Evolution as God’s Tool
As Phillip E. Johnson pointed out, “An essential step in the reasoning that establishes that Darwinian selection created the wonders of biology … is that nothing else was available,” but Christian “Theism is … the doctrine that something else was available” (my emphasis):
“Theists who accommodate with scientific naturalism therefore may never affirm that their God is real in the same sense that evolution is real. This rule is essential to the entire mindset that produced Darwinism in the first place. If God exists He could certainly work through mutation and selection if that is what He wanted to do, but He could also create by some means totally outside the ken of our science. Once we put God into the picture, however, there is no good reason to attribute the creation of biological complexity to random mutation and natural selection. Direct evidence that these mechanisms have substantial creative power is not to be found in nature, the laboratory, or the fossil record. An essential step in the reasoning that establishes that Darwinian selection created the wonders of biology, therefore, is that nothing else was available. Theism is by definition the doctrine that something else was available.” (Johnson, P.E., “What is Darwinism?” Lecture at Hillsdale College, Michigan, November 1992. Leadership U., 19 April 2003. My emphasis).
Stephen E. Jones, BSc (Biol).
I recently came upon the above in Stephen E. Jones’ blog. The main point is that Evolution via Natural Selection could only be theorized by someone who does not believe in an active and personal God. Were the fossil record considered in the context of an active and personal God, one would simply marvel at God’s work. A “natural” theory, i.e., a theory devoid of God, would not even merit consideration. Therefore, to a Christian, Natural Selection does not merit our consideration.
If my synopsis is accurate, then I do agree with the following:
- I agree that no one who has a relationship with God is likely to derive an explanation for the fossil record that doesn’t involve God’s active will and/or participation.
- I agree that Natural Selection is, by definition, a process that requires no participation from God.
- Given God’s documented propensity and desire to actively involve Himself in His creation, any theory that has Him not participating should not be accepted by any Christian.
- I agree that Natural Selection is not the mechanism by which all life formed on the earth.
However, I do not believe this is the entire story. As I agreed with Stephen E. Jones in “Evolution and Geocreationism II“, we can identify false teachings by their fruit:
In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus said,
15“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”
As so aptly put in Stephen E. Jones’ online testimony:
Evolution, particularly the reigning Darwinian version, has had a catastrophic effect on Christianity, and more than anything else is responsible for the evils of our modern world, including Nazism, Communism and, strangely enough, `robber-baron’ Capitalism.
However, the evils listed above did not come from the idea that an accumulation of small changes can transform one species into another, but from the idea that God was absent from the process or just did not care. God clearly was not absent and He certainly does care.
Take Nazism for example. The connection with Natural Selection is in regards to race; the idea that races can evolve, thus implying that some races are more worthy of survival than others. The evil in this however is not that races come and go. It is not even that races may come and go without God’s involvement. The evil is that if God doesn’t exist, or doesn’t participate in the process, then the superior race should survive the inferior. Take it another step, and perhaps the superior race should guarantee its survival by eliminating the inferior. Taken to the extreme, one could even argue that if God even exists, then He would approve of the elimination! Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.
As we look back, the fact is that races have come and gone. The features of those surviving through to modern day are largely distinguished by how they acclimated to their environment, as eye folds and skin pigmentation demonstrate. History is also filled with examples of the destruction of indigenous peoples through combinations of war and sickness. Clearly there are natural process in place that impact the form and existence of the earth’s races, including their ability to survive further hardships. However, that is not the complete story.
4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” — Genesis 15:4-5
And with this verse, God declared His intention to create what would become the Jewish people. The Jewish people of today are living proof of God’s intentional creation of a race. But notice something else that happened. In his impatience with God, Abram (later renamed Abraham) had a son with one his servants. That son was Ishmael, and he is the father of the Arab people of today. To summarize, God actively created the Jewish race, not the Arab race. But, He knew that the mechanism of free will, which He created, would result in the Arab people of today.
The fact that races come and go without God’s active participation however is not to say He is uninvolved. In fact, God is keeping careful track of those races, and the individuals within them. He loves them all so much that He sent Jesus to die for their sins, and now faithful missionaries of all races have inherited the commission by Jesus to reach the furthest extents of the globe. Yet wars of all kinds continue, and even while one race may destroy another, the one race that will never die is the Jewish race, because God’s plans for them lead up through the end times. Then, when Christ’s kingdom is established, the differences between the races will no longer be important. But then, to God, the races themselves were never the point. So, He put an active effort into establishing and protecting the one race through which He would save the rest, and let the other races do as they would “naturally”, if I can be so bold.
Therefore, Nazism’s application of Natural Selection completely misses the mark. God is not absent. God does care. It is true that God will let the “Natural Selection” of the races unfold as it will, but only to an extent. He frequently prunes them back. Such Biblical examples include the Great Flood, the Tower of Babel, Sodom and Gomorrah, and God’s delivery of the Hebrews from Egypt.
A similar analysis would apply to Communism and the “evolution” of society.
I would liken the development of species over time to that of a wild olive tree. The theory of Evolution would say that as some branches are more capable of reaching the sun than others, and as some roots are closer to the water than others, “Natural Selection” will dictate a form for the olive tree that is most capable of surviving. But that is a misunderstanding of how God works, as it would allow some branches to stifle or choke out others, and God to have no say in the process.
Contrary to Evolution, God lets the branches the grow and interact according to Natural Selection, but only to the extent that it supports the form He wants for the olive tree. It turns out that He adds wild branches to the tree as well! Paul described this principle as follows:
19You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
22Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
In conclusion, we see that God is not averse to letting circumstances unfold on their own, to some degree. Therefore, Natural Selection may be a true process that God has created and let operate on the earth. However, if God is true to form, then He has actively pruned back its results, introduced new variations, and occasionally bypassed it altogether. We should not be surprised to find fossil evidence that God let Natural Selection loose in one place and time, and other evidence where He bypassed it completely. The key is realizing that whatever else God does, God is not absent, God is not complacent, and no process or mechanism may operate outside the intentional boundaries of God’s pure and perfect will. This includes Natural Selection.