Chapter 5Creation and

Evolution

Pocket handbook of Christian apologetics (2003)Peter Kreeft & Ronald Tacelli

A lot could be said - here Kreeft addresses 5 essential questions:1. Is creation possible?2. What difference does creation make?3. Is evolution possible?4. What difference does evolution make?5. Does evolution contradict creation?

Is creation possible?

Initially the idea (of Jew and Christians) that the universes came out of nothing was thought absurd and irrational by Greeks as, “out of nothing nothing comes”.The response goes like this:1. That is a law of nature - but the laws of nature cannot bind the transcendent creator of nature.

2. All nature and powers in nature are finite - God is infinite - an infinite power can produce the infinite change from nonbeing to being3. The idea of God creating out of nothing is not irrational as it does not claim that anything came into being without rational cause. God did not pop into existence and nature had an adequate cause - God!

2. What difference does the doctrine of creation make?

The doctrine of creation affects the way we think about God, if he is creator then he must be:1. Infinitely powerful2. Immeasurably wise3. A great artist4. Totally generous (since the all sufficient perfect being couldn’t have created out of need)

It also affects our concept of nature. If nature is created by God then it is:1. Intelligible (notably science arose in the theistic west not the pantheistic east)2. Good (Christians have rejected as heresy Gnosticism and Manichaeism) 3. Real (eastern religion has often rejected nature as an unreal illusion created by unenlightened consciousness)

Definition: Gnosticism was a second century heresy claiming that salvation could be gained through secret knowledge. Gnosticism is derived from the Greek word gnosis, meaning "to know."Gnostics also believed that the material world (matter) is evil and that only the spirit is good. They constructed an evil God and beings of the Old Testament to explain the creation of the world (matter), and considered Jesus Christ a wholly spiritual God.

Definition: Manichaeism (Manicheeism) is a dualistic, gnostic, faith based on the teachings of the third century Parthian prophet Mani (the "Apostle of Light"). Manichaeism, which holds that there is a struggle between good and evil, darkness and light, shows influences of other religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism. Redemption is possible through an ascetic life.

Definition: Gnosticism was a second century heresy claiming that salvation could be gained through secret knowledge. Gnosticism