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Is
humankind a result of an evolutionary process?
Or
are we the special Creation of an amazing God? |
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| The
Creation of Man |
The literal interpretation of all
things Biblical prevails again in Baptist mind and thought. The Genesis
account of creation will not be seen allegorically or figuratively.
It happened exactly the way the Bible said it happened and their names
were Adam and Eve.
Furthermore, Biblical Christianity,
including the Baptists, rejects the Aporcryphal books that include other
versions of everything from the Creation (e.g. Adam had another wife named
Lillith) through the accounts of life of Christ (e.g. Jesus worked miracles
as a child).
Evolution? Why would
a sovereign God have to evolve a species when He could just create it?
Therefore, man was created directly in God’s own image and after His own
likeness. Furthermore, all life, whether animal and vegetable was
created by God’s established law that they should bring for only “after
their kind.”
If one were to consider the
proven archeological fact that there are a tremendous number of species
that have died since the Creation, the only conclusion we can come to is
that the "Jurrasic Park" world of the past is long gone--a kind of de-evolution.
In fact, the entire question of man's so-called "evolution" might be better
understood as one where his being created in God's image (thus, giving
humanity the ability to be creative) has resulted in a history of on-going
intellectual and technological advancement. As a result, our tremendous
increase in knowledge has led some to adopt the view that we have "evolved"
and no longer need to believe in the God of Creation, let alone rely on
Him.
The ultimate conclusion of
that error is either Agnosticism (doubting the existence of God) or Atheism
(negating entirely the existence of God).
However, there is another
side to this particular coin.
Baptists have long accepted
Usher's chronology of the Bible which states that the universe was created
in 4004 BC. As a result, those in the scientific community who do
have a sense of intellectual honesty have kept their distance from us.
This may be justifiable on their part since the Jews of the Old Testament
period did not necessarily consider all of the generations when constructing
a chronology. This is due partly to their not having the concept
of a grandson. Since Usher based his calculations on the the chronologies,
he came up with a universe that is extremely young. Baptists would
do well to allow this question to be asked in that Usher's Chronology cannot
be accepted as Scripture no matter who argues it's validity. That
being the case, the universe may be much more ancient.
~ Genesis 1:1,11,24,26-27; 2:21-23; Exodus 20:11 |
| The
Fall Of Man |
The Bible makes it clear
that man was created in innocence by his Maker, but voluntary transgressed,
thus, falling from what was a sinless state. As a result, the consequence
is that all human beings are born with a sinful nature.
An interesting facet of the
first sin has to do with that of the text where Adam finds Eve having already
eaten of the fruit (not an apple) from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and
Evil. What would have happened had he refused to follow her lead
in committing the sin of disobeying God? It is not conjecture to
conclude that God would have cast Eve out of the Garden of Eden where she
would have died in her sin. Without Adam, she would not have been
able to reproduce so no human race outside of Eden would have developed.
Conversely, God would have given Adam another wife with whom he would have
children, thus, resulting in a sinless human race.
However, the Biblical account
states that Adam did indeed go along with Eve.
Satan is wiley. His
strategy of getting to Eve first was obviously very effective. Adam
may have ignored Satan but how could he ignore this beautiful female creature
that God had created for his pleasure? She seduced him to sin.
Can anyone deny that the visual nature of males is still their nemisis?
Even Jesus pointed this out when he severely warned that any man who even
looks at a woman with lust in his heart has already committed adultry with
her in his mind. Satan knew exactly what he was doing when he tempted
Eve into falling first. Thus, both were cast out of Eden and, as
a result, they gave birth to a race of sinful men who have always considered
themselves masters of the Earth with little evidence to show that they
have yet totally mastered themselves.
~ Genesis 3:1-6,& 24 |
| The
Redemption of Man |
The Creator has never been
willing to leave His creation to itself. Instead, the fall of man
in Genesis 3 is followed by God's promise to send a Redeemer who would
be born of "the seed of the woman (a biological impossibility, thus, indicating
a virgin birth)."
The Old Testament contains
a multitude of prophecies regarding this Redeemer Messiah. In fact,
scientific study has concluded that whoever could fulfill all of those
prophecies would do so at the rate of chance being one out of twenty-eight
to the tenth power (Science Speaks, Moody Press). When that number
is written out it is past human comprehension.
However, Jesus did it.
He fulfilled every single prophecy concerning the Messiah. He is
the Christ.
Without God's intervention
in redeeming those who accept Christ as their Saviour, men and women are
condemned. God does not condemn them. It is they who condemn
themselves by rejecting God's gift of eternal life.
Thus, the end result, is
that God will one day gather around Him all the redeemed of the ages.
This time, instead of sinless beings who never knew a moment without being
in His favor, he will be surrounded by those who chose to love and serve
Him. Their worship will come from the depths of their souls and,
despite the arguments of the skeptics and the ravings of those who are
antagonistic toward the God of the Bible, He is worthy of that praise and
He shall indeed have it.
~ Romans 1:18-20; Galatians 3:22 |
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