Theory of Evolution

1. Theory of Evolution

2. About the quiz • You should know… • What science is • Types of evolution • Spectrum of beliefs concerning evolution • Why creationism is not science • You do not need to know • The rest of our discussion, but may find it interesting anyway

3. Opening Questions Is the Bible a Science Book? Would your Faith in God be changed if he used Evolution to make you? Do only humans have souls? What is a soul?

4. Key Point • What you define to be true will be based off your faith or assumptions you have made • What religion calls faith science calls assumptions • Examples: Crime Scene, was it tampered with? Are the witnesses credible? • Let’s make a flow chart starting with first assumption made

5. Key Points • How science is defined and what it is allowed to do often change your viewpoint. • Definition of Science I use • Science is mankind's attempt to explain or attempt to understand the natural world through natural causes • Science is man’s reasoning < Biblical Truths • Science unable to discuss past with accuracy

6. Key Points Using that definition … Creationism is NOT a science and frowned upon in the scientific field Theory of evolution is the current best understanding that mankind has of how the world come to be without the supernatural

7. Key Points • Do we allow our own rational minds to be the judge of the Bible and its accuracy? • This is the question which will divide most “creationists” and “theistic evolutionists”

8. Spectrum of beliefs: Literal Reading of Genesis • Flat Earthers • - The world is flat… comes from statements like “Angels stand at the four corners” • Geocentrists • The earth is the center of the universe… passages “Sun stood still.” • Young Earth Creationists (Intelligent Design) • 6000 yr old earth

9. Spectrum of beliefs: No Literal Reading of Genesis • Old Earth Creationism: Multiple categories. World is old as stated by science • Gap Creationism • Big gap of time between when God created the world and (Gen 1:1) and when he started actually making things (millions of years later)

10. Spectrum of Beliefs: God using Science • Progressive Creationism • God starts universe, intervenes at times to move evolution along • Evolutionary Creationism • Accept Theory of evolution and Bible reading, God not bound by time (don’t match) • Theistic Evolution • God set universe in motion, let it go

11. Spectrum of Beliefs: No God (or very passive God) • Deistic Evolution • A Supernatural being started the universe and left it to run its course • Agnostic Evolution • Fully endorse the theory of evolution without taking any stance on religious viewpoints (separate two ideas completely) • Atheistic Evolution • No God, Evolution is Truth

12. Not using God • “The Theory of Evolution” is the best theory science has yet to put forth about the origins of the earth • A scientific theory is an attempt to explain why the world is the way it is, or how something happens

13. God exists Then you need no scientific theory to tell you how the world came to be. God is not bound by scientific theories or laws, he made them and can break them when he wants No God exists Then you need to “The Theory of Evolution” to be true because that is the only way everything came to be. You have no other options other than aliens (but where did they come from then?) An issue of what you believe…?

14. Science • “The universe came into being by itself by purely natural process (known as evolution) so that no appeal to the supernatural is needed.” Kent Hovind’s Summary of Evolution • Theories in science don’t allow God, so nothing new here

15. Some Points to Ponder • God didn’t need Evolution. It is the theory of Evolution which needs a God to save it. • Many ways that Evolution is stated is a religion • What can science do? What can’t science do? What is a good theory? Do the rules of this universe apply to God? • Does Jesus get the Glory due to him? Do Sinners receive their comfort? • Was Adam a real person? Was he the first person? • Are we supposed to take the first six days literal as 24 hour days, or as longer periods of time?

