July
21, 1925, 87 years ago, the Scopes Trial, commonly referred to as the “Scopes
Monkey Trial,” in Tennessee ended with John Scopes being convicted of teaching
evolution in a public school against a Tennessee law forbidding it. This debate has not gone away. The advance of science continues to challenge
those who believe in a “Young Earth” creation, that God created the earth in
six twenty four hour days within the last 10,000 years. The current edition of Christianity Today,
marking the anniversary of the Scopes trial, contains an article about two
contemporary scientists, one who advocates a young earth and the other who
advocates an older earth which came into being through evolution.
The bottom line is that both are
committed Christians. Both believe that
“in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Both agree that someone who holds the
opposite view of the length of creation is still a true believer. Both agree that there are a lot of questions
that still have no answer. And both
agree God is the reason the universe is here, and the reason you and I are
here. And, although they do not mention
it in the article, I am certain that both agree that God will redeem this
universe and you and I.
In this debate I fall on the side of
an old earth. As one of my seminary
professors said, “God didn’t make fossils to fool us.” The earth has been around a long, long
time. On the other hand, I am not
convinced of the evolution of species.
Although the DNA of chimps and humans is virtually the same, I am not
convinced that one evolved from the other.
Of course, I am not a scientist and
would not pretend to know all the answers (as some of my friends claim to know). I am content to know and believe that “God
created man in His own image” (Genesis 1:27) no matter how He did it. And He has created me anew into His image through Jesus Christ."Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation."
(2 Corinthians 15:7)
Grace and peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment