The Lie: Evolution (7 page)

This is so typical of today’s Christian society, and it is very much related to this issue of foundations. Many parents do not realize they are not laying the proper foundation at home by placing the emphasis on God as Creator. When their children go to school, they are given another foundation: God is not Creator and we are simply products of chance. No wonder so many children rebel. One cannot build a house from the roof down. We must start from the foundation and build upon this. Sadly, many parents have built a structure for the next generation which does not have the foundational understanding that Jesus Christ is the Creator.

Students in most of our schools are given a totally anti-biblical foundation: the foundation of evolution. This foundation, of course, will not allow the Christian structure to stand. A structure of a different type — humanism — is the one built on this foreign foundation.

So many parents have said it was when their children went to high school or college that they drifted away from Christianity. Many rejected Christianity entirely. If there was never an emphasis on constructing the right foundation at home, it is little wonder the Christian structure collapsed. Regrettably, from my experience I have found that many Christian schools and colleges also teach evolution — so one should not assume that his children are necessarily safe because they are sent to a Christian school. The school may claim that it teaches creation, but on a detailed investigation it is often found that they teach that God used evolution in creation.

This same problem of a structure without a foundation is also reflected in another way. Many Christians may be against abortion, sexual deviancy, and other moral problems in society, yet they cannot give proper justification for their opposition. Most Christians have an idea of what is wrong and what is right, but they do not understand why. This lack of reasons for our position is seen by others as just "opinions." And why should our opinion be any more valid than that of someone else?

All these issues relate to an understanding of what the Bible is all about. It is not just a guidebook for life. It is the very basis upon which all of our thinking must be built. Unless we understand that book, we will
not
have proper understanding of God and His relationship to man, and thus what a Christian world view is all about. That is why Jesus said in John 5:47 that we must believe the writings of Moses.

For instance, to understand why living as a homosexual is wrong, one has to understand that the basis for marriage comes from Genesis. It is here we read that God ordained marriage and declared it to be one man for one woman for life. God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Bruce! One primary importance for marriage as stated in Malachi 2:15, is that God created two to be "one" so that they could produce "a godly seed" (i.e., godly offspring). When one understands that there are specific roles which God ordained for men and women, one has reasons for standing against any legislation that weakens or destroys the family. Thus, a homosexual lifestyle is anti-God, and so it is wrong, not because it is our opinion, but because God, the absolute authority, says so. (Note particularly Lev. 18:22; Rom. 1:24, 26–27; and Gen. 2:23–24.)

We must reinforce in our own thinking, and in that of our Christian churches, that the Bible
is
the Word of God and that God has absolute authority over our lives. We must listen to what He says in relation to the principles to live by in
every area
of life,
regardless of what anyone’s opinion is.
This human-based, opinion-oriented argument permeates the Church in many ways. Consider the issue of abortion.

I have been to Bible studies where groups are discussing abortion. Many of the members give their opinion about what they think, but they give no reference to the Bible. They say such things as: "What if their daughter were raped," or "if the baby were going to be deformed," or "if somebody wouldn’t be able to cope with looking after the child," then perhaps abortion would be acceptable. This is where our churches are falling by the wayside. The idea that everyone can have an opinion devoid of a basis in biblical principles has crept into our churches and is one of the main reasons why we have so many problems sorting out doctrine and determining what we should believe. It is not a matter of autonomous human opinion about what is developing in a mother’s womb, it is a matter of what God says in His Word concerning the principles that must govern our thinking. Psalm 139, Psalm 51, Jeremiah 1, and many other passages of Scripture make it quite plain that, at the point of conception, we are human beings. Therefore, abortion in all instances must be viewed as killing a human being. That is the only way of looking at the matter. It is time we woke up. When it comes to such issues, we must take God’s view, not man’s!

If we were less nervous about doing this, a lot of the problems we have in churches today would obviously be more easily solved. A large conference of one particular Protestant denomination was discussing whether or not the church should ordain women as pastors. It was interesting to see what happened. Someone jumped to his feet and said we should ordain women as pastors because they are just as bright as men. Another commented that we have women doctors and women lawyers, so why shouldn’t we have women pastors? Somebody else said women are equal to men and, therefore, they should be pastors. But at this and other such conferences, how many people do we hear stating, "God made man; God made woman. He has given them their special roles in this world. The only way we could ever attempt to come to the right conclusion about this issue is to start from what He says concerning the roles of men and women." The trouble is, everyone wants to have his or her own opinion without reference to God’s opinion.

