Contrary to the article, Finding some room for theory of evolution (Interim, December 1996) a natural reading of Genesis does not support the authors’ position of theistic evolutionism. The Bible states 10 times in its first chapter that God created all living things after its own kind. Nowhere does the Bible allude to or support the doctrine of evolutionism.
In life, compromise in many instances is necessary and commendable, but in the controversy surrounding origins, such is not the case. Evolutionism, a naturalistic belief system, is totally anti-ethical to creationism, a supernatural one. Both these religious systems are based on definite and opposing underlying assumptions.
It should be noted that M. DeRobertis and J. Laframboise, in trying to harmonize these two belief systems, always did so at the expense of the creationist position. They invariably adopted a naturalistic interpretation and thus undermined the supernatural one. Such an approach is clearly seen in their understanding of the first chapters of Genesis. Here, instead of using the historical/ grammatical method, which is customarily used in interpreting the other parts of the Bible, they arbitrarily chose to interpret these crucial chapters as an allegory –a naturalistic hermeneutic.
In their consideration of the age of the universe and the earth, these authors gave a terse acknowledgement to the fact that by accepting the biblical genealogies, as historical one would be forced to admit that the universe and the earth would be thousands of years old. But consistent with their naturalistic understanding, they chose to believe that the radiometric dating, based on the assumption of uniformitarianism, were more reliable in assigning billions of years rather than the thousands as witnessed in the Bible.
Their other examples of “compelling” evidence for evolutionism, such as the evolution of the horse and Ernst Haeckel’s Biogenetic Law, when given closer scrutiny, are very tenuous at best. I would refer them to M. Denton’s book, Evolution a Theory in Crisis; Denton, who is not a creationist, casts serious doubts on the feasibly of accepting the horse series as supporting evolutionary development. The Biogenetic Law, which postulates that embryos go through evolutionary stages as they grow, has been debunked by both creationists and evolutionists for at least 50 years or more.
DeRobertis and Laframboise remarked that the creationist movement is almost non-existent in Europe. Such was not always the case. In the 17th century, many of the leading scholars, such as Andrew Willot, Bishop Ussher, Edward Stillingfleet, Robert Boyle and Sir Isaac Newton, accepted a biblical supernatural world view. They also had no difficulty in believing a literal six-day creation as revealed in the Bible. What caused the change?
An understanding of the 18th-century intellectual history of Europe reveals that the Enlightenment with its naturalistic view of mankind and nature became the predominant worldview. This rationalistic belief system, which is the foundational philosophy for the 20th century western mindset, was responsible for the change in worldview. Since the Enlightenment worldview has becomes so entrenched in the European culture, it is not surprising that the creationist movement has little impact today. It should be noted that the authors’ naturalistic predilection has its roots in that same Enlightenment period.
The most serious flaw of theistic evolutionism, as portrayed by DeRobertis and Laframboise, is that it marginalizes the biblical view of mankind; their naturalistic interpretation that the human body was a product of evolutionary development over eons of time and, into that body, God imparted a divine spirit it totally foreign to the biblical text.
The creation of animals and mankind were separate divine acts. To mankind alone, did the Creator breathe His spirit into a body specifically prepared by Him. Thus, as an image-bearer of the Divine, mankind is afforded special status and dignity. For this reason, the acts of abortion and euthanasia are so despicable and heinous in the eyes of the Lord. It is only as we preserve this biblical view of mankind that we can protect this God-given dignity.
(David Herbert of London, Ontario is a retired high school teacher and author who holds a doctorate on the history of human origins.)
