our society will be available. The Lord has provided us with a phenomenally powerful tool that must be used today —
creation evangelism
. The main reason, we believe, that the Church is so relatively ineffective is a direct result of not evangelizing correctly. The Church is proclaiming the message of the Cross and Christ, but it is not as effective as it used to be. We also read in the New Testament (1 Cor. 1:23) that the preaching of the Cross was foolishness to the Gentiles (Greeks), but only a stumbling block to the Jews. We need to take a lesson from the New Testament. In Acts 14 and 17, we are given two specific approaches to the Greeks. It was a different method from that used for the Jews. When Paul went to the Greeks, he didn’t start preaching about Jesus Christ and the Cross. The Greeks believed in a form of evolution and, in their eyes, there was no one Creator God who had authority over them.

There are only two types of views about origins: evolutionary or creationist. If one does not believe that there is an infinite being who created all, the only alternative is that some form of evolution must apply.

When we think about this very carefully, we can begin to understand why Paul needed to approach the Greeks on the basis of creation. The Greeks, who did not believe in God as Creator but rather a form of evolution, had the wrong basis and, therefore, the wrong framework of thinking about this world. Consequently, to them the preaching of the Cross was utter foolishness. Paul realized that before he could preach about Jesus Christ he had to establish the basis upon which he could build the rest of the gospel. So, he established creation as a foundation and from there preached the message of Jesus Christ.

Whenever the Jews were approached, it was not with the message of creation first, but the teaching of Christ and the Cross. The Jews already had the right foundation because they believed in God as Creator; therefore, they had the right framework of thinking. Even so, many refused to accept who Jesus was.

It’s about time the modern Church came to grips with a society that is more "Greek" than "Jewish" in outlook. In fact, the modern Church itself is largely more "Greek" than "Jewish." Whereas, in the past, the creation basis was evident in society and people were less ignorant of Christian doctrine, late 20th century man knows little of that. We have to come to grips with the fact that evolution has become one of the biggest barriers to today’s people being receptive to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have many letters from people indicating that they would not listen to the claims of Christianity because they thought evolution had proved it to be wrong.

We must appreciate that there are whole generations of students coming through an educational system who know nothing of the Bible. They have never heard about creation, Noah’s flood, or the message of the Cross. It is hard to believe that there are literally millions of people in Western society who don’t have this background, but it is becoming increasingly obvious.

When I was working at the office of the Creation Science Foundation in Brisbane, Australia, we called a florist to send one of my secretaries a bouquet of flowers to cheer her up. The young girl on the other end of the phone was told three times, in very clear English, what to write on the card to be delivered with the flowers: John 14, verse 27. When the card arrived, the girl had handwritten the following message, "John 14 birth 27." This young woman had no understanding of the Bible or Christianity and so did not have any idea what that request was all about. My secretary was able to decipher the message easily enough (she knows the verse by heart) and was somewhat cheered by the strange presentation. This is a humorous but sad reflection on what so many young people of today are becoming.

In an increasing number of instances, it is apparent that before we can effectively proclaim the message of Christ we must establish the creation foundation upon which the rest of the gospel can be built.

Let me be emphatic here. The doctrine of the cross, though regarded as absurd and powerless by non-Christians, has more power and wisdom than anything that ever proceeded from man. The preaching of this doctrine is the great means of salvation. To this, all other teachings, however important, are either preparatory or subordinate. The doctrine of Christ crucified produces effects that nothing short of divine power can accomplish. So, in saying that we need to start from the foundational basis of creation, I am not detracting from the message of the Cross. What I am attempting to show is that there is a particular method of approach that is necessary when presenting the gospel message to certain people. The beliefs that they hold can be barriers to their even listening when you preach the message of the Cross.

Perhaps, too, we should rethink the method prevalent in Christian circles of handing unbelievers numerous copies of the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. If they were directed to Genesis 1 through 11, as well as the New Testament, the basis would be provided for the gospel presentation in the same sense as Paul used it in Acts 14 and 17. We believe there would be greater effectiveness in the lives of those who read these Bible portions — a greater preparedness to accept the whole of the Word of God as truthful and inerrant.

Evolution as a barrier can also be seen in Moslem countries. On one occasion, I was speaking to a Christian Egyptian who told me that Islam is a creation-based religion, but the teaching of evolution in schools in Egypt caused many young people to totally reject this religion. It is interesting to see that another creation-based religion has the same problem with evolution. This should make it even more obvious to Christians that evolution is a barrier to people believing in a Creator God.

I have seen this problem in the public school system. Students would often say such things as, "Sir, how can you believe the Bible is true when it says God created Adam and Eve? We know that has been proved wrong by science." Evolution, I believe, is one of the biggest barriers to people today being receptive to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many people (who previously would not consider Christianity) have come to listen to the message of Christianity after these barriers were removed.

For example, a high school student wrote:

I thank God for the creation science seminar at our senior high school. The information was up to date, relevant, and created much discussion. After the seminar various students said they believed what was said. Certainly they felt the speaker made more sense about how everything began than much of what they had heard at the school. Without the visit of the Creation Science Foundation many people would still regard the evolution lie as a fact. Many students, who used to believe in evolution, now believe the Genesis account thanks to creation science. Creation science has a great mission field and a great role to play in schools. It’s up to individuals like me to continue to be faithful to the message they bring and extend the great work done.