At one meeting, a lady responded in a rather irate tone to what I had said about the roles of men and women. She said that she should not be submissive to her husband until he was as perfect as Christ. I then asked her where this was stated in the Bible. She said it was obvious that the Bible taught this. Therefore, she did not have to be in submission to her husband. I repeated my question to her, insisting she show me where in the Bible it made such a statement or gave a principle whereby one could come to that conclusion logically. She could not show me, but still insisted that if her husband could not be as perfect as Christ she didn’t have to be submissive to him. It was obvious to everyone present that she wanted her own opinion regardless of what the Scripture stated. She did not want to be submissive to her husband, and she did not want to obey the Scriptures.

Another place where we often hear people’s opinions expressed in all sorts of ways is at members’ meetings in churches. I have been at meetings where they were electing deacons. Someone would suggest a certain person to be a deacon because he was such a good man. When somebody else suggested that the qualifications for a deacon as given in the Scriptures should be applied, some objected, saying that you could not rule out a person from being a deacon just because he did not measure up to the qualifications given in Scripture. In other words, people’s opinions, according to some, were above Scripture.

There are many ways in which we see this whole philosophy permeating our Christian society. The principal of a Christian school was telling me that he has a number of parents objecting to his strict discipline, which is based upon biblical principles. Their objections usually took the form of comparison with other schools, or saying that their children were not as bad as other children around the neighborhood. Instead of comparing the standards with God’s Word, they compared them with other people. For instance, some parents insisted that because there were other students in the school who had not been caught doing wrong things, their children should not be punished. The principal pointed out that if this was applied in society there would be enormous problems. For example, does this mean that police should not prosecute a driver they happen to catch with a high alcohol content in his blood just because many other drivers who also have a high alcohol content were not caught? These parents were upset because of the standard the principal applied — a standard based upon the authority of God’s Word.

Paul says, "Stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught" (2 Thess. 2:15). Do we stand fast, or do we waver? What we are seeing in our society is an outward expression, in more and more of its naked ferocity, of the rejection of God and His absolutes, and the growing belief that only human opinions matter.

The reason for much of the conflict throughout the church at the present time is that people are fighting over their opinions. It is not a matter of opinion, yours or mine. It is what
God
says that matters. The basis for our thinking should be the principles from His Word. They must determine our actions.

To understand this, we must also appreciate that Genesis is foundational to the entire Christian philosophy. One major difficulty in our churches is that many people do not trust Genesis. Consequently, they do not know what else in the Bible to trust. They treat the Bible as an interesting book containing some vague sort of religious truth. This view is destroying the Church and our society, and it is time religious leaders wake up to the fact. Not to take Genesis 1 through 11 literally is to do violence to the rest of Scripture.

As Professor James Barr, a renowned Hebrew scholar and Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at Oxford University, said in a personal letter on April 23, 1984, "So far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who does not believe that the writer(s) of Genesis 1 through 11 intended to convey to their readers the ideas that (a) creation took place in a series of six days which were the same as the days of 24 hours we now experience; (b) the figures contained in the Genesis genealogies provided by simple addition a chronology from the beginning of the world up to later stages in the biblical story; (c) Noah’s flood was understood to be worldwide and extinguished all human and animal life except for those in the ark."

Please note that many, if not most of these "world-class" scholars do not believe in the Bible or Christianity anyway, so they are not interested in "wresting" the Scriptures to somehow try to make their religion fit with evolution. They are just expressing their opinion on the plain meaning of the text. Disbelieve it if you wish, but it is impossible to make out that it is saying anything other than what it does say. We can see now that those who say that the clear teaching of Genesis is not what it actually means are not doing so on the basis of literary or linguistic scholarship, but because of partial surrender to the pressure of evolutionary thinking.

Chapter 6

GENESIS DOES MATTER

Let us look in detail at some important Christian doctrines, to show why this emphasis on a literal Genesis must be accepted. Suppose that we are being questioned concerning the doctrines Christians believe. Think carefully how you would answer in detail.