16. Does God Need Evolution? • God is not bound by the laws of this world • He merely can speak and the laws of nature are broken • Sun standing still • Rivers turning into blood • Matter out of nothing • Man made from Dust

17. Evolution and Religion • Cosmic Evolution – The Origin of time, space, and matter. Big Bang • Chemical Evolution – The Origin of higher elements from hydrogen • Stellar and Planetary Evolution – Origin of Stars and Planets • Organic Evolution – Origin of life from inanimate matter. • Macroevolution – Origin of Major Kinds • Micro Evolution within kinds – Genetics within a species

18. What can Science Do? • Science observes the known universe, they take in the evidence, and construct theories to explain what they see. • Science can use animals as test guinea pigs, for the better of mankind. (Man given dominion over creation, animals) • Science can tell us what the solar system looks like. • Science can tell us what the half life of radioactive materials are, and how fast the continents are moving presently.

19. What Can’t Science Do? • Tell us why we are here, or how the universe came to be, or why it exists, and how life came to be. • It can’t tell us how to live our lives (morals, ethics) or give us purpose for life. • It can’t tell us what the solar system looked like 20,000 years ago. • It can’t tell us how long the radioactive material has been decaying, how much we started with, or what the continents looked like 20,000 years ago.

20. Faith in Science • Science can not escape from some sort of Faith when describing the origins in a variety of ways. • Did the universe start from a point? Do the laws of science that we know of work the same way in other galaxies (speed of light? Gravity?)? Is there a God or not? Matter out of nothing? Life from non life? The Beginning?

21. What is a Theory? • A theory is a an explanation or framework based on a body of knowledge. • It is testable, falsifiable, and makes accurate predictions. The evidence supports it. • God (Not a good theory) • He can’t be tested to see if he exists • You can’t falsify the claim there is a God • In the eyes of Faith, God makes predictions with 100% accuracy, but we can’t really predict what he is up to.

22. Is it a Falsifiable Theory? • Macro/Cosmic/Organic(You be the judge) • Is it testable… • Recreate a new universe? • Can we have viable offspring between cats and dogs • Can a body in a coffin come back to life • Is it falsifiable… • Given enough time and enough generations, maybe a few lucky mutations will spawn a new kind • Has to be luck, it is pure random chance

23. Do the rules of Science apply to God? • The rules of science don’t apply to God. • He created matter out of nothing • He created life from non life (law of biogenesis) • A problem that science runs into when trying to describe the past is we try to explain the universe’s existence from what we know. • We try to explain it using the theories and laws we have discovered. Sadly, theories don’t work when trying to explain how God did it, God wasn’t using the laws he placed in the universe

24. Can science tell us how old? Two view points… • If it is true that there is no God, and everything has come into existence without him, then there findings are true, maybe. • If there is a God, then Science no longer can, because God is a variable which they can’t account for. With God part of the equation, then there is no way to say how far to rewind the tape. With God, the world could be 6,000 years old.

25. Can science tell us how old? Sure, scientists can take a guess. But it remains a guess, since we weren’t there. Science is based on questioning the validity and testing out ideas. However, often the world is stated as old WITHOUT questioning it, it is stated as a FACT when in reality, it is a THEORY Question away in the future

26. Theistic Evolution • Where theistic evolutionists get into trouble, is they want God eliminated from Science, because he is a variable. When they do this, they are left with the first statement. Then, they try to bring God back in to fill the gaps. God gets used when there is something which science can’t explain. The rational goes something like this:

27. Theistic Evolution God gets kicked out of the Science realm because he is a variable. The data gets to be interpreted untainted by God (How do we explain the universe without God?). Science can’t explain how the universe started or how life came to be, or how the mutations were so lucky. Scientists bring God back in on a leash, and allow him to start the universe, give life, and direct the mutations. Then they dismiss him from the science realm again, until they need a miracle.

28. Does Jesus get the Glory due to him? Do Sinners receive their comfort? What did Jesus Death Accomplish on the Cross for us? • Jesus death was an atonement for the poor miserable sinners. • Jesus death was a sacrifice once and for all, for all sinners. • Jesus death paid the price for our sins. • Jesus death bridged the gap between God and his people. • Death is not a natural process. We were not created to die. Instead, we die because of original sin through Adam.

