Introduction
Faith is very important. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." (Heb 11:6) We live by faith. (Rom 1:17) This faith has been "proclaimed in all creation" (Col 1:23) and has been shown ever since the creation of the world (Rom 1:19-20) Sometimes, mysteriously, God "sends them a strong delusion, so that they believe what is false." (2 Thess 2:11) The apostle Paul says, "the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." (Tim 4:2-4)
In this article, we are concerned with the myth of biological evolution when we know God created everything (Genesis 1-11). The biblical text of Hebrews 11:3 supports this. There was a sermon preached on August 6, 2023 at our local church that concerns us. The sermon was on Hebrews 11:3 that says, "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible." The two experts referenced in the sermon believe in biological evolution. They do not believe God created without an evolutionary process. We do not see how this relates to the faith spoken about in Hebrews 11:3.
We believe the phrase "not made out of things that are visible" means that biological evolution cannot be "how" God created the world. Rather, by faith we understand that God created the universe just in the plainest sense ("fiat" creation). Now a days, Christians do not agree on this.
We write because God calls us to "stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel." (Phil 1:27) And we do not have the same mind on this issue. The Bible guides us to test and expose everything. (1 Thess 5:21, 1 John 4:1,6, 1 Cor 14:29, Rom 12:2, Heb 13:9, "for anything that becomes visible is light." (Eph 5:14) We believe God wants us to expose the hidden agendas of teachers who promote unbiblical ideas against important clear teachings like Hebrews 11:3.
As we listened to the sermon, we wrote some notes in our Bible since the topic was on "creation." Before the sermon got to the referenced experts, we wrote notes in our Bible about some notorious modern day teachers who promote biological evolution. We wrote these words: "Tim Keller" and "Biologos" because they are notorious at trying to convice Christians to allow biological evolution into the church. We had quite a surprise to see the presenter list Tim Keller as a suggested expert to read if someone wanted to read more about the topic. The sermon was suggesting that Christians could read and learn from Tim Keller, if they had questions on Hebrews 11:3. Knowing something about what Tim Keller believes, we were shocked and concerned. The second expert mentioned was Michael Behe who we also know is very supportive of biological evolution.
Purpose
Our purpose is to express our concerns and to ask for more information. We were unsettled by the sermon and we would like to find out more information so we do not misunderstand the presenter's views. We know that many of our friends hold views about Creation that we find very faulty. But we would like to know the views of the presenter because these views are very important to us. Of course the Bible talks a lot about "one another" relationships, but we also see that modern church today operates very differently from the Bible (See 1 Cor 14 for example). So because the presenter is harder to interact with, and because everything is done in public (It seems to us), we believe preparing an article will get our thoughts together in a more organized way (to save time).
We believe the issue of creation and evolution is a big deal because it often leads young people away from God (when they are not well instructed by good clear Bible teaching). Young people are forced to learn evolution at almost every level of education. The younger generation gets certain impressions if you say you believe in something like Evolution.
We would like to know if our church is orthodox according to John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul 1 or orthodox according to Verne Poythress, 9 Tim Keller 2 and The Gospel Coalition. 3 We are wondering if the church supports OEC and theistic evolution 4 or if the church supports the YEC creation view. 5 We would like to know if the church is open to Genesis 1 being understood in a non literal style as John C. Collins would suggest 6 or if Genesis 1 should be understood in the literal historical sense. 7 We have the impression that the church library strongly favors the perspective that is open to long ages of evolutionary biological process. How did the church library go from holding YEC teaching to so strongly favoring the theistic evolution views? 4 What is the church views on science and faith?