Why do we believe in marriage?

Why do we promote the wearing of clothes?

Why are there rules — right and wrong?

Why are we sinners — what does that mean?

Why is there death and suffering in the world?

Why is there to be a new heaven and a new earth?

We will consider each one carefully, as it is important to have reasons for what we believe. In fact, God expects His children to be ready to give answers — to give reasons for what they believe. In 1 Peter 3:15 we read, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear."

Christianity, as distinct from atheism, is not a "blind" faith, but an objective one …our object is Jesus Christ. He does reveal himself to those who come by faith believing that He is. John 14:21 says, "And I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." Hebrews 11:6: "For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

If reasons for the validity of the Christian’s faith are not forthcoming, his witness is weakened and open to ridicule. Christians must be prepared to make an intelligent defense of the gospel by arming themselves with knowledge and an understanding of the forms unbelief takes in these days. Many Christians do not know how to communicate the fact that God’s Word and God’s laws are true. The net result is generations of wishy-washy Christians who believe in many things, but are not sure why. Personal witnessing can lose its impact if the Christian fails to share intelligent reasons for his faith. This must be avoided, lest ridicule and dishonor come to the name of Christ.

A good example of what happens when we do not give reasons for what we believe can be seen in a letter to the editor of an Arizona newspaper. It reads as follows: "When I was a youngster, we all believed that men had one less rib than women because God created Eve with one of Adam’s ribs. When the story was written five to ten thousand years later after Noah and the world flood, how many people could read, much less write? ... You say you are a teacher of creationism in school classes. How would you answer these questions? If Noah took two of each animal on the ark, where did he get polar bears, bison, and kangaroos? You might answer that those animals lived in the Eastern Mediterranean area back then. The next question would be, how did the various colors of humans evolve from one white (deeply tanned) family in 5,000 or even 50,000 years? ... When I was growing up in a deeply religious family, I was told not to question the Bible and other religious writings. I got no answer then, and 70 years later I am still waiting for a reasonable explanation."

I personally spoke to the writer of this letter. As we talked, it became obvious that he had been told to accept the Bible by blind faith and was never given any useful answers. Omission caused him to reject evangelical Christianity. How sad! And the answers to these sorts of questions are available today. So, let us "give reasons for what we believe" as we discuss the subjects mentioned above.

MARRIAGE

When Jesus was asked questions concerning divorce in Matthew 19, He immediately referred to the origin, and thus the foundation, of marriage. He said, "Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female? And said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?" And from where did Jesus quote? Genesis! (In fact, He quoted from Genesis, chapters 1 and 2, in the same verse. Those who wrongly say Genesis 1 and 2 are two different accounts of creation should refer to Appendix 1.) Jesus was saying: "Don’t you understand there is a historical basis for marriage?" If we did not have this historical basis, we would not have marriage. The only basis is in the Scriptures. You can say it is convenient for you, but you cannot tell your son he cannot marry Bill or, for that matter, marry Julie and Susan. Likewise, extramarital relationships would be a tolerable alternative. You would have no justification for thinking otherwise.

Now, if we go back to Genesis, we read how God took dust and made a man. From the man’s side, He made a woman. Adam’s first recorded words were: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." They were one flesh. When a man and a woman marry, they become one. This is the historical basis. Also, we are to cleave to one another as if we had no parents — just like Adam and Eve who had no parents. We know it is to be a heterosexual relationship. Why? Because, as stated before, God made Adam and Eve (a man and a woman —
not
a man and a man). That is the only basis for marriage, and that is why we know that homosexual behavior and desire is an evil, perverse, and unnatural deviation. It is time the church stood its ground against the increasing acceptance of homosexuality as something natural or normal or as an "acceptable alternative." Paul would not have written about homosexuality in the way that he did in Romans if he did not have that historical basis. (Please note that although as Christians we condemn the sin of homosexuality, we are to be grace-oriented toward the homosexual and seek his or her deliverance from bondage.)

