Reconciling Evolution with Scripture (Part 3)
In Reconciling Evolution with Scripture and Reconciling Evolution with Scripture (Part 2), I have attempted to establish that no matter what mechanism resulted in the seeming “evolution of species” apparently recorded in the fossil record, the result was God’s will. In Reconciling Evolution with Scripture I wrote the following:
I then realized that after homo sapiens were created, it seems that evolution kind of stopped… I mean, it’s possible more species still formed, but but not humanoid! And so it meant that God started creating man at Day 1, and stopped after Day 6. The scientific record actually makes it look like God “rested”… and then we read in scripture that He did!
The complement to saying that God rested after Day 6 is that He was working until then. If Day 1 started 4.5 to 4.4 billion years ago, and Day 6 ended about 200,000 years ago (with some play in the numbers on either end), then it means that the entire fossil record laid down within that time happened in the context of God’s work week. What atheists and even some Christians characterize as simple random mutations, building up into traits, and occasionally new species, are change that happened under God’s watch. This is incredibly important, because it means that God did not take time off. He didn’t just start evolution and walk away. He worked and worked, for six straight days (2 billion year days in some cases) until the Day He rested.
As I document in my post Genesis 2:4-7 - Moses Recorded the Evolution of Man, interpreting Genesis 2 in terms of a long earth suggests also that we see Days 1 to 6 as God’s work for creating mankind. It was all one big work project. So, what does that say about the fossil record? What does that say about the progression of species development over time? Unfortunately, it is easier to describe what it does NOT say.
It does NOT say that there was no randomness, but that any randomness was happening with God present, and therefore with His full knowledge.
It does NOT say that every single change was done by His fingers, but that whatever did happen resulted in the human race that God was working toward.
Is it possible that God let some things happen as they may? Absolutely. He does that now. In fact, I would say that most of what happened is from God letting things follow simple physical laws.
What things really come down to is just one phenomenon: the creation of species.
According to the physical record, I find it interesting that complexity increases over time, with species frequently maintaining non-vital characteristics of preceding species. It tells me that former species gave way to new ones. And of course, I believe that is what scripture means by the phrase “created according to their kind.” It means a “kind” that gets expanded to include new species. Another reason I believe species were created from previous species is because scripture says that the land did the producing, yet God did the creating. Once again, there was a time when there was only land, and that time was 4.5 billion years ago. That is all there was, and the land did indeed produce all of the species… but God is the one made it happen. God allowed it, and in fact removed the hindrances that might otherwise prevent it. That is why God said “let”… He was indeed “letting” the land produce new species according to the kinds that already existed.
This also means that scripture fails to record the initial creation of the kinds. I mean, they obviously got created, but the ones scripture records are the ones that came later. Did God not create them all? Well, of course He did! And they all got created during God’s work week.
Using Occam’s Razor, assuming that things were created according to random mutations adds an unnecessary complication to the mix. I mean, we have observed random mutations, but never have we observed a new species. Not yet anyway. Though it could be how God did it, the introduction of that theory does not appear to me to be attempt at explaining God, but at explaining without God. To therefore embrace it forces me to explain something that I would just prefer not to, because I do not see the proof that it happened that way.
If it did happen that way, then fine. But, what I see in the scriptures is that God… was… busy. And so every change I see in the fossil record, every change that appears to have happened at the earliest possible opportunity, looks to be something that God DID. The fact that we cannot witness the transition the fossils is easily explained if the reason by saying God did it.
Now here’s the thing. Most of the time, Christians resort to “God did it” merely because they reject anything secular-sounding. I mean, they’re right, but here’s why it’s different when I say it: I am seeing in scripture a description of evolution occurring while God is working. Scripture says to me that He was working, that animals evolved, and that God made sure they would. It is different than saying, “The science is right, so the Bible must agree, and God must have been behind it.” It’s different than saying, “The Bible said God created everything, so science must agree, and God must have been behind it.” Both of these statements are retreats, one behind science and the other behind scripture. My statement is not a retreat in any way. My reasoning is this:
- Science says the earth is old.
- If the the earth is old, then scripture indicates what features we’ll find in the fossil record
- The fossil record is consistent with what scripture suggests we’ll find
- The fossil record reveals additional events as well, the scripture’s conspicuous wording confirms it
- Such harmony of science and scripture leads me to believe that God is behind it
It is the harmony that leads me to God as the agent over Evolution. I am not throwing up my hands. I am wrapping them around the truth.