The Sermon
The Church Library
Years ago, the old CEFC church library from 2006 to about 2015 contained a set of audio teachings by Henry Morris and John Witcomb. When we found this material, we assumed the senior church leadership was aware of it. Based on this, we assumed a like minded agreement with these YEC teachers. 5 We used this material along with our other YEC material as we did homeschooling. But when the library was updated around 2015, the Henry Morris and John Witcomb tape set was removed. Instead, we started to notice theistic evolutionary things in the library like "Redeeming Science" 9, "The Reason for God" 14, etc. The church aligned with "The Gospel Coalition", 3 which was started by Tim Keller and D. A. Carson. 15 This group has a perspective on Genesis 1-11 that is open to theistic evolution in the way that Tim Keller describes. 2
The Question
For about 17 years we have wondered about the primary teacher's views of creation and evolution. There seems to be an awkwardness in asking questions about this topic because it is so sensitive. Once we tried, but we felt the conversation quickly changed to another topic. We have also felt this sensitivity when discussing this topic with other friends from church. So years go by and we all agree on so many other biblical truths, we just can't talk about certain controversial topics. These "controversial topics" about about basic fundamental things like "is Genesis 1" real history. One ought to be able to discuss this. We placed our family and children under this teaching for 17 years with the assumption that the teacher was not open to theistic evolution. We are greatly surprised now to find the ideas of theistic evolution so prevalent. We are sad many Christians actually do believe in theistic evolution and follow the teaching of well known pastors and theologians who help maintain the support. The bottom line is that we have tried to discern these views, but it has been difficult.
Scripture
Hebrews 11:3 is beautiful for the Christian who believes God created everything. God creates the universe and calls us to believe it. "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible." Heb 11:3
The heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 were despised by the world. They did not follow the easy way. Based on 2 Peter 3:4-10, we get the impression that there have always been alternative explanations for how the universe came into existence or how it has continued. Today is the same. Hebrews 11 begins with the creation of the universe because God's Creation is so foundational. But, now in these modern days, we are presented with new options that include God using naturalistic methods like neo-Darwinism (the evolutionary biological process). We believe this is a faith test. Are we willing to go along with the millions of years of evolutionary biological process? But Hebrews 11:3 says, "what is seen was not made out of things that are visible". Evolution of the Big Bang sort requires that we believe in the millions of years of death before the Fall, even though God said everything "was very good".
We believe God has created a situation in life where each person is faith tested. We believe God has perfectly balanced the information that we see and hear. We each have the opportunity to honor his Word or to dismiss the clear statements God has made. God even allows allows us to hear deceptions, but we are called to reject them. Any "great mind" who leads us to trust in theistic evolution instead of the plain teaching of Creation, should be rejected. Hebrews 11:3 commends a faith in God as being a Creator who does not need to submit to "things" being made out of things that are visible. The sermon began with a clear rejection of "macro evolution", which was good, but we were left confused by the two experts who believe the opposite. We enjoyed much of the sermon encouraging faith in God. But we were also left very confused.
Scripture helps us interpret other scripture. When Exodus 20:11 says God created in six days, this helps confirm Genesis 1-11. When Jesus says, "But from the beginning of creation, 'God created them male and female.'", this helps us understand the creation. We should have faith in what God says in Genesis 1-11 on its own. But it is as if God knew we would need a little more help in our days of "science" confusion. It is no help that some Christian leaders say that God may have used the evolutionary biological process to form human like creatures and then breathe life into one of them to form Adam. God gave us the genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11 to help us know that Genesis 1-11 is real history. If we have strong faith in the secular science stories we may find ourself with a weak faith reading Genesis 1-11. We think a literal plain reading of Genesis 1-11 is the most God honoring faith.
Modern Christians and Evolution
We are surprised to hear about Christians who believe God used millions of years1 and an evolutionary biological process to create everything as we see it. Of course we accept them as Christians, but we feel that we should question them. Some of our best friends at church hold to the millions of years views1. We do not understand how one can read one's Bible faithfully and get the idea of death before the Curse or long ages of time. We do not understand how the Grand Canyon could be deposited over millions of years by a long evolutionary process with death recorded in the rock layers. How does that idea fit into the Bible? We have read the sophisticated arguments of John C. Collins and others. But we are surprised to see this expressed as orthodox. We don't call these great minds when they try to encourage compromise with secular science. We believe this is an important issue that should be discussed. We believe this is one of the most profound ideas affecting our younger generation. We have heard the arguments that claim a broad perspective will allow more people to believe in God, but we don't buy this argument. All the arguments seem to be just avoiding biblical authority and trying to fit the millions of years of Evolution into the Bible.
