IRONMEN Session 2: Evolution and Christianity

Two posters from my days at Campus for Christ

     In my last post, I had detailed the opening talk by John Neufeld at the IRONMEN Adventure Weekend in Whistler, on the topic of wisdom and its necessity in understanding the conflict of the Christian faith with other worldviews. It was a great talk that laid a foundation for understanding the next two topics that he would talk about, the second one of which I will be detailing in this post - Evolution and Christianity, which we had the privilege of listening to at Milestones restaurant after dinner.

Pastor John delivering his talk at Milestone's Restaurant after dinner

     I think the fundamental question that Pastor John wished to address, and indeed the thrust of Session 2 could basically be stated as follows:

"Is the idea of subscribing to theistic evolution a viable option for Christians? If not, then how can we apply wisdom in approaching the challenge that this worldview presents to the Christian faith?"

     In his opening statements, Pastor John referenced some observations by Dr. David Berlinski, a postdoctoral in mathematics and molecular biology at Columbia University and among other notable achievements - an author, lecturer and agnostic - in an opening statement between evolution and intelligent design:

"The Darwinian theory of evolution is the last of the great 29th century mystery religions, following Freudianism and Marxism into the nether regions, and I am quite sure that Freud, Marx and Darwin are commiserating one with the other in the dark dungeon where discarded gods gather. The problem facing us at the beginning of the 21st century, with a magnificent body of theoretical accomplishments....that when it comes to the large body of global issues that Darwin's theory is intended to address....Random selection is known to be inadequate - especially when it comes to the overwhelming complexities of living forms."

     Dr.  Berlinski pointed out that some major mathematicians simply discount it - the fact that we cannot set up a computer schema to actually show the mechanism whereby it works. He said that workable mechanisms for evolutionary biology are missing - that we cannot point out the amount of changes needed to move from one species to another, neither the process whereby they change. He suggested that Darwinian theory places us into a kind of straight jacket, that does not allow the flexibility to consider the emergence of various theories. Thus evolutionary biology as the grand theory explaining everything continues to bind the discussion in only one direction.

     With that laid down, the question that Pastor John presented to our consideration was one that I myself had been pondering for some years:

A. Is Theistic Evolution a Viable Option?

     Theistic Evolution [1] can be summarised as the view that posits that there is one God, who created using evolution as a process or mechanism to bring about the world and universe as described in the creation account of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Thus, God basically employs a procedure where He sets up the system and allows random mutation to occur, and evolution to happen.

      A major example of a proponent of this worldview would be Francis Collins [2], the American physican-geneticist and Director of the National Institutes of Health, who is better known for his leadership of the Human Genome Project.

     With that in mind, we proceeded to the next point of consideration - what was to be held in the 'closed fist', ''guarded hand' and 'open hand' in approaching this matter? For a detailing of the idea of the closed fist, guarded hand and open hand, see my last post 'IRONMEN Session 1: Wisdom and the Conflict of Worldviews'.

B. Things In the "Closed Fist"

1. God created the world and God is distinct from it. This is rejecting the idea of "God" presented by Baruch Spinoza as being nature itself [3]
2. God is directly involved in the creation. This rejects the worldview postulated by Deism, which must be rejected if we affirm the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
3. God created, "ex-nihilo" (out of nothing). This implies that we also deny the eternal nature of matter and the physical world, i.e. that this universe will go on forever. It means that we accept that this phsical world and universe will come to an end at some point.
4. God's world was originally good, and therefore, is different from the corrupted world in which we now live. This is something that evolutionary biology, including the idea of theistic evolution, cannot say - that the world was originally good.
5. Romans 5:12 - that sin came into the world through one man, and death - through him (that is, his fall from grace) spread to all men - death reigned from Adam to the present. Hence the story of redemption is redemption from a world cursed by Adamic sin.
6. God's character is revealed (his glory) as he deals with the corruption of his good creation - by providing redemption through Jesus. The entire biblical drama is based on this single premise. Thus, until we recognize that paradise was "lost", we cannot speak of paradise being "regained". Theistic evolution does not provide for this senario either.
7. According to Romans 1, creation speaks of the Creator in such a way that it is impossible to deny his existence.