What about the rest of the teaching on marriage? There is another aspect which has to do with the family. It is the reason many Christian families go to pieces or the offspring go astray. In the majority of Christian homes today, it is usually the mother who teaches the children spiritually. What an unfortunate thing it is that fathers have not embraced their God-given responsibility. When one looks at the biblical roles given to fathers and mothers, it is the fathers who are allocated the responsibility of providing for their children, and providing the family’s spiritual and physical needs (Isa. 38:19, Prov. 1:8, Eph. 6:4). One result of this role reversal is that the sons often stop coming to church. Christian girls who have not been trained properly by their fathers concerning the marriage relationship often disobey the Lord by dating and marrying non-Christian men.

A young woman approached me and said that she was married to a non-Christian. She explained that when she was dating this man, she compared him to her father and saw no real difference. Yet, her father was a Christian. Because her father was not the spiritual head of the house, she did not see any real difference between him and the person she was dating. She saw no reason to make sure that her husband-to-be was a Christian. Now that she is married and has children, there are some extreme problems with their marriage regarding the bringing up of their children.

A major reason for so many problems in Christian families today is that fathers have not taken their God-commanded responsibility of being priest in their household.
As a husband and a father, he is also a priest to his wife and children. It is not, however, a "boss" relationship where men despotically lord it over women. Female liberationists think the Bible teaches a tyrannical relationship in marriage. Unfortunately, many Christians think like this, also. However, the Bible does not say this at all. Anyone who uses these biblical role absolutes to justify one person’s seeking power over another has completely missed the whole message of Jesus Christ (Eph. 5:22–33, John 13:5). The Bible also says we are to submit one to another (Eph. 5:21). If you do not adopt the God-given roles set out in Scripture, you will find that your family will not function as intended, and problems usually follow. The Bible also tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Eph. 5:25). In many instances, if husbands loved their wives this way it would make it easier for many women to be submissive to them.

WHY CLOTHES?

Consider why we wear clothes. Is it to keep warm? What then if we lived in the tropics? Is it to look nice? If these are our only reasons, why wear clothes? Why not take them off when we want to, where we want to? Does it really matter if one goes nude publicly? Ultimately, the only reason for insisting that clothes must be worn is a moral one. If there is a moral reason, it must have a basis somewhere; therefore, there must be standards connected to the moral reason. What then are the standards? Many in our culture (including Christians) just accept the fashions of the day. Parents, what about the training of your children? What do you say to them about clothes?

In her paper "Greek Clothing Regulations: Sacred and Profane," Harrianne Mills has this to say: "Since the demise, roughly one hundred years ago, of the biblically based theory that clothes are worn because of modesty, various theories have been put forward by anthropologists concerned with the origins and functions of clothing."
¹

Why do we wear clothes? There is a moral basis if you go back to the Scriptures. We read in Genesis that when God made Adam and Eve they were naked. But sin came into the world, and sin distorts everything. Sin distorts nakedness. Immediately Adam and Eve knew they were naked, and they tried to make coverings out of fig leaves. God came to their rescue, providing garments by killing an innocent animal. This was the first blood sacrifice; it was a covering for their sin.

Men are very easily aroused sexually. That is why semi-naked women are used in television and magazine advertisements. Parents need to explain to their daughters how easily a man is aroused sexually by a woman’s body. They need to know, because many of them do not understand what happens to a man. At one church, after I had spoken on the topic of clothing, a young woman came up and told me that she had only been a Christian for six months. She was dating a young Christian man and was perplexed as to why he often told her not to wear certain things. Every time she asked him why, he started to feel embarrassed. She had not realized before that what she wore (or did not wear) could put a stumbling block in a man’s way by causing him to commit adultery in his heart.

Fathers need to explain to their daughters about how men react to a woman’s body. They also need to explain to their sons that although women’s clothes, or lack of them, can be a stumbling block to a male, it is not an excuse for them in relation to what their mind does with what they see. Job had an answer for this problem: "I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?" (Job 31:1). As Christians, males should have a covenant with their eyes and be reminded of this when lustful thoughts come as a result of what they see or hear.

Jesus states that if a man lusts after a woman in his heart, he commits adultery in his heart: "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matt. 5:28). Sin distorts nakedness. Even the perfect relationship experienced by Adam and Eve before the Fall degenerated. After the Fall, they hid from God and were ashamed of their nakedness. Many Christian women wear clothes that really accentuate their sexuality. And many a roving eye follows every movement. But what is happening? Men are committing adultery in their hearts. Adultery for which they and the women will have to answer.