February 2009 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, and references to Darwin and the the Theory of Evolution are everywhere in the media.  Is it possible that the Theory of Evolution and the Bible can be reconciled?  Unfortunately, many Christian pastors and churches believe that they can be.  But what does the Bible itself say?  If a person believes in the Theory of Evolution, is his belief in Christ compromised, or are the two completely separate, irrelevant issues?

Could God Have Used Evolution? 

I believe that many Christian churches, seminaries and colleges allow evolution to exist along side of the Bible because the issues raised in dealing with evolution vs. Creation are just too complicated and controversial to tackle.  They would rather teach something else and not get involved.  They compromise.  However, 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” Avoiding the issue of evolution, and compromising God's Word  is not being prepared.

People have tried to fit the Theory of Evolution into the Bible, and they have tried to reinterpret and bend the Bible to fit into the Theory of Evolution.  Neither scheme works.  God did not use, and is not using evolution.  Whether or not you believe in, or understand evolution, the Bible does not support evolution.

The following table shows some major points where evolution and the Bible clash.  The bottom line is this: Do you believe in the authority of the Bible, or are you willing to let man's theories change God's Word?
 

The Theory of Evolution Says:		The Bible Says:		Compromising the Bible		Upholding the Authority of God's Word
Evolution has taken place over a period of millions of years.		The universe, the Earth, plants, animals, and man were created during a 6 day period at Creation.		Compromising the Bible Theistic Evolution: A false doctrine stating that God divinely ordained evolution as His method of creation.		Upholding the Bible God created all life as a divine act according to His will in a one week period, not through the random events of evolution over millions of years.
Evolution has taken place over a period of millions of years.		The universe, the Earth, plants, animals, and man were created during a 6 day period at Creation.		Compromising the Bible Progressive Creation: A false doctrine where the "days" in Genesis 1 refer to long ages of millions of years rather than ordinary 24 hour days.		Upholding the Bible Genesis is not written as an allegory or a parable, but as a historical document.  In Genesis 1, a "day" is an ordinary 24 hour day.
Natural Selection, or "the struggle for survival," is the major way that evolution takes place over millions of years.		At the end of the 6th day of Creation, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." - Genesis 1:31		Compromising the Bible Progressive Creation: Since the "days" of Genesis 1 are long ages of millions of years, death and suffering happened for millions of years before man, and sin, came into existence.		Upholding the Bible Millions of years of death and suffering is not "very good" as stated in Genesis 1:31.  At the end of day 6 of Creation, there had been no death or suffering.  Death and suffering only came about later as a result of Adam's sin.
Millions of years are required for random mutations to lead to changes in life forms that impact their chance of survival.		God created plants, birds, fish, and animals "according to their kinds" during the Creation week.		Compromising the Bible God could not have created all of the species that exist on earth today, Adam could not have named them all, and they could not have all fit on Noah's ark.		Upholding the Bible There is an endless potential for variations of organisms to arise from the different "kinds" of plants and animals that God created.  This is not evolution, but instead is a simple sorting and variation of existing genetic information.
Since the universe is billions of years old, there is plenty of time for evolution to have taken place.		Genesis 1-2 describes God's Creation of the universe, which took place over the period of one ordinary week roughly 6000 years ago.		Compromising the Bible God may have set the wheels in motion to allow life to create itself through evolution, and the days in Genesis may represent millions of years, or there may be gaps between the days of Creation.		Upholding the Bible A straightforward chronology of the Bible places the age of the universe at roughly 6000 years (4000 years before the birth of Christ, and about 2000 years since Christ's birth).
If Creationism is true, then why doesn't the New Testament support Creationism?		The New Testament does discuss Creation, and considers it to be historical fact.  Jesus discusses Creation, John states that Jesus was present at Creation, and Paul discusses Adam's sin extensively.		Compromising the Bible People are not sure what the New Testament has to say about Creation, so they place their faith in scientists and their theories instead of in the Bible.		Upholding the Bible Study God's Word to learn the truth.  Creation is discussed in these places in the New Testament, among others: Matthew 19:4-5, Mark 10:6,  1 Corinthians 15:21–22, Romans 5:12, John 1:1, Hebrews 4:4, John 5:46
Evolution is science, and Creationism is a myth.		The book of Genesis is a historical document, giving the history of the Creation of the universe and of early mankind.		Compromising the Bible There seems to be a lot of evidence that the earth is millions of years old based on what scientists say, the fossil record, radioisotope dating, etc.		Upholding the Bible Scientists' theories are flawed and are found to be repeatedly in error and have to be revised.  God and God's Word stand firm and do not change.  They are sufficient.

There are at least three major areas where the Bible clashes with the Theory of Evolution, making the two irreconcilable.

1. The Theory of Evolution requires millions of years for evolution to take place.  The account of Creation in Genesis took place over a period of just six ordinary 24 hour days, and a straightforward chronology of the Bible places the age of the entire universe at roughly 6000 years.  Genesis was written as a historical document, and it is not an allegory or parable.  The Hebrew syntax in Genesis is consistent with Creation taking place over six ordinary 24 hour days.  The way that the Hebrew word for "day" is used throughout Genesis consistently means an ordinary 24 hour day, not an "age" of millions of years.  Thus, the time frame of Creation in Genesis is completely irreconcilable with the time frame required for evolution.
    

2. The theory of Evolution requires eons of suffering and death to occur in order for natural selection to take place.  At the end of day 6 in the Creation week, God said that what He created was "very good".  At the end of day 6, sin had not entered the world.  This happened later in Genesis 2 when Adam deliberately disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden fruit.  Only at that time did sin, death, suffering, and disease enter into the world.  Some incorrect theories, such as Progression Creation, state that the days of Genesis were actually ages of millions of years during which evolution occurred.  Obviously, in that theory, millions of years of death and suffering would have taken place before Adam's sin, which is completely inconsistent with the Bible.
    

3. Jesus Himself was present at Creation (John 1:1), and Jesus stated in John 5:46-47, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"  Jesus really gets to the crux to the matter here, and it is through this statement alone that a Christian should not believe in the Theory of Evolution.  Jesus is referring to Moses as the author of Genesis (as well as Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy).  First Jesus states that Moses wrote about Jesus himself.  Jesus, being God, was present at Creation.  He goes on to say that belief in what Moses wrote, including the account of Creation, supports the belief in Jesus.  Finally, Jesus challenges us to look inward and examine our own beliefs.  If we don't believe one part of the Bible,   i.e. the account of Creation written by Moses, then how can we believe that Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected so that we may have eternal life?

Thus, in no way does the Bible support the Theory of Evolution, and the two are not compatible.  The Bible cannot be reinterpreted to allow the Theory of Evolution.  For further research into this complicated and fascinating topic, consider exploring these references:

• Couldn't God Have Used Evolution?   from the Answers in Genesis website.

• How Long Were the Days of Genesis 1?  from the Creation Ministries International website.

• Progressive Creationism  from the Institute for Creation Research website.

• Theistic Evolution: What difference does it make?  from the Answers in Genesis website.

• Was There Really a Noah's Ark and Flood?  from the Answers in Genesis website.

• Creation Compromises  from the Creation Ministries International website.