Evangelism VS Evolution

Today’s Christian evangelist is met with the challenge of sharing the Gospel of Christ in a highly-informed world. What I mean by that is this: the internet, social media, and widespread education throughout western civilization has allowed many the opportunity to become well-informed in misinformation, while at the same time lacking discernment to know that the information they have is indeed misinformation. For example, videos are often posted on Youtube with clickbait titles such as “Atheist Destroys Christian” or “Muslim Blows Christian’s Mind.” Christians can be just as guilty of claiming such superiority as to appear to make all others look stupid. We have to be careful with this. Should we dismantle erroneous arguments? Certainly, but we should make sure to do so with grace and love.

The truth is when we use such titles as these to make the opposing side appear foolish, we often misunderstand opposing arguments or argue against an individual that was ill-prepared for such a discussion. Many people use these same tactics against Christians today. Some particular attacks on Christianity by atheists in more recent years are the topics of evolution, geographical findings, and star light - each appearing to date earth and the universe to a much older age than many Christians are willing to accept. What I would like to argue is that atheists often use an exaggerated attack on Christianity using these particular findings. However, there are a great many faithful Christians that see no conflict between the infallibility of Scripture and believing the universe to be13.8 billion years old.

There is so much information available via the internet today that the Christian evangelist must be prepared to give a defense of the Christian faith against a great many opposing arguments. Whether that be coming from an atheistic voice, or Muslim, or LDS member - whatever the background of the individual may be, we have a responsibility to give an answer that truly represents the Christian faith well. How then do we respond to arguments grounded in modern science? Do we need to argue against the scientific consensus? This article is titled “Evangelism VS Evolution” to tackle the idea of Christianity appearing to be in competition with modern science. My desire today is to give us a way of talking about Christianity in light of modern scientific discoveries. Believers should never feel threatened by any scientific discovery; in fact, many would argue that modern science is built upon Christians seeking understanding in how God’s creation works.

When I was newly married back in 2018, I was watching a nature documentary and something struck me in a way that, just for a moment, shook my faith. I can’t even remember what was said now but what I can remember is struggling to reconcile what the narrator was saying about the age of the earth with my biblical worldview. In my understanding at the time, I felt that an ancient earth, evolution, and such other ideas were at competition with my faith in Christ. But how are we as Christians supposed to explain the reality that we can see stars billions of lightyears away, meaning it would take light from those stars billions of years to travel from those stars to visible range with our modern telescopes? Light from the sun takes about eight minutes to reach earth. What about a star 12 billion lightyears away? Some young earth creationists would posit that “God just did it.” It’s an explanation, but not a satisfactory one for the atheist. The famous Christian historian, Wes Huff, has suggested that the beginning chapters of Genesis could be an apologetic against competing views at the time of its authorship. Genesis introduces the idea that man is made in the image of God, a perspective not widely held in the Ancient Near East. Genesis shows that God created the sun, moon, and stars rather than being contained within the elements of His own creation. Professor John Lennox of Oxford University argues for an openness of interpretation of the Creation account in his book Seven Days that Divide the World. Why share all of this? Not to persuade anyone of a particular interpretation, but to suggest that the Bible has such great depth that sometimes it can be helpful to take a step back in humility and reevaluate our understanding of certain texts.

This is not merely a conversation happening today in response to science as if Christians are trying to “save” our religion from scientific critique. This is a particular subject that has almost always been interpreted differently by various believers. Saint Augustine, for example, believed creation took place in a singular moment whereas Origen saw the six days of creation as allegorical. Even the famous preacher, Charles Spurgeon, was not dogmatic about holding to a literal six days of creation. What does this mean for us in evangelism? This means that we can argue for the faith without being dogmatic when it comes to opposing the modern scientific consensus. If someone says that science provides all the answers we need and will need, the Christian evangelist can respond with a healthy illustration provided by John Lennox in his book, God’s Undertaker. Lennox suggests God is not the same kind of explanation as science; we can use both God and science to explain the existence of the universe in a similar way to how we can use both Henry Ford and the internal combustion engine to explain modern vehicles. We are not restricted to picking between the Wright brothers and jet engines to explain modern aircraft; neither should we feel restricted to pick between God and science. Science explains mechanisms; God explains agency.

When it comes to atheistic arguments, the atheist will often bring up scientific discoveries, but the Christian should never feel threatened by these things. Jesus claimed to be the truth which could lead us to understand that the pursuit of truth is a moral good. Evolution could be a true explanation of why organisms change and adapt over time, but it never explains how life began in the first place. Dr. James Tour has explained at great lengths that modern science cannot even do what they claim happened by accident 3.5-4 billion years ago - create life. Evolution gives no explanation for the cause of life, only the gradual change that happens in existing life over time. The Big Bang may be an explanation for what happened at the beginning of the universe, but it does not explain what caused it. This is where Genesis comes in. Genesis lets us know that God is the one that created the universe and all that is in it. Genesis does not give us a detailed list of mechanisms by which God caused the universe to exist in such a way as to support life, nor does it need to. Genesis appears more interested in establishing a distinction between Creator and creation.

I suppose the lesson to be learned from all of this is to know that science is not at conflict with faith. We don’t need to feel threatened by scientific discoveries or developments. When we evangelize, we are not in a competition against science; rather, we should use science in helping point people towards God. We need to focus on faithfully communicating the Gospel and asking the right questions. Was Jesus a historical figure? Did He really die on the cross? Those are questions that atheists can often say yes to. Everything weighs on this though: did Jesus rise from the dead? If you can argue this point, we can introduce them to the greatest news known to man - salvation in Christ Jesus!