EVOLUTION AND THE CHURCH

This article was written for people like me who are both sickened and saddened by the countless number of children who were raised up by good Christian parents but become offended and lose their faith when they are exposed to modern scientific facts and theories regarding creation and evolution.

I dare to say it would be hard to find any Christian adult who hasn’t seen this sad and tragic story unfold for someone they have known in their life. It is so easy to hold bitter feelings towards those who cause our children to be offended and lose their faith in God, but Christians need to do better than become bitter towards them. They should, instead, obey Jesus by praying for their enemies. Please consider asking God to open the minds and hearts of those who cause our children to become offended and to let them understand the truth about creation and evolution that is written in God’s Word. It would only take a moment to pray, and it could make an everlasting difference.

Do we really know who is misleading our children? Please consider this: The Gentiles didn’t have a spirit of blindness; it was only the Jews who were blinded to the true nature of Jesus. Having said this, have you ever wondered why educators teach science and evolution that is contrary to what Christians believe? The answer is simple. They believe they are teaching the truth, but the Christians also believe they are teaching their children the truth.

Many Christians have studied the issue of creation and evolution and believe with their whole mind, soul, and heart that they are correct but the scientists are wrong. Then there are others that believe, as an act of faith, what their religious leaders tell them. Today, because of Christians’ pride in their understanding of the written Word of God, they cannot see Jesus as spoken Word from God who created everything, including man. If they could see Jesus as God’s spoken Word concerning creation, they would see that God’s written Word and scientific facts are not in conflict.

The reason pride blinds one from the truth in God’s written Word is because a person with pride in their understanding of the Bible finds it difficult to lay aside their old understandings and beliefs. It is difficult to lay aside what one has worked hard to receive, but doing so is the only way to receive deeper understanding.

For example, there are Christians who believe God created everything in six 24-hour days. They are prevented from receiving deeper understanding about creation days because they can’t get past what they believe is true concerning the word “day.” They know that the Hebrew word used for “day” in some of the verses found in the Book of Genesis always represents a 24-hour period of time. Personally, I believe all things are possible with God, and He could have used the Hebrew language anyway He wanted. If God used six 24-hour days to create everything, there would be scientific evidence to support it.

Two thousand years ago, the Jewish leaders were not able to overcome their pride and set aside their old understanding. Will the Christian community today be able to overcome a spirit of blindness, conquer their pride, and set aside their old understandings? Maybe so, they do have the Holy Spirit to help them. And if they do, this will allow them to see Jesus as spoken Word from God, who created everything.

Do you have pride in your understanding of the Bible? I know I do. I believe it is impossible not to have pride after searching thousands of hours for understanding. Each of us needs to go to God for help on this matter. Maybe God will give us our own thorn in the side until we are able to deal with pride. Please don’t let pride in our understanding of God’s written Word help destroy the souls of our Christian children.

There is another source of blindness. When a person makes up their mind about something, from that point on any information that they receive which is not in agreement with their mind’s opinion is labeled as false. Only people who can make their minds set aside their opinions long enough to examine evidence with an open mind will ever know the truth concerning creation and evolution.

Evolution is nothing more than nature obeying God’s spoken Word. It is my wish that Christians will open up their hearts to God and search for the truth concerning a God-based evolution, but it would not surprise me if the present generation of Christians will have to die off, like the Jews who came out of Egypt, before God will have a people who will hearken unto His Voice.

I ask all Christians to consider the following. The act of abortion steals a child’s right to life on earth, but the child will not be spending eternity in the Lake of Fire; whereas, the act of denying God-based evolution has turned untold numbers of people away from the church. Many of these people will lose their chance at eternal life in Heaven and spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. We really need to ask God for the truth concerning a God-based evolution.

On a more hopeful note, within every denomination, such as Catholic, Baptist, and the Latter-Day Saints, there are some who believe that God did use evolution to create man.