ATHEIST FOUNDATION OF AUSTRALIA INC

BIBLE THEOLOGY AND EVOLUTION

by Keith S Cornish

Except for the fact that the Biblical story of creation is fundamental to Christianity one would not put such stupid and childish nonsense on paper. That so many people accept Christianity demonstrates the low level of scientific knowledge, general apathy and/or that people are unaware of the basis of their professed beliefs.

Evolution includes not only the evolution of plant and animal life on earth but also the evolution of the universe and therefore the evolution of the earth itself. In no way can Biblical creation be made compatible with the process of evolution and this is recognised by fundamentalists. There are two schools of Christian theology

(1) the Fundamentalists (*Church of God, Adventists, etc.) who hold the Bible to be the inspired word of God and therefore, no matter what the geological palaentological or other records show, it alone must be accepted as factual and
(2) the other group who, while proclaiming the Bible to be the word of God, are prepared to concede that when it is contrary to factual knowledge they are willing to compromise.

The latter group (2) while recognising that evolution, and not Biblical Creation is responsib1e for the existence of the earth and its contents, still professes to believe in a religion based on the Genesis story of creation. They claim that death only became a fact with the 'fall of man' despite the overwhelming evidence that the death of organisms has been occurring since living matter appeared on earth.

Christians believe that God who is 'without body, parts or passion' (“Westminster Confession of Faith”) at a specific moment of time (before it existed) made up his mind (which he' didn't have) to create the universe out of nothing and populated one small speck of the universe with everything with everything from the death-dealing viruses to the dinosaurs. It is impossible to harmonise the two conflicting creation accounts in Genesis. If 'days' mean 'indefinite periods' then vegetation existed millions of years before light was created and there were three days and nights (evenings and mornings) before the sun was created. Heaven, with sun, moon and stars, was close enough to be reached by Jacob's ladder and close enough for God to smell the 'sweet odours of sacrifice'.

The inspired Biblical writers had no idea that the sun was the centre of our system when they spoke of the sun standing still and even moving backwards, as a guarantee that a fig-poultice would cure Hezekiah's boil.

The fossil record shows that animal and plant life was not created in one specific act but developed over an enormous period of time and as in new deserts, the process has extended into the era of humans.

Christians believe their god made the birds with their beautiful plumage and wonderful nests but overlook the dowdy birds and almost non­existent nests. The Great Designer would also be responsible for the cuckoos who build no nests but destroy the eggs of other birds and substitute their own. He would also be responsible for designing the New Zealand kea with the beak and special knowledge to enable it to tear open the back of sheep to get at the kidney fat. The dying agony of the sheep is of no concern to the all-loving Creator.'

The death and destruction which occurs in nature is a real dilemma for Christians for it is only when one ascribes it to a 'Great Architect' that it becomes a moral problem and 'God' is indicted.

If sufficiently brainwashed, it is possible for a Christian to think of the myriad of insects as having been 'put on earth for a purpose' without considering the morality of a Creator who designed things to injure and destroy food and other valuable commodities as well as killing humans with typhus, polio, smallpox etc. It is a real 'sock in the eye' for the Christian god that humans have wiped small-pox from the face of the earth.

The fact that the most numerous form of organisms on earth are the parasites is another insoluble problem for those who believe in a loving Creator, for the obvious 'purpose' of free living organisms is to provide food and shelter for parasites. Some are specially 'designed' to cause horrific suffering and equipped with wonderful instincts to enable them to successfully invade their hosts. Of course it is possible to say that all living organisms were afflicted by the Christian god because of Adam's sin but that implies a fiendish god.

Most animals have vestigial structures and organs and that has caused headaches for the creationists since it suggests faulty handiwork on the part of the Creator who planned everything.

The story of the Ark poses another problem for the creationists. If the story were true then the remains of humans and their artefacts would be together with the remains of all other creatures in the one and only fossil layer. This is not so. There is a progression in the fossil layers from the primitive to the sophisticated with many different humanoid types so the Christian god had many attempts before he succeeded and even since then there has been an evolutionary progression in mental ability, etc. The age of humankind is not the 6,000 years of the Bible record but the fossil record of almost three million years.

The Catholic Church admits that humans evolved but declares that at some stage in their development, was given a soul or spirit but is unable to say what a soul is or just when each person receives their soul. It cannot be at the moment of fertilisation because identical twins resulting from division of the one egg would only have half a soul each or maybe identical souls.

EVOLUTION CAN WITHSTAND ANY INVESTIGATION - CREATIONISM IS FORCED TO DEPEND ON INFANT BRAINWASHING.

*The Church of God is an offshoot of the Seventh Day Adventists

February, 1980

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