29. Why did Jesus have to Die? • Jesus had to die because the wages of sin are death (Romans 5:12, 6:23, Genesis 3). • God demands the life blood as an atonement for forgiveness (OT Sacrifices, Hebrews 9:22). Why does Jesus death matter to us concerning evolution? • Evolution says death is a natural process. Death has been since the beginning of time and will be for eternity.

30. Jesus Death • If there was death before sin, Jesus death no longer accomplished what it was supposed to. Why? • Since death is not associated with Sin, how did Jesus take away the sins of the world by dying? They aren’t related. • Jesus didn’t have to die. The punishment of sin is not death. Jesus payment doesn’t fit the crime (see Heb 9:22)

31. Jesus Death Passages We are still prisoners to sin because the price has not been paid for our sins. The whole old testament is filled with sacrifice after sacrifice. The Israelites were constantly dragging poor fluffy the lamb out to the slaughter to pay for their sins, take the place of themselves. Jesus sacrifice was the last sacrifice that had to be done. He was the perfect atonement, the spotless lamb. Why did God constantly have the OT people killing their livestock if death wasn’t the consequence? What we are left with is a sacrificial death which didn’t reconcile our sins to God or save us from eternal death.

32. Jesus Death Passages • “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” I Corinthians 15:21-22. • “‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Corinthians 15:54-57. • “For God was pleased to have his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile himself to all things whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation, if you continue in your faith.” Colossians 1:19-23a. • Hebrews 9:15-28. Basically says Jesus died as a ransom for us to free us from sins. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

33. Jesus Glory • Jesus doesn’t receive the glory due to him when we say his death didn’t save us. When we say death occurred before sin, death becomes a natural process and is not associated with sin. Instead, Jesus death is the only way for us to be reconciled to God. If Jesus didn’t save us, our faith is hopeless. Sinners don’t receive their comfort when we can’t be certain that Jesus has saved us from sin by his death and shedding of blood. • A few more questions to think about: • If God did indeed create the world and had death as a natural process, when He creates a new heaven and earth, will death still be present? Where will we go after we die in the next life? • Will our new imperishable bodies be created instantly or are we going to start out as a microbe and through evolution become the new creation after a few million generations?

34. Interpreting AdamTwo main categories theistic evolutionists place Adam in Adam was not a Real Person • Why say this? Because Adam was created on the sixth day and if the sixth day was 10,000 years ago, the science is wrong. • Instead, Adam represents all humanity. • What is the problem with Adam not being a real person? • Luke’s genealogy includes Adam. If Adam wasn’t a real person, then the people following in the genealogy didn’t come from him, and Jesus wasn’t a real person. • There is no explanation for how sin or death came to be. I Cor 15:21-22. • A few passages referring to Jesus as the 2nd Adam. If Adam wasn’t a real person, then Jesus is the 2nd not real person. How can a not real person be responsible for saving us?

35. Interpreting Adam: First Soul • Why say this? They say that only humans were affected by sin, not animals. Then the animals and former humans could have been dying all along, just as science tells us. Then God came and gave two individuals souls, and they became his first real people. • What is the problem with this scenario?

36. Adam first with Soul • If God did come and give two people a soul, and not the rest, whose descendants are you? Are you from the soulless or are you from Adam’s line? Are you human, or an animal? You can never be sure that you are saved. • They say sin only brought spiritual death, not physical. Col 1:22 and other passages about shedding of blood beg to differ. • If Adam is a real person, then there is no reason to not believe he was made the way the bible says, out of dirt, in the image of God. Humans are not animals, we never have been, never will be.