Another common Christian view of the whole topic of creation, evolution or the "age of the earth" is that it doesn't matter. These Christians often allow the scientists freedom to decide what is true or false when it comes to science topics. But the scientists are just creating stories to fit their naturalistic model. They have no idea how the Earth was created. God, on the other hand, was there.
We think this topic directly relates to how one views the authority of God's Word. And as we see it, the view that is open to millions of years of death before the Curse is important for us to know about because it presses against the authority of God's Word. Teachers can greatly influence children and we would want children to learn biblical truth without compromise. We believe Genesis 1-11 is a critically important foundation for the rest of the Bible.
Christians who follow secular "science and faith" ideas often say the literal historic ideas in Genesis 1-11 are not important. They like to make room for the 'scientific' view of millions of years with its evolutionary biological process. On August 27, 2023, we raised the issue with 3 men and found 2 of these men held to an old earth creation view. The topic is spurring curiosity to find out what other men believe.
On September 3, 2023, there was an excellent sermon on Heb 11:7 (Noah), with a reference to "Kentucky" that was greatly appreciated. We had a nice conversation with the primary teacher after the sermon. We are more at peace after that conversation.
But we still have questions. There are still some doubts and clarifications we would like to know. We think this is such an important topic since Evolution teaching controls academia.
According to the YEC view, God created in six ordinary days (Exodus 20:11, 31:16-17). This is a significant issue affecting the church and is often the cause of debate or division. There are huge implications if one believes in death before the Curse and pre-Adam human like creatures. Many Christian leaders believe in millions of years along with an evolutionary biological process (EBP). We believe it is important to express your Biblically supported views in church. We are not sure if there is an open mindset to discussion on this topic, but we hope for open dialog and discussion.
We stand with ICR, CMI, AIG and other creation ministries who are defending the YEC view. For us, it seems that the authority of God's Word is being challenged. The starting point is that millions of people are confused about evolution since it is taught as "science" in public schools and most colleges. If the church is silent about these issues, then people are left assuming all kinds of things. The ideas of pre Adam human like creatures and the evolutionary biological process over millions of years has confused many. After 50 years of following the plain reading of Genesis 1-11, we are confident that it will be a justified view in the end.
As we heard the sermon on Hebrews 11:3, we were hoping for a solid explanation of God's creation. The "things that are visible" cannot come from things that are seen. We believe all things that are visible have been 'fiat' created by an all powerful God. Mutations and natural selection (Darwinism) have no power to create any kind of new feature like macro evolution suggests. Natural selection does not stand a chance when there is significant genetic entropy problem (about 100 mutations per generation). God has revealed his Curse in the overwhelmingly bad genetic entropy situation that is being revealed by modern DNA sequencing.
We are curious what the church and the primary teacher believes about pre Adam human like creatures. Both Tim Keller and Michael Behe believe they are part of the human story. After a short conversation following the sermon on September 3, 2023, we are hopeful there is a belief in a literal Adam. But we are unclear if there is still a belief in pre-Adam human like creatures. We still have questions.
During the sermon on Hebrews 11:3, we observed that listeners were being encouraged to read Tim Keller's "The Reason for God." We wonder about the timing of a sermon on Heb 11:3 and this book that endorses Big Bang cosmology. We know that the Big Bang assumes an evolutionary biological process. We also observed that listeners who had more specific questions about origins were encouraged to read Michael Behe. We know that Michael is a Catholic, who believes in "common descent". Michael Behe cannot really answer the questions of origins with any Christian clarity. We know that both of his books ("Darwin's Black Box" and "The Edge of Evolution") clearly state a belief in "common descent". This means Behe believes in "macro evolution" and the evolutionary biological process.
