OceanSide church of Christ

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Theistic Evolution
by: Dalton Gilreath

The deceptive teachings of evolutionary theory have led many Christians to compromise their faith and adopt a belief in theistic evolution. That is, they believe both the creation account of Genesis and the theory of evolution are both accurate. In fact, many would suggest that God actually used evolution as part of the creation process. After all, why else would our methods of dating suggest the age of the Earth to be billions of years old? Many conclude that God allowed millions upon millions of years to pass between each of the days of creation. Consider some things together to determine the plausibility of this mindset.

First of all, let us consider the idea of theistic evolution that millions of years passed between each day of creation. There are a couple of issues here. For starters, we notice that Moses, the inspired author of Genesis, concludes the creation of day one with the phrase “the evening and the morning were the first day” (Genesis 1:5 KJV). The same is true of each of the following days. How can a day be millions of years if God describes each specific day as the passing of an evening and a morning? Keep in mind that the Hebrews of old counted their day from evening to morning. Would we say that each evening and morning we read of is millions of years in those instances as well? We must be consistent.

Furthermore, there are a few issues that arise in the order of creation when you allot millions of years to pass between each day. For example, God created the grass, trees, and seed on the third day. However, it wasn’t until day four that God created the sun and stars in the sky. What would have happened to the grass and trees had there been no sunlight for millions of years? Clearly Earth’s green color would have faded. This is not even considering the issue arising with the plants ability to reproduce through pollination. Remember it was not until day five that God created winged creatures such as bugs. Not only would those plants have been without sunlight, but also without the full ability to pollenate one another.

What about the common arguments that arise? First, with God a day is a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8). This passage is taken out of context. Peter was referencing that no matter how much time passes, the Lord’s promise of His second coming would not falter. In addition, even if this passage was speaking of physical days and years, that would place each day at a thousand years, not millions or billions. With regards to the age of the Earth, remember “scientific” methods of dating have shown many flaws and inconsistencies. Regardless, the answer seems clearer than one might think: Remember that when Adam and Eve were created they were seconds old, yet they were created as adults. That is, they were created with the appearance of age. Therefore, even if the Earth was in fact dating at billions of years old, is it not possible God created mature trees, rocks, dirt, and so on when He created the world? It seems logical to conclude God could have created the Earth with the appearance of age as well.

In summary, theistic evolution does not fit the Genesis account nor could it be considered a logical conclusion. Don’t buy into this mindset that compromising the creation account with evolution is provable or justifiable. Clearly, the arguments lack foundation, and the evidence points elsewhere. May we all be strong in our conviction knowing the Bible is inerrant and teaching this confidently to others. Upon realizing the truth, we are reminded how absolutely amazing it is that our Father created this world in six literal days (Ex 20:11).