37. The World Created itself Life created itself Evolution Formed you Image of Apes A Matter of Faith Science knows of no process by which matter creates itself out of nothing Science knows of no process by which life can create itself Do space shuttles, cars, houses create themselves out of the earth? No Way! Do dead bodies come back to life? (Jesus) All the ingredients there for life, but it just isn’t happening (not until the firstborn of the dead returns Colossians 1:18)

38. God • He Created the World (Gen 1:1, Heb 1:10) • He Created Life (Gen 1:20, 24, Acts 17:24-27) • He Formed you (Gen 1:27, Jer 1:5) • Image of God (Gen 1:27, I Cor 11:7) A Matter of Faith • No way to prove that God exists scientifically • We believe God created us and sustains us • We believe the Bible to be the Word of God Which ever side you start from leads you to different conclusions. If you say there is no God, then your options are limited, if you say there is a God, your options are limited Out of sight, out of mind, or Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

39. Evolution Transitional forms Monkey plus monkey = Neanderthal man An eyeball that doesn’t work Beneficial Mutations Through mistakes, we get the ability to see, smell, taste, have a brain Things getting better As the universe gets older, things become more complex and our bodies become more and more perfect The universe started off unorganized and now is very organized New Species Through evolution, new species will be added Predictions of Evolution and Creation

40. Creation • Separate, distinct kinds (Gen 1:21, 24-25) • Dogs make dogs, humans make humans • Intelligent design in nature (Proverbs 3:19-20) • God knew exactly what he was doing, there were no mistakes to begin with and • We were created with our eyes, ears… • Tendency for decay (Romans 8:18-22, Gen 3:14-19) • As the universe gets older, decline in complexity and bodies less perfect • The universestarted off perfectly organized and has fallen far from it • Extinction of species (Romans 5:12-14, Same verses as above) • Death reigns on earth. All living things die. The creation decays.

41. How long were those first few days? There was evening and morning, the first day. For each day, there was a period of darkness and a period of light (night and day), with evening and morning signifying the start of each. If these periods of darkness and light lasted thousands of years, and death was also present, nothing would have survived the period of darkness.

42. How long were those first days? • The days are counted and distinguished from each other. They are listed as a definite series, each having a beginning and ending. This sequential counting of days is always literal in the Pentateuch. If we are to interpret them to mean longer period of times, we would have to say it is the only time in Moses writing it happens this way. No longer using the scripture interpret scripture but human wisdom interprets scripture. • The six days of work and one day of rest still live on today. In Exodus 20:11 (the commandments), God says to work six days and rest one, just like he did during creation. Now, are we supposed to work a few thousand years, then take a thousand year vacation?

43. How long? • Exodus 18:13, Moses judged for the people morning till evening, a literal day. • Many times the argument is used from 2 Peter 3:8 that God is not bound by time. Usually when God is referred to being not bound by time it is in prophecy. God exists and doesn’t exist in our kind of time. However, when God told Moses to write the days down, Moses would have understood it to be a day, and he wrote it so. God does work in our time for our sake. He created a work week for us, in our time. Jesus rose and died again, in our time (was he in the grave three days or three thousand years? Jesus not bound by time either, true God). Also, the 2 Peter passage refers to the world wide flood and God speaking and it being so. If they are to use this for their argument, they also must accept the global flood and that God spoke and it was so.

44. Scripture interprets Scripture. If we allow human theories to be the judge of the Bible, we throw out more than creation. We doubt the first miracle, then you begin to doubt the other miracles of God. Soon, human wisdom tells us people don’t rise from the dead, and your savior is still dead.

45. Character • Evolution says we evolved to be who we are • God says he created us in his image • In Evolution, it is survival of the fittest with no rules concerning morality • With God, our survival is placed purely on his grace, and Loving our neighbor is of higher importance

46. Concluding thoughts • Death is not a natural process. Death is a result of sin. If Evolution is true and death has always been, then the wages of sin are not death, and I have no idea what Jesus was doing on the cross then. • Big Truth = Bible • Small Truth = Science

47. Final Thought Science has always been based on questioning (how does the human body work?). Evolution should receive the same treatment. Make sure to keep questioning it in the future. Don’t let someone tell you it as FACT since those happen and are done. Always three sides to any story. He said, she said, and the truth.