My dear readers,

1. The rise of Evolution

As Evolution rose Christianity declined.

The visible and accelerating decline of biblical Christianity in our culture has lately gone hand in hand with the dramatic rise of the so-called ‘new atheism’, whose disciples boldly proclaim that they have the authority of science in attacking the Bible and its Gospel. This correlation makes perfect sense once one understands why they use evolution as their primary weapon!

One of the ways in which evolution has undermined the Christian fabric in many countries is through dulling the conscience in regard to sinful behaviour. Voices sounding the alarm on evolution and Genesis have said for decades that if people are taught that no-one made us, then no-one owns us or has the right to set rules for living. We alone determine what is right or wrong. If we are taught that we are mere animals, that have arisen through billions of years of the evolutionary process, why should we not behave like animals suits us?

Recent research at the Australian National University has confirmed this. A survey of 1535 people showed that belief in evolution is strongly associated with moral permissiveness, especially in regard to premarital sex and abortion.

Christianity ultimately depends on belief in the truth and authority of the Bible, which is seriously eroded by the evolution-led assault on Genesis. The Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul clearly believed Genesis (6-day recent creation, a global Flood, and more) as history. Many basic Christian doctrines depend on it. For instance, on marriage, Jesus quotes from Genesis about the creation of Adam and Eve – our original ancestors – not billions of years of ‘creation process’ prior to their appearance).

2. Ideas have consequences

Many professing Christian leaders agree with the evolutionary premise that since populations (not individuals) evolve, there never was a first couple. A prominent atheist commented on the logical consequences of this:

‘If there never was an Adam and Eve there never was an original sin. If there never was an original sin there is no need of salvation. If there is no need of salvation there is no need of a saviour. And I submit that puts Jesus, historical or otherwise, into the ranks of the unemployed. I think that evolution is absolutely the death knell of Christianity.’

We see the consequences within the church. US surveys consistently show young people leaving the church, never to return, in droves. Numerous books have been written by former pastors and leaders, even a world-famous former evangelist. In their stated reasons for abandoning what they claim was their faith, evolutionary ‘science’ seems to always play the starring role.

3. Undermining the foundations

This should be no surprise, since Genesis is foundational to the logic of the Gospel. Undermine it, and the whole edifice starts to wobble. The Gospel is God’s solution to two interrelated problems: sin and death. Genesis is all about how sin and death entered the world. If the Bible is thought to be wrong about the problem, no wonder people trust it less and less about the solution.

The ultimate issue, of course, is sin. But evolution promises a convenient ‘escape hatch’ for sinful humanity. If there was no rebellion as Genesis records, plunging the world into its current cursed groaning condition (Romans Chapter 8) then salvation can no longer mean a God-provided escape from His wrath against sin. No wonder that the sort of Gospel preaching which properly emphasizes this is out of fashion—and with it true biblical faith.

The effects on the once-Christian West have been dire. F. Sherwood Taylor, curator of the Oxford Museum of the History of Science said decades ago:

"I myself have little doubt that in England it was geology and the theory of evolution that changed us from a Christian to a pagan nation."

Note how he has ‘geology’ before evolution. The millions of years of ‘deep time’ that rejection of the global Flood provided for Charles Darwin paved the way for evolution.

But it also undermined Genesis history. How? The fossils show death, disease and violence. So if fossils were not caused by the global Genesis Flood, but formed over vast ages long before people, then the Curse did not plunge a once-perfect world into its present regime of death.

Death and suffering would then have always been a part of ‘God’s natural order’. The Bible consistently teaches the opposite. Death is the ‘last enemy’ (1 Corinthians 15:26), an intruder into a once-deathless world, due to sin. It is the Cross-caused removal of the Genesis Curse (Revelation 22:3) that will usher in a deathless future (Revelation 21:4), liberating creation from its present "groaning in bondage" (Romans 8). So the long-age teaching that there never was such an original paradise is extremely serious for the Gospel, and we see the consequences.

4. Some good news

There are scientists, including highly trained ones, who are convinced that the facts fit Genesis much better than they fit the long-age evolutionary teaching (see creation.com). Over 15 Ph.D. scientists from a range of relevant disciplines feature in the new 90-minute documentary from Creation Ministries International, Evolution’s Achilles Heels. Nine of them co-authored the book of the same name. An increasing number of Christians are waking up to the damage being wrought, and arming themselves with information provided by Bible-believing scientists. The Apostles did not evade the arguments proffered against the Gospel in the ‘marketplace’, but engaged them headon (2 Corinthians 10:5). We are meant to (with fear and trembling) be ready to provide answers to those who are lost and confused by the false philosophies of our age (1 Peter 3:15). Let’s arm and equip ourselves for battle, girded and upheld by prayer and the "Sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17) – God’s unchanging, infallible Word. (This article was provided by Dr Carl Wieland, with minimal edition and abridgement by me – Editor).

Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service,

Dr SH Tow, Sr Pastor