     With these points clearly laid out, we were led to raise the question with regard to the topic of evolutionary biology - when we encounter the word "evolution", we must ask ourselves the question, "what exactly are we talking about?"

C. Definition of Evolution

1. Micro-evolution - refers to small scale changes within a species allowing it to adapt to its environment. Everyone agrees on this. An example cited is the Hedylepta, a butterfly in Hawaii found only on the Hawaiian islands, and a species that eats only bananas. The point of interest is that bananas were first brought to the Hawaiian Islands only about 1000 years ago - indicating that the species evolved within that time.  
2. Macro-evolution - refers to large scale changes occurring over vast period of time into the formation of new species. It refers to a universal common descent - the idea that all organisms descended from a common ancestry - solely through unguided, purposeless material processes such as natural selection, random variation, mutation, etc. - and this accounts for the appearance of design.
3. Those who hold to the idea of evolution resist the idea of Intelligent Design (ID) [4]. Francis Collins is an example of those who argue against this. It should also be noted that people in the ID movement are only making the case that evolution cannot account for the current scale of biological reality.
4. Evolution or ID essentially presents a system of origins that leaves open belief in a Creator, but does not need it. Essentially, it is atheism, subscribing to a philosophy of materialism.

     Having said all that, Pastor John raised some of the questions that occur to Christians who hold to the creation account of Genesis 1 and 2, which I myself have been searching for answers to.

D. Problems for Those Who Believe Genesis 1-2

1. The age of the Earth. This deals with the question of the Old Earth vs. Young Earth Theory.
2. The fossil record. If death occurred because of Adam's sin, how do we explain the evidence of death & extinctions of species that we see in the geological and fossil record?
3. Meticulous Sovereignty or Deism? The Bible teaches that God is meticulously involved in His creation. For example, the book of Colossians says: "For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all thing, and in Him all things hold together." - Col. 1:16-17, ESV
4. The problems with science class

      With these points in our heads for consideration - the non-viablility of theistic evolution as an option, the non-negotiable aspects of biblical thought and doctrine that must be held in the "closed fist", the two scales of evolution that could be defined and the questions in the mind of the believer, Pastor John proceeded to lead us through a detailed study of the first two chapters of Genesis, which are outlined below.

Bible Study

1. Genesis 1:1. Creation is therefore out of nothing. Creation is also therefore not eternal as it is in Bhuddism. But that raises the question - what is the age of the universe?
2. Genesis 1:2. Uses the term "formless and void". In Hebrew, it is transliterated by the term "togu va bogu", meaning without purpose, a howling wasteland. How long was the earth "togu va bogu"? Moses (who wrote the book of Genesis) is silent on this issue. One way of reading Genesis 1:1-2 is in the style of a newspaper headline - the opening sentence being the summary, followed by more detail. Alternately, it could be read sequentially - that God created the Cosmos in Gen. 1:1, and then shifts focus to creation account on Earth.
3. Day 1 (Genesis 1:3-5) - One of the questions raised relates to the described order of creation - how is there "light" without the sun? Day 1 describes God bringing light into being, but then Day 4 talks about the creation of the sun and stars. So what "light" is Day 1 talking about if the sun and stars were not created yet? This seeming contradiction in account can be resolved if we understand the description of conditions and changes as seen from the perspective of an observer standing on the surface of the earth. Thus, Day 1 might be referring to the clearing of interplanetary debris, so that light could penetrate. Day 4 would then be referring to the ordering of already existing sources of light.
4. Day 2 - Genesis 1:6-8. Creation of dry land.
5. Day 3 - Genesis 1:9-13. Creation of vegetation. From our previous discussion on the differences between micro and macro-evolution, we take this to mean creation of all organisms in their mature form.
6. Day 4 - Genesis 1:14-19. Creation of the luminaries. From the assumptions of the perspective adopted on Day 1, we can take this to be the creation of a transparent atmosphere, so that the sun, moon, stars etc. become visible.
7. Day 5 - Genesis 1:20-23. Creation of sea animals.
8. Day 6 - Genesis 1:24-31. Creation of land animals and then creation of man.

     With this reading and study of the creation account and deductions laid out, Pastor John noted that it still left some outstanding questions, and proceeded to walk us through them.