Tim Keller is well known for speaking publicly about creation/evolution at Biologos which is a notorious theistic evolution organization. We know Tim Keller was a founder of The Gospel Coalition and that he has been outspoken on the old earth view. We know that the other founding member of TGC, D.A. Carson, is also a supporter of the old earth creation view. Tim Keller may believe in a literal Adam, but he still allows for an evolutionary biological process (EBP) by allowing pre Adam human like creatures, formed over millions of years. He believes in evolution with its random mutations and natural selection able to evolve things. He believes in death before the Curse, ending in a literal Adam and God's declaration that his creation was "very good".
But if God declared his creation in Genesis 1 to be "very good", there cannot be any death and extinction until the Curse in Genesis 3. God said if they ate from the wrong tree, they would "surely die". How can this teaching be considered faithful?
A Misunderstanding?
Perhaps the primary teacher does actually disagree with Tim Keller and Michael Behe. But if so, then this was a very confusing sermon. Both Tim Keller and Michael Behe affirm gradual change through evolution to the point of pre Adam human like creatures or all the way to human creatures.
The sermon on Hebrews 11:3 addressed a text that speaks about 'fiat' creation by God's Word in contrast to any kind of evolutionary biological process. Evolution claims to be able to create new kinds of creatures from other "things". In fact, origins science claims that cells can also be created from simple molecules. Since we live in a world dominated by the controlling teaching of Evolution, we would hope for Hebrews 11:3 to help give us clarity in these modern days.
RECOMMENDED
ICR Podcasts (video)
https://www.icr.org/podcasts
John Sanford and Genetic Entropy (video)
John Sanford - presenting at NIH, 2018
John Sanford - interviewed by James Tour
John Sanford - at International Church of Oahu
John Sanford - @JBible YouTube playlist
James Tour and the complexity of the cell
James Tour - Pascal Lectures, 2016
James Tour - @JBible YouTube playlist
James Tour - Galileo and humility: Minute 44-47
Is Genesis History? (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM82qxxskZE
Suggested Book for Discussion of OEC/YEC and the Bible
Coming To Grips With Genesis, by Terry Mortinson and Thane H. Ury.
Other Links (text content)
http://tim223.xanga.com/tag/creation/
Worldly Wisdom on the Origin Of Life (We think these are absolutely crazy and weak) (Modern versions of "spontaneous generation" and a silly way to use our tax money)
How Energy Flow Shapes Evolution of Life - Professor Nick Lane
New Theories on the Origin of Life - Dr. Eric Smith
FOOTNOTES
1.
Orthodox according to John McArthur and R.C. Sproul
This is the plain reading of Genesis 1-11 view that is more literal historical
and holds that the earth is young, also known as the YEC view.
John MacArthur is well known proponent of the YEC view.
R.C. Sproul came to this view later in life.
youtube @Jbible John MacArthur/Sproul
2.
Tim Keller - Biologos Creation Evolution And Christian Laypeople
creation-evolution-and-christian-laypeople
In this quote from the article, EBP means evolutionary biological process.
"My conclusion is that Christians who are seeking to correlate Scripture
and science must be a 'bigger tent' than either the anti-scientific
religionists or the anti-religious scientists. Even though in this paper
I argue for the importance of belief in a literal Adam and Eve, I have
shown here that there are several ways to hold that and still believe
in God using EBP."
Here Tim Keller is calling the Creation Science folk,
"anti-scientific religionists". Why are they called "religionists"?
That is because they follow the plain reading of the Bible in Genesis 1.
Why are they called "anti-scientific"? Because they are challenging
the secular scientific views that claim to know historical science
things like the age of the earth (billions of years old), etc.
3.
The Gospel Coalition views about Creation.
Non-Negotiable Beliefs About Creation - Tim Keller, Russel Moore, Ligon Duncan
"There are a lot of different understandings about the age of the earth."
"There are a lot of different understandings about what the days are in Genesis 1."
"There are a lot of different understandings about to what degree
evolution is part of how God created things." (Theistic evolution)
There are 4 or 5 or 6 approaches.
Where I would stop is with Adam and Eve.
