In the beginning.

I recently started reading "The Battle for the Beginning," a book about Creation and evolution.  I agree with the basic premise of the book: the creation account in Genesis is  100% accurate and in no way allegorical, but I’m not sure whether or not I like the author’s style.
When I was in college, I read a portion of "Darwin’s Black Box." I regret to say that at the time I was extremely busy and I set it aside. I’d like to finish reading that book, as it was a very well written refutation of the theory of evolution from a scientific perspective. As a biochemist, it drove me crazy that my textbooks tried to preach to me about evolution...

"All organisms, and all of the cells that constitute them, are believed to have descended from a common ancestor cell through evolution through natural selection. This involves two essential processes: (1) the occurrence of random variation in the genetic information passed from an individual to its descendants and (2) selection in favor of genetic information that helps its possessors to survive and propagate. Evolution is the central principle of biology, helping us to make sense of the bewildering variety in the living world." (Molecular Biology of the Cell, Third Edition, Bruce Alberts, et al.,1983, p3).

On the very same page of the very same book, you’ll find this statement:

"Clearly there are dangers in introducing the cell through its evolution: the large gaps in our knowledge can be filled only by SPECULATIONS that are liable to be wrong in many details."

That’s an excerpt from my sophomore molecular biology class. Students are being fed the THEORY of evolution like it’s the Gospel truth. It’s so sad. This of course goes hand-in-hand with the movement to remove all mention of God’s name in school. I actually had a professor in my freshman year who had the audacity to say that the Creation account was as ludicrous as a theory he created about aliens descending from the sky and creating all beings. I hadn’t embraced the Bible as the truth at that point in my life, but the statement still made me angry. Believing the theory of evolution requires just as much faith as believing in Creation. The theory of evolution is fraught with holes, literally thousands of years where there is no explanation of what happened.

The Genesis account of Creation leaves no holes: God created everything.

Genesis 2:

"20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.  31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."

Mind you, there is no "gee, we don’t really knows what happens after that" statement following this passage. God created all creatures, we didn’t evolve from some kind of primordial slime. There is no room for arguing (as some people do) that God created the earth and then all of the creatures evolved from it.

So, if evolution is so un-well defined, why do so many people embrace it as the truth? The very idea of evolution leads to denial of the God of the Bible. Without the God of the Bible, there is nothing: no standard of right and wrong, no accountability, no judgement, no repentance, no forgiveness. As Christmas leads to Easter, so Genesis leads to Matthew, which leads to Revelation. Without God, humans make the rules about what’s right and wrong. Then what is good? Is man inherently good? I don’t believe so. If man is inherently good, then how can we explain Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Sadam Hussein, murderers, thieves, and adulterers? How do we explain parents abusing and abandoning their children, aborting babies, rampant problems with drugs and alcohol, or pornography? And if man is not inherently good, then where do morals come from?  If man is good, then why did Communism fail so miserably? It sounds like such a lovely idea: neighbors sharing everything they have. The truth is that humans are inherently selfish. No matter how much we have, we want more. These are all problems that evolution has no answer for.
Now we’re taught that in school, "look out for number one." It’s ok to scrape your way to the top and it doesn’t matter who you have to step on to get there. These teachings are what come from survival of the fittest: only the best and brightest survive.  In all this, we wonder why our kids have self esteem problems. We wonder why families fall apart, why kids are growing up so fast, why women starve themselves to look like the girls on TV, why our neighbors buckle under the stress and turn to drugs or alcohol. We wonder why women aren’t feminine, why men are, why people are hungry and thirsty, and freezing on the streets? Only the strong survive.
We’ll have a perfect race.

Sound familiar?

Jesus says:

" ’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’ " (Matthew 22:37-38)

" ’Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ’Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’" (Matthew 25:34-40)

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Matthew 19:14)

"On the contrary: ’If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.’ " (Romans 12:20)

The message is simple: love the Lord, love your neighbors, love your enemies; feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick; take care of the children. This is the basis of all morality in our society and it’s being torn apart.

Don’t take my word for it, though. If you haven’t studied Creation and evolution and determined the truth for yourself, I challenge you to do so. Read about evolution, read the Scriptures, and really seek out the truth. If you already have and you disagree with my assessment, I’d still be happy to listen to your views and/or discuss this issue. I won’t take it personally and I hope you won’t either.