E. Outstanding Questions

1. The day/age question. The first question to ask is - is this a closed, guarded or open hand question? In interpreting the Hebrew, this could be read literally as 6 24-hour periods of time, or alternately, can also refer to an extended period of time. Both might be possible, and it is not necessary to divide as believers over this.
2. Arguments for 6 literal days. The arguments note first of all that each day ends with a morning, and an evening pattern. Secondly, they note that in Exodus 20:11, God specifies 6 days of work, followed by a day of rest, patterning His methodology of creation
3. Arguments for 6 long periods. These arguments point to the 6th day as being crowded with events, and unable to fit in 24 hours - the creation of species, the creation of Adam, the naming of species by Adam and finally, the creation of Eve. Secondly they note that the formula of morning passed and evening came doesn't work the other way around. Thirdly, they point to the verse of 2 Peter 3:8: 8 "But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
4. Thus, there are problems that both sides need to address, and one might seem to be convinced if reading one side only.
5. Conclusion: The question of the age of the earth is a very different question than the question of evolution.  

     I am still pondering over these points that Pastor John put forward, even as I type this post. However, he proceeded to bring his talk to an even more interesting point of focus and which became very personal - what do and do we not learn from nature about God and ourselves?

F. What Does Nature Teach All People? From Romans 1:

1.  That there is a Creator. Creation lives and breathes the testimony of a Creator.
2. That we owe God an infinite debt of gratitude. Our Creator has provided us with abundance, even in a fallen world.
3. That our gratitude has not been in keeping with his kindness.
4. That we have substituted our knowledge of him with idols - gods that are fed and taken care of.
5. That we are therefore guilty as ingrates.
6. That we should seek mercy

G. What Nature Does Not Teach Us

1. Whether the God who exists is cruel  or kind
2. Whether the God who exists will bring us mercy
3. The need of Special Revelation through the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

     This was an incredible talk and evening as Pastor John brought things to a close. I don't think I will ever forget it, and am still pondering these points as I type them out. See you in the next post, where I wind up this series with detailing the final session - Christian Faith and Homosexuality. See you then!

- The Wisdom Seeker

REFERENCES:

-------------------------

[1] Theistic Evolution

[2] Francis Collins

[3] Spinozism

[4] Intelligent Design

IRONMEN Session 1: Introduction to Wisdom & the Conflicts of Worldviews

IRONMEN 2011 Adevnture Weekend poster

     The last post I had updated was on the second day of the Ironmen's Adventure weekend. As I didn't take any photos on Day 3, I'm going to start detailing the individual session notes that I took during the retreat. As I mentioned in my previous posts, there were three main sessions that were held. The titles are as follows:

• Session 1: Introduction to Wisdom & the Conflicts of Worldviews
• Session 2: Evolution and Christianity
• Session 3: Christian Faith and Homosexuality

    Pastor John opened the evening of Session 1 with an overview of what we would be looking at over the next three days, and more specifically, why. Given the nature of our times and the frequency of the ideologies and worldviews that we are presented with everyday, it is important for men to cogently decipher, understand and respond to them, especially those that challenge the Christian worldview. We will inevitably find ourselves in such situations as we pursue academic routes at colleges and universities, at work in the professional marketplace, and of significant importance, at home as fathers having to provide answers for the questions that our children may seek answers for, trusting that we will be able to impart wisdom to them. And that is why we need to think carefully through the importance, approach and application of wisdom to some of the foremost and significant questions that we as Christian men will be faced with. As he opened with these thoughts, I was reminded of a question raised by John MacArthur:

    "Today's evangelicals are confronted with a multitude of new perspectives, emerging trends and evangelical fads - all claiming to be more biblical or more effecive than the ideas they seek to overthrow. With such a broad patchwork of competing ideas all clamoring for mainstream acceptance, how can the average person in the pew be expected to know what is truly sound, safe, and biblical? In a world where everything seems colored in shades of gray how can Christians develop the discipline of discernment?"