There was a literal Adam and Eve.
I know what my Christians who are scientists tell me.
They say that all human beings were not genetically related to a human couple.
That's right now the concensus.
I'll be honest, I'll just say.
But when I read Genesis 1... created out of the dust of the ground.
Every one came from Adam and Eve with a special creation.
(In summary, he does not support common descent like Michael Behe)
(Minutes 7:35 to 10:30)
non-negotiable-beliefs-about-creation/
4.
Theistic Evolution: God guided an evolutionary biological process.
Theistic Evolution
5.
The young earth creation view (YEC) believes that
Genesis 1-11 should be interpreted in the plain literal sense.
This view rejects the secular view of evolutionary "science"
that has determined that the universe is many billions of
years old and that man has been evolving for millions of years.
This view sees the Grand Canyon with its many rock
layers as evidence of Noah's flood that created the
geological column in a short time (not millions of years).
The oldest and earliest fossil creatures are at the bottom
because of the way that the flood would have deposited the
mud/sand/silt, that eventually hardened to form the rock
layers. The most modern and recent fossil creatures are
at the top layers because of how the world wide flood
would have progressed naturally, all in a short time (not
millions of years).
Organizations like
ICR,
AIG,
CMI,
BSI,
etc,
are all promoters of this YEC view.
6.
John C. Collins, Science and Faith: Friends or Foes?
(Wheaton, IL: Crossways, 2003)
Collins believes Genesis 1 is "prose narrative" and historical,
but he also believes Genesis 1 should not be interpreted literally.
"All this leads us to conclude that the genre of this pericope
is what we may call exalted prose. This name for the genre will
serve us in several ways. First, it acknowledges that we are
dealing with prose narrative [not poetry], and thus its purposes
will be related to other uses of prose narrative-which will include
the making of truth claims about the world in which we live.
Second, by calling it exalted, we are recognizing that when we
come to examine the author's truth claims, we must not impose a
"literalistic" hermeneutic on the text. Further, to call it
exalted points us away from ordinary narration and leads us to
suppose that its proper function extends well beyond its
information to the attitudes it fosters."
c-john-collins/
Here are a few quotes from his book "Science and Faith",
"I conclude, then, I have no reason to disbelieve the standard
theories of the geologists, including their estimate for the
age of the earth." pg. 250
"I have given you my reasons for not following this take on Genesis [YEC],
and for not being bothered by biological evolution as such (just so long
as it's not the whole story). So I do not urge you to support "creation
science," but something different: something that has been called
"intelligent design." pg 283
7.
These books promote a literal historical understanding of Genesis 1.
Terry Mortinson and Thane H. Ury, Coming to Grips with Genesis:
Biblical Authority and the Age of The Earth
(Master Books, First printing 2008, Tenth printing 2021)
Terry Mortinson, Searching for Adam - Genesis & the Truth About Man's Orgin
(Master Books, First printing 2016)
8.
August 6, 2023 BLCC sermon
2023.Aug.06.mp3
(minutes 32-39)
9.
Verne Poythress - Redeeming Science - PDF
PoythressVernRedeemingScience.pdf
10.
Westminster Conference on Science and Faith: Friend or Foes?
Science and Faith: Friends or Foes? Westminster Theological Seminary,
Philadelphia, PA March 12-13, 2010
scienceandgod.org
11.
Michael Behe believes in common descent which means he believes
humans and apes have a common ancestry. In other words, he
believes in an evolution process creating Adam.
michael-behe - common descent
He certainly believes in
Theistic Evolution.
12.
Biologos - A Theistic Evolution promoter
Biologos.org
Theistic Evolution
13.
Dr. Stephen Meyer, from the Discovery Institute believes in an old earth.
He is the author of Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for
Intelligent Design.
scienceandgod.org
discovery.org
14.
Tim Keller - The Reason for God - Chapter 6 and 8
15.
Verne Poythress - Interpreting Eden
The book fully supports "Redeeming Science" and only
adds to the arguments.
Foreward by D. A. Carson.
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