By far the most important step in any debate is defining the question. Sometimes Christians give the impression that the debate from Genesis 1-2 is about "evolutionism versus creationism". But that is the wrong question. Charles Hodge, arguing against Darwinism, said:
The great question which divides theists from atheists—Christians from unbelievers—is this: Is development an intellectual process guided by God, or is it a blind process of unintelligible, unconscious force, which knows no end and adopts no means? In other words, is God the author of all we see, the creator of all the beauty and grandeur of this world, or is unintelligible force, gravity, electricity, and such like?
—from Charles Hodge, What Is Darwinism?
Genesis 1-2 intentionally answers exponents of God-less creation (materialism) powerfully and profoundly. So let us, in line with Genesis, make the debate "materialism versus creationism".
(HT: Kairos Journal)
September 14th, 2006 at 5.42 pm
On the subject of false dichotomies, Christianity versus evolution is one that frustrates me. Even if one doesn’t believe in evolution (as I don’t), it is still perfectly possible to be a Christian and yet believe in evolution. It is a particularly unhelpful dichotomy to present when preaching the gospel. It may turn unbelievers off before they’ve even heard the good news and it’s not as if one has to be a seven-day creationist before one repents and puts one’s trust in Jesus. It strikes me as being unnecessary.
September 14th, 2006 at 9.05 pm
I am indebted to the theory of evolution for the following sentence alone: “I am what might be called a slow starter; I tend to recapitulate phylogeny every morning.” (from Dick’s I am Legion)
September 17th, 2006 at 10.44 am
Isn’t Hodge’s point a bit easy, though? The Bible claims that God’s intervention in the creation of the world was more than a case of “guiding an intellectual process”. If you bring the authority of the Bible in the debate, you might find it much harder to try and reconcile God and evolution through some sort of “intelligent evolutionism”. I don’t think it is an option God’s word leaves open to us.