- John MacArthur, in Tim Challies' "The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment"

    As I mentioned in my opening post of the Adventure Weekend, as John Neufeld proceeded to outline the thesis of his talk for the evening, I was thrilled that I had taken this faith step with the Ironmen, for his chosen topic was the fundamental theme of this blog, and the central pursuit of my life over more than a decade - Wisdom. Needless to say, I thus proceeded to scribble furiously, wanting to compile as detailed a set of notes as I could. Pastor John began with the first two chapters of the book of Proverbs, which are themselves an extensive discourse by Solomon on the importance of acquiring wisdom. From here, he laid out the following points:

A. From Proverbs We Learn:

1. The definition of wisdom (Proverbs 1:1-7)

• Wisdom is practical. It is concerned with the ability to live well, and to live skilfully
• Wisdom is moral. It is intrinsically geared towards taking hold of what is right, and rejecting that which is wrong.
• It is intellectual. Those who would be wise must be lifelong learners, pursuing the development of mind and skillful thought.
• Wisdom is probing. It compels the seeker of wisdom to question and dissect, to inspect the veracity and truth in a truth claim. By its very nature, it consequently differentiates the wise from the vast majority of people who succumb to mass hysteria, believe anything and shake their fist in anger at those who are labelled their 'opponents'
• Wisdom is theological. It is fundamentally predicated on the fear of the Lord, and emerging from a reverential attitude of worship

2. Prerequisites for gaining wisdom (Proverbs 2:1-22)

•  Wisdom must be overwhelmingly desirable
•  Wisdom must be paired to seeking God
•  We must train our "palette" to like wisdom. Wisdom forces the person who seeks it to humble themselves, and reject pride.
•  Wisdom must reject "quick solutions". It cannot be instantaneously acquired. It is developed through faithful and diligent seeking, learning, practice, even hardship. I was reminded of the following verse from Hebrews:

    "...solid food is for the mature, those who have had their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil." (Hebrews 5:14, ESV)

3. Five reasons to be wise (Proverbs 8:1-36)

•  Wisdom is available to all
•  Wisdom is the most valuable thing you possess
•  Wisdom keeps us from rash decisions with bad consequences
•  Wisdom leads to enduring success
•  Widsom leads to unending joy

    Moving on to a related passage in the book of James, we examined two distinct kinds of wisdom identified by the apostle, and Pastor John laid out the following five points.

B. From James We Learn About 2 Kinds of Wisdom (James 3:13-18)

1. Earthly wisdom includes

• Strong feelings of resentment against someone
• A rigid personal pride. There is a distinction to be noted between pride and rigidity. Pride is characterised by the attitude of "I know better than everyone else" and rigidity by the attitude of "my way or the highway"

2. The origin of earthly wisdom

• Human opinions and cultural norms
• A product of your personality
• Demonic

3. The result of human wisdom

• Turmoil in relationships
• Every vile practice

4. Wisdom from above includes

• Humility. One can never be wise until they humble themselves
• Unmixed motives
• Harmony and unity
• Not responding in anger, but in kindness
• Open to dialogue with an open heart
• Quick to seek reconciliation
• Bearing the fruit of the Spirit
• Treats others with fairness
• No mixed motives

5. The result of wisdom from above

• A harvest of righteousness
• Sown in the soil of peace

    As John Neufeld moved on to the next major sections, related to truths about God and the implications derived from those truths, I found myself listening with rapt attention because it was quite relevant to my ongoing struggle to understand differences in doctrines among denominations and various camps in Christendom. I will be writing extensively about my thoughts on these in upcoming posts.

C. Wisdom As It Pertains to the Truths About God

1. Things we hold in a closed fist
2. Things we hold in a guarded hand
3. Things we hold in an open hand

   The wise individual knows the difference between these categories, and issues that fall into these general groupings. Because I was previously aware of these categories and trying to keep up with Pastor John who was moving along quite rapidly, I did not take down extensive notes in this section. However, I was reminded of the following passage from Tim Challies' "The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment", in which he dealt with the same topic referencing a quote from Dr. Albert Mohler:

    "Though we are to test everything, there are some areas of Christian life and doctrine that are of greater consequence than others. Dr. Alber Mohler...writes:

    'Today's Christian faces the daunting task of strategizing which Christian doctrines and theological issues are to be given highest priority in therms of our contemporary context. This applies both to the public defense of Christianity in face of the secular challenge and the internal responsibility of dealing with doctrinal disagreements.'

