It’s no secret that Christians (And Theists in general) have come under harsh criticism for their refusal to accept the Darwinian theory of Evolution as fact when it comes to explaining how humans came to be. While it is a common hobby for followers of Darwin to insult unbelievers as a separate subhuman species that they wish would weed themselves out through “survival of the loudest,” believe it or not there are pockets of highly educated, intelligent, established scientists and philosophers who wish to challenge the scientific status quo.

My goal is to provide a simple but reasonable answer to the question, “Why… why can’t you Christians just accept Evolution and let us eat your souls, err… burn your Bibles, err… be your friends?” While I can’t answer this question for everyone or go into too much depth scientifically, I can offer my personal reasons why I think this theory gives reason for doubt on various issues.

The Options For Christians On Creation

Currently there are multiple options that the Christian has in what he or she chooses to believe about creation and Evolution, but there are three theories which are most common with all others being closely related. First, there are Christians who hold to Theistic Evolution such as the researchers at BioLogos, but there are also Young Earth Creationists who flat out reject any notion of “Design by Chance” like those at Answers in Genesis. Towards the end of the 20th century, a third option joined the discussion in what appears to be a hybrid of the two positions known as Intelligent Design, spearheaded by the Discovery Institute.

Though these three theories do not agree with each other on various items they are all intellectually engaged in the discussion on how we got here and are worth hearing. Each theory in one way or another agrees with Genesis 1:1 which says, “In the beginning, God…” but what they believe about the following details of creation, is vastly different.

Where Doubt Leaks In For Evolution

Contrary to popular belief, Darwinian Evolution is not a fact. I believe there are a number of significant complications with Darwin’s theory that make it difficult and downright unreasonable for me to accept as the fact that some are making it out to be.

1. Lack Of Explanation – Proponents of Darwin’s theory are notorious for telling us that things like Microtubules and Motor Proteins evolved into Cilium over a span of millions of years. However no one has explained how Evolution (Which despises change) allowed for phases of development, which rendered the changing molecules useless (And therefore not fit to survive) during the time it took to form into a new combination.
2. Irreducible Complexity – Things like Bacterial Flagellum, the Human Eye, Reproducing Cells, Antibodies and our own Blood Clotting System are all examples of things which are irreducibly complex. Which means they are highly advanced machines or systems, where if you were to remove just one element, the entire mechanism or environment breaks down or fails. How do such complex organisms develop in perfect working order by unconscious natural selection, which is synonymous with random chance?
3. DNA Information – Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is the instruction manual for each of us. It consists of a four character alphabet, which if printed out would consume nearly 4,425,000 pages of information that keeps you yourself and not someone or something else. With such an intricate instruction manual that has yet to be explained under natural circumstances, it seems highly reasonable to think this massive book had an author.
4. Lack of Fossils – Darwin himself said that his theory hinged upon the discovery of fossilized evidence that was not available during his time. However, today the evidence still only consists of embarrassing fragments and devastating gaps that do not provide sufficient evidence to support his theory.
5. Cambrian Explosion – Around 530 million years ago, an explosion of complex life forms popped into being during a ten million year period known as the Cambrian Explosion. Seemingly out of nowhere, we see advanced multicellular creatures come into being and begin to thrive. This transition in the fossil record troubled Darwin in his day and still lacks a good response to this day.

Where I Stand

In the end, what it comes down to is examining the evidence we currently have. Then, based on the answers it can provide to the questions that are raised, we should modify our stances accordingly. The danger comes in when we refuse to even consider an alternative view, that could contain helpful information which would move us towards a more complete and accurate theory. In the end, our goal should not be to win arguments but to arrive at the truth.

Personally as a Christian, I am not convinced by Darwin’s theory of Evolution because it doesn’t answer important questions sufficiently. Proponents simply tell us what happened without explaining how; and while the finger can equally be pointed at Christians for the always trendy “God of the Gaps” accusation, I believe our theory holds significantly more plausibility within its claims when the facts are taken into consideration.

Based off all the evidence we do have, it is more reasonable to accept that life was created intentionally by a personal mind who is unfathomably powerful and exists outside of time and space. The precise methods this person has taken to get from Big Bang to Big Ben are unknowable in their entirety, but since the Bible has been shown to be more historically reliable than scientific theory, my trust rests in its pages.

As a final note, if the Bible were to be somehow proven false or Darwinian Evolution somehow proven true, one is not immediately obligated to abandon belief in God or the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Since there is overwhelming evidence for them both via extra-Biblical sources, we would only be forced to rethink our position on things like Evolution; our Christian faith however would be able to continue on with full confidence and steam.

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