Evolution, Adam & Eve, and the Age of the Earth

LifeWay Christian Resources, one of the educational arms of the Southern Baptist Convention, recently released a study that is worthy of some consideration.  LifeWay surveyed 1,000 Protestant (non-Catholic) pastors to gauge their views on evolution, Adam & Eve, and the age of the earth.  As with most surveys, some results were expected while others were nothing short of shocking.  In assessing the results I'd like to deal with  the previously-mentioned issues one at a time.  My ultimate desire is to share what God's Word has to say about each of the subjects in question.

Let's start with the issue of evolution.  According to the survey, 64% of pastors strongly disagree that God used evolution to create human beings.  8% of pastors somewhat disagreed that God used evolution to create humans, so you might say that almost 75% (3 out of 4) pastors are fairly convinced that God didn't use evolution to create humans.  On the other hand, 24% of pastors either somewhat or strongly agree that God used evolution to create humans.

While it's encouraging to see that most pastors believe the biblical account of creation, it's still alarming to me that 1 of 4 pastors either leans toward or is convinced of evolution.  You might not think there is cause to be alarmed but I beg to differ.  For starters, the plain testimony of Scripture is that God created the world in six days, and that on the sixth day He created man and woman in His own image (Gen. 1:26).  To suggest that God used  evolution to create humans is to contradict the truth of Scripture.

Since we've already mentioned the "image of God," I've got a question for those who would suggest that humans evolved:  Where along the way did humans pick up the image of God in the evolutionary process?  Was it in the transition from sea to land?  Or perhaps it was in the evolution from ape to man.  No evolutionist could ever answer these questions because there is no answer.

Let's move to Adam and Eve.  74% of Protestant pastors strongly agree that Adam and Eve were literal people, and 8% somewhat agree.  That leaves 17% who either strongly or somewhat disagree that Adam and Eve were real humans.  While I'm encouraged that the overwhelming majority of pastors affirm Adam and Eve's existence, it's still hard to imagine that almost 1 in every 5 Protestant pastors doesn't think that the two actually lived.

Of course, this is nothing new.  Liberal college, universities, and schools of theology have been teaching for years that the first 11 chapters of Genesis are not literal.  They've told us that the stories concerning Adam & Eve, Noah, etc., were just allegorical accounts borrowed from other cultures.  In other words, they were just bed-time stories that people from all over the ancient world used to tell their kids when they tucked them in at night.

Here's the problem with that viewpoint.  If Adam and Eve were not literal people, then there was no Garden of Eden.  If there was no Garden of Eden, then there was never a time when man was first tempted and fell into sin.  If there was no fall into sin, then there was no need for Savior.  And of course, no need for a Savior means no need of a cross, a tomb, or a resurrection.  Simply stated, if you're willing to take Adam and Eve out of the picture, you may as well remove Christ too.  That may get  you an "A" in your college Religion course, but that worldview is clearly not Christianity.  So then, 1 of 5 Protestant pastors possesses a worldview that's not even Christian.  Ouch!  No wonder we're in the mess we're in.

Finally, let's consider the age of the earth.  43% of the pastors either somewhat or strongly disagreed that the earth is approximately 6,000 years old, while 46% to the opposing view.  As you can see, pastors are clearly more divided on this issue than the others.  I think it has to do with the fact that many well-meaning pastors are attempting to harmonize the precepts of modern science with the truths of Scripture.

To that end, a good number of pastors believe in some form of theistic evolution, whether it be day-age theories of creation, gap theories, etc.  The idea is that God created everything that exists about 13.8 billion years ago.  They believe that God either used evolution as His creation process, or they are forced to reinterpret the Bible to say that the six days of creation are actually eons of time that may have lasted billions of years instead of 24 hours.

Time will not permit me to provide all the reasons that I feel those well-meaning pastors are wrong, but I think it is very clear that the Bible is not on their side.  The greatest problem with day-age theories, gap theories, and the like is that they attempt to use God as a bookend that they place in front of an atheistic worldview.  To be frank, saying you believe the Bible while also declaring that the world is billions of years old is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole - it just won't work.

I've got an idea.  Why don't we just believe God's Word and go on?  The Bible says that man was created in the image of God, so forget evolution.  The Bible says that Adam & Eve were real humans with real sins who needed a real Savior to set them free.  And in providing the genealogies of our Savior, the Bible confirms that the earth is not 13.8 billion years old.  It is much younger than the modern prophets of science would have us to believe.

We've got a choice to make.  Either we can believe God's Word, or we can accept the arguments of the secular humanists.  But whatever we do, we can't ride two horses.  It's time for us to get with God or go with the world.  I think Joshua said it best:  "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Josh. 24:15).