Life Matters, January 5, 2022
I’m confused. Or maybe I’m not. Or maybe that is the epitome of confusion, when I don’t know for sure if I’m confused or not. My confusion has to do with the Theory of Evolution. And no, I’m not questioning whether Darwin was right. I believe Mr. Darwin was, and is still, wrong. I’m a “Bible-thumping” (figure of speech) believer that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. And as such, I believe that the Bible is the only dependable history of where we originated from. And, yes, I do believe in science. As in, repeatable science where the test results are always the same. Where theories become proven or unproven.
In 1989, or thereabouts, my young wife and I took our children to a zoo to spend the day looking at, and learning about, exotic zoo animals. I was young and inquisitive (now I’m old and inquisitive) so when we came to an outside glass-encased exhibit of a dinosaur skull, we stopped to have a look. As my brainy brain mulled over the age of this skull (somewhere in the neighborhood of a million years) stated on the engraved plaque, I was caught in a dichotomy of beliefs. I had no reason to doubt science. I had no reason to doubt the Bible. Having been raised in a Bible-believing home and church, being taught at a Bible-believing Parochial School, and having now experienced freedom from condemnation through Jesus Christ, I had every reason to believe the Bible and no reason to doubt it. I also believed in science.
As my now not-so-brainy brain struggled to meld these two beliefs together, I was approached by a tall, handsome, blond-haired young man who was interested in what I was thinking. He was also interested in me and my family and wasn’t surprised that we were Bible-believers, as he observed our Amish-Mennonite appearance. I responded affirmatively to his remarks about the Bible and of God being our Creator. And then the question. Turning to the glass-encased skull, he asked, “So, what do you think of the millions of years?” My now-empty brain struggled for an answer and because of its emptiness didn’t dare to admit it didn’t have one. So, I responded with, “Well…I believe in God and if He created us in a millions-of-years process I’m sure He could’ve done that.”
“But what about the 6-days creation record in the Bible?” he asked, as a look of disappointment (that haunts me to this day) settled upon his handsome facial features. I knew I had now “blown my empty brains” and all I could manage was to mumble about the Bible saying something like “a thousand years being to God as one day and one day as a thousand years.”
The handsome young man seemed to have melded back into the crowd at this point, as I was approached by another man who introduced himself as being charged with watching over and answering questions about this “marvelous specimen of scientific research.” Answering questions! Here’s the man! Here’s my chance! I asked him if he’s a scientist. He responded in the affirmative, so my next question was concerning the millions of years. Upon my question about dating specimens, such as the skull, he responded by explaining a process called carbon-dating. As I continued my inquisitive questioning, a pattern of circular reasoning became embarrassingly obvious. To make sure I was understanding correctly, I asked, “So, if I’m understanding you correctly, you’re saying that you begin with a theory and because you believe the theory to be true you can build a case of facts? You are building facts upon theory?” The face of the “scientist” brightened. “Yes,” he exclaimed, “that’s right!” I was so shocked and disappointed that I proceeded to “chew him out” saying that I think its okay to have theories, but it is inexcusable to then teach those theories as if they are facts, especially to schoolchildren, like they do in public schools. When the foundation is theory, then anything build upon it remains theory. My brainy brains were back! Life Matters!
To be continued…