On Thu, 1 Jun 1995 09:20:10 -0500 you wrote:
SJ>Glenn, there is a spiritual war going on. On one side is "the
>dragon...the beast and..the false prophet" (Rev 16:13). On the other
>are the saints - which include YECs! (Rev 13:7). Perhaps we need to
>ponder again these things?
BH>The YEc's as well need to ponder the fact that there are quite a
>number of Christians who accept at least some aspects of the
>scientific theory of evolution. Evolution is a scientific theory
>which is frequently misused to support an atheistic philosophical
>mindset. It would seem that people concerned with truth should deal
>with the misuses rather than try to discredit the entire theory. The
>crucial challenge for Christians is to fight against Satan, not the
>people the Lord sent us to preach the Gospel to, and not against
>fellow Christians. Eph 6:12
I agree and reiterate that I am not a YEC, but a Progressive
Creationist. I also agree that "Evolution is a scientific theory",
but I note that it is "a scientific theory" that was designed to
"overthrow the dogma of separate creations" (Darwin C., "The Descent
of Man", Modern Library, Random House, NY, p56).
The question is not whether "Evolution is a scientific theory", but
whether or not it is *inherently* an anti-theistic theory. A
subsidiary question is whether Darwin had been a committed
Biblical theist, whether he would have formulated his theory in a
different way that would have still accounted for the facts, but would
not have contained its "anti-religious flavour" as Thompson noted:
"The doctrine of evolution by natural selection as Darwin formulated,
and as his followers still explain it, has a strong anti-religious
flavour. This is due to the fact that the intricate adaptations and
co-ordinations we see in living things naturally evoking the idea of
finality and design and, therefore of an intelligent providence, are
explained, with what seems to be a rigorous argument, as the result of
chance. It may be said, and the most orthodox theologians indeed
hold, that God controls and guides even the events due to chance- but
this proposition the Darwinians emphatically reject, and it is clear
that in the Origin evolution is presented as an essentially undirected
process. For the majority of its readers, therefore, the Origin
effectively dissipated the evidence of providential control."
(Thompson W.R., "Introduction", Darwin C., "The Origin of Species",
Everyman's Library, 1967, J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, London, p.xxiii)
>....
SJ>Yes. I am struck by the fact that the EC/TC Christians do not seem
>to make any allowance for the effect of Satan on materialist-
>naturalists' thinking.
BH>Satan blinds those outside the household of faith. He also strives
>to make Christians ineffective. To the extent that misguided YEC
>attacks on evolution make them ineffective as evangelists, Satan must
>be having a field day. I am not suggesting that anyone within
>Christianity is immune to Satan's attacks. He has his special
>attacks for every individual, and we are usually more able to see
>what he is doing to the other fellow than what he is doing to us.
>All the more reason why we ought to uphold one another in prayer, as
>well as observe the Lord's admonition in Jn 13:35 that we love one
>another.
Totally agree. My point was that we debate evolution as though it was
in a philosophical and spiritual vacuum. If the Bible is correct that
we are in a spiritual war, then evolution (ie. Darwinism) *must* be
one of Satan's strongest weapons in that war. Darwin's theory of
evolution was one of the greatest disasters suffered by the Church of
Jesus Christ. Denton, not even a Christian sees this clearly:
"As far as Christianity was concerned, the advent of the theory of
evolution and the elimination of traditional teleological thinking was
catastrophic. The suggestion that life and man are the result of
chance
is incompatible with the biblical assertion of their being the direct
result of intelligent creative activity. Despite the attempt by
liberal
theology to disguise the point, the fact is that no biblically derived
religion can really be compromised with the fundamental assertion of
Darwinian theory. Chance and design are antithetical concepts, and
the
decline in religious belief can probably be attributed more to the
propagation and advocacy by the intellectual and scientific community
of
the Darwinian version of evolution than to any other single factor.
Today ensconced in our comfortable agnosticism, after a century of
exposure to the idea of evolution and quite inured to the idea of a
universe without purpose, we tend to forget just what a shock wave the
advent of evolution sent through the Christian society of Victorian
England....It was because Darwinian theory broke man's link with God
and set him adrift in a cosmos without purpose or end that its impact
was so fundamental. No other intellectual revolution in modern times
(with the possible exception of the Copernican) so profoundly affected
the way men viewed themselves and their place in the universe."
(Denton M., "Evolution: A Theory in Crisis",1985, Burnett Books,
pp66-67)
This is why YEC (and even Progressive Creationists like me) are so
wary of evolution. To us it seems self-evident that it is used by
Satan in his attack on the Lord's Church, as portrayed in Rev 12:15:
"And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the
woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood."
Henriksen in his commentary on Rev 12 says: "We interpret the picture
as follows. Satan, having failed to defeat the Christ, continues his
attack upon the Church. He directs his fury against the Church because
the Church has brought forth the Christ. But the Lord protects his
people: He bears them on eagle's wings...the evil one tries to engulf
the Church in a stream of lies, delusions, religious `-isms',
philosophical falsehoods, political utopias, quasi-scientific dogmas,
but the true Church is not fooled..." (Hendriksen W., "More than
Conquerors", 1940, Tyndale, London, p142).
>Satan is a very real danger -- in fact the _only_ _real_ danger we face,
>and I for one would be more than happy to participate in both discussion of
>how he works and prayer that his plans may be frustrated. But we have to
>realize that he doesn't play any favorites. He attacks YEC's as well as
>others.
Yes. As Hendriksen points out, Satan directs his fury against the
whole Church (which incudes YEC, PC and TE's). The question is, is
the Darwinist theory of macro-evolution an integral part of Satan's
"flood" or is it neutral, in fact just another good thing that Satan
has perverted?
Stephen