Evolution & Geocreationism II
Having defined Evolution in a manner allowing for either “Natural Selection” or “Divine Selection”, I now turn to the task of defining what it means for God to be active in Evolution.
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.
Clearly, Evolution has borne some pretty bad fruit. However, one could argue that adding God to the mix creates a tree of a different fruit, and so an Evolution with God as part of the definition need not be rejected as quickly. It is this argument that we will explore.
God as the Creator of Evolution
Description: This flavor of Evolution has God creating the universe, sitting back, and watching as things unfold without His interference. The mechanism of Evolution is Natural Selection, not divine.
Discussion: For a Christian who believes this, it provides comfort by providing the means to accept science and God simultaneously. However, for a non-Christian, it provides a rationale to simply throw God away, letting man proceed exactly as they have, leading to the evils of Nazism and Communism. Worse still, they could even point to such horrible fruits as being God’s will if He exists, since they came from a process He theoretically went out of His way to create and then withdraw from.
God as the Author of Small Changes
Description: This flavor of Evolution has God creating the universe, including the mechanism of “Natural Selection”, but guiding what changes there are to select from.
Discussion: Again, this might comfort the Christian who wants to accept what science has to say, but it still leaves the mechanism of “Natural Selection” in place as a God-created process, with all of its evil fruits left intact.
God as the Divine Selector
Description: This flavor of Evolution has God creating the universe and the mechanism to produce occasional changes. God then selects from the changes.
Discussion: One could argue against ths theory by pointing at Nazism and Communism, suggesting that God chose (or was powerless to choose) the master race of Nazi Germany, or that it was God’s choice that the upper class should generally rule.
God as the Lone Creator
Description: God makes new species from scratch. When combined with an Old Earth philosophy, God created the species over time, as He willed. He allowed species to change over time to fit their environments, but new species were created by Him.
Discussion: This would explain the missing transitional forms in the fossil record, but does not explain the transitional fossils that have been found. An argument against this theory would interestingly reduce to the question of Natural Selection. That is, given the existance of transitional forms in some cases, couldn’t those gaps simply reflect the transtional forms that are just waiting to be discovered? The implication then is that we don’t really know what God did. This is the position much of the church is in, and I dare say it has created as many atheists as plain old Evolution has.
God as the Master Craftsman
Description: This has elements of both Evolution and Creator God. God occasionally creates new species, and occasionally lets them evolve through either Natural or Divine Selection.
Discussion: So far, this is the most satisfying theory to me. It avoids the bad fruit of Evolution by making it completely subservient to God. If species are evolving, it’s because He is letting it, but only for a time. He can start it and stop it whenever He wants, creating new species in between. It explains the fossil record, both the gaps and the transitional fossils that have been found, and does not suffer from the bad fruit of Evolution by itself.
In Conclusion
I propose that God created actively during the creation “daytimes”, and let Evolution produce what it would during the night. I also propose that Evolution occured during Day 7, while God rested. However, this was all God’s choice, and He set it up just as He desired.
Nazism could not come from this theory. We know this because this Master Craftsman theory is in fact at work with the races right now, a combination of natural racial ”evolution” and God actively creating the races He wants. As a result, we see Him keeping the Jews a distinct people, and grafting all who are faithful into the olive tree of faith.  Yet those God has chosen are hardly superior. The Nazis would be dissappointed.
Communism could not come from this theory either. We know this because the Master Craftsman theory is in fact at work at a societal level. As people seem to gravitate toward a one world government devoid of Jesus Christ, whether it be via terrorism, domination, trade agreements, or the internet, God plans to set it all aside when He puts His kingdom in place on earth for Christ to rule. Lenin, Marx, and Mao will be gravely disappointed.