    Mohler proposes three levels of theological urgency. While it may not always be perfectly clear which category a doctrine falls into, this structure can, at the very least, guide us toward the issues that are of the greatest importance. Debate that is most helpful will be debate that takes into consideration the relative importance of the particular issue.
    First-level issues are those that are most central and essential to the Christian faith. This includes the doctrines of the Trinity, atonement, the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, justification by faith alone, and the authority of Scripture. Those who deny any of these doctrines are denying truths that are absolutely and fundamentally essential to the Christian faith. Denial of these key doctrines necessarily represents the abandonment of biblical Christianity.
    Second-level issues are doctrines that believers may disagree on but which still represent important issues and will form significant boundaries between Christians. These are often the doctrines that have defined or divided denominations. Examples might include the mode and meaning of baptism or the continuring miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. While Christians from either camp will affirm that those on the other side of the disagreement are brothers or sisters in Christ and will share fellowship with them on some level, these people will always experience a level of disagreement that will likely preclude greater unity.
    Third-level issues are those over which Christians may disagree even while maintaining close fellowship and remaining in the same local church. These may include doctrines such as the end times or whether Christians may consume alcohol in moderation.
    A caution is in order. Mohler writes, 'A structure of theological triage does not imply that Christians may take any biblical truth with less than full seriousness. We are charged to embrace and to teach the comprehensive truthfulness of the Christian faith as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. There are no insignificant doctrines revealed in the Bible, but there is an essential foundation of truth that undergirds the entire system of biblical truth.'"

    The next section that Pastor John bridged to from here was the conflict between the wisdom-based foundation of Biblical perspective and the conflict with our culture on major questions of life. The main areas of contention are spelled out in the following points:

D. Wisdom - and the Conflicts With Our Culture
1. The question of truth
2. The question of outcomes in terms of human lives.
3. The question of how we handle disagreements
4. The question of how we instruct our children
5. The question of 1 Peter 3:15
6. The ultimate question: What is the endgame?
    This can be better expressed by the question "What am I seeking to accomplish?"

    With these points laid out relating to the necessity of Wisdom and a biblical perspective, the next logical step that we stepped to in the train of thought was the examination of a wordlview, and the conflict that arises due to differing worldviews. Pastor John began this section with the following quote from James Sire:

E. A Conflict of Worldviews - Or What Is A Worldview?

1. "Whatever anyone thinks is premised upon a worldview. A worldview is a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart that can be expressed in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being."

    That being said, we proceeded to think through the following points:

2. All worldviews ask and answer 7 basic questions:

• What is ultimately real?
• Everyone lives with basic pre-suppositions. Either:

1. There is one God
2. There are many gods
3. Everything is God
4. Nature just exists

• What is the nature of external reality? What kind of world is it?
• What is a human being?
• What happens to a person at death?
• Why is it possible to know anything at all?
• How do we know what is right and wrong?
• What is the meaning of human history?

    Having thought through these questions related to the fundamental idea of a worldview, Pastor John took us to an examination of how Christians sometimes respond to the worldviews around us.

F. Christian Responses to the Worldviews Around Us

1. A reactionary response

•     People adopting this response tend to always be fighting, finding problems with the world around them.

2. An accommodating response

•     This response is adopted by those who are afraid of what other people might think/respond and don't want to be the only ones who think differently from the culture around them

3. The response of wisdom

    And with this laid out, we came to the final section of the first session, setting the stage for the topics that we would think through over the next two days:

G. Two Great Worldview Questions

1. Evolution and the question of origins

• Am I the product of design or random blind chance?
• Do I have purpose?

2. Gender identity and human sexuality

• What is the nature of sexuality?
• Are there ethics based upon sexuality?

    I will be laying out the notes for the next session sometime over the next few days. Do leave feedback and let me know your thoughts on the points laid out in this session. See you in the next post - Session 2: Evolution and Christianity!

- The Wisdom Seeker

Ironmen 2011 Adventure Weekend Video Highlights

      I was in the process of writing up the notes from Session 1: Introduction to Wisdom & the Conflicts of Worldviews for the next blog post, when I happened to come across this video that was created by Eric Muir from some of the photos taken by men during the retreat, and shown during the final session on Day 3. If I'm not mistaken, I believe it is set to the song "God of Heaven Come Down" by Casting Crowns. I think I'm in one of the group photos taken during the hike that I went on!

     I should be uploading the post detailing Pastor John's talk during Session 1 later today.

- The Wisdom Seeker