“I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not … I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”— Job 42:2-6
Job was surely wise in recognizing the superior wisdom of the great Creator. Scientists today are still unable to truly answer the questions which God asked Job, such as what is light, and what is darkness? And where does light go when it goes out, and where does the darkness go when the light returns? One of the questions God asked Job, was, “Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?”
That question brings us right back to the Genesis record of creation, where we are informed that God created man in his own image. The possession of the image of God implies wisdom in the inward parts, and an understanding heart. Certainly the lower animals do not possess these qualities, nor has any evolutionist ever been able to explain what brought about this tremendous separation between man and the highest form of lower animal.
This brings us to the second important question in our young student’s letter; that is, as to whether or not it is possible or inconsistent, to believe in the theory of human evolution and at the same time to have faith in the Bible as the inspired Word of God.
We do not think it is possible to accept the Bible as the inspired Word of God and at the same time believe in the theory of human evolution. Reasoning on this is based partly on statements made in the New Testament by the great Apostle Paul: “Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.” — I Cor. 15: 21,22,45,47
Paul’s statement that the first man was made a living soul, and also his reference to Adam as being an earthly creature, are virtually quotations from the opening chapters of the Book of Genesis. Now, if the Genesis record of creation is merely an allegory, or myth, the great Apostle Paul was deceived, and we could have no confidence in any of his teachings. It is evident, then, that the Apostle Paul was not an evolutionist.
In his sermon on Mars’ hill, preached to the philosophers of Greece, Paul said that God had made of one blood all nations to dwell on the face of the whole earth, thus emphasizing that man is a direct creation of God, not a creature of evolution. (Acts 17:26) How absolutely true to facts the Genesis record of man’s creation really is! In chapter 2, verse 7, we read that “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” We know that this is scientifically correct. Man’s body is composed entirely of elements found in “mother earth.” What about the “breath of life” that was breathed into Adam’s nostrils?
We certainly know that the air we breathe is the “breath of life.” In Leviticus 17:11, we read the “the life of the flesh is in the blood,” and now we know that the life-giving oxygen of the air, breathed into the lungs, is carried by the blood to every part of the body. How wonderful that Moses should know this nearly four thousand years ago! A human soul, then, is the entire being made up of the body and the breath of life, rather than a separate entity within the body which can live apart from the body.
More and more of the religious leaders of our day are coming to see the matter in this, the scriptural way. Getting back to the disharmony of the Bible with the theory of human evolution, I think it is also well to note that Jesus, as well as Paul, believed that because of sin, man is a fallen and dying creature. Jesus taught that he would give his life in sacrifice to the sin-cursed and dying human race. Paul taught that Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man, thus taking the sinner’s place in death, and opening the way for a resurrection of the dead.— John 6:51; Heb. 2:9; Acts 24:15
Redemption though Christ and the resurrection of the dead, are the great foundation themes of the Bible. If the theory of evolution is true, then Christianity has no foundation. In such a case the Bible would be, at best, merely a collection of moral philosophies, plus untrue and deceptive allegories.
Another point. Luke, the physician and writer of the Gospel of Luke, traces the genealogy of Jesus all the way back through the Old Testament to the first man, Adam, whom he mentions by name. Then he affirms that Adam was the “son of God” (Luke 3:23-38) If the theory of human evolution is true, then Luke should have written that Adam was the son, not of God, but of a “missing link.”
It is very apparent that the Apostle Paul, as well as Luke, had confidence in the Genesis record of creation, and believed that a man named Adam actually lived, and that he was the first man, the direct creation of God. It was Luke who also recorded the message of the angels on the night Jesus was born:
“Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people; for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10, 11) If Luke was mistaken with respect to Adam being the Son of God, then we could have no confidence in what he says concerning the birth of Jesus, and the purpose of his birth. Besides this, if the theory of human evolution is true, then man does not need a Savior, for he is not a fallen creature, but one who is evolving to an ever higher plane of life. This would mean, of course, that Jesus did not come to earth to save mankind from sin and death. The Prophet Isaiah, in a prophecy of Jesus’ death, disagreed with this thought:
“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”— Psa. 53:5-7
We would have to agree that this vivid prophecy of the suffering and death of Jesus would be without vital meaning if man is not, as the Bible teaches, a fallen creature, needing redemption from sin and death. It is the death and resurrection of Jesus, as man’s Redeemer, that constitutes our real hope of life beyond the grave – life, through the resurrection of the dead. When we believe what the Bible says concerning the creation and fall of man, we can also accept its assurance that the Creator will, as he has promised, use his mighty power to restore the dead to life. Certainly the One who created life in the first place should be abundantly able to restore life!
That he surely will do. The Apostle Peter assures us of this. Peter refers to the future time of restoration as “times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:19-21) Thus we see that all God’s prophets, whose prophecies are recorded in the Bible, conceded that man is a fallen creature, and foretold his restoration during the coming “times of restitution.” Moses was one of God’s holy prophets. In a wonderful prayer recorded in the Ninetieth Psalm, we hear Moses rejoicing in the hope of restoration from death:
“Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Thou turnest man to destruction, and sayest, Return, ye children of men.”— Psalms 90:1-3
Moses had a beautiful way of describing the resurrection! He speaks of it as the Lord saying, “Return, ye children of men.” Isaiah described the resurrection as the “ransomed of the Lord” returning from death. (Isa. 35:10) Jesus said that all in their graves would hear his voice, and come forth. (John 5:28, 29) Paul said that there would be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust. (Acts 24:14, 15) All of these statements in the Bible reveal that man is fallen, a dying creature, and that his only hope of life after death is in the fulfillment of God’s promises to restore the dead to life.
To accept this simple fact of divine revelation should do much to give us a settled and abiding faith. It is a faith that bridges the uncertainties of today, and gives us a bright hope for tomorrow – God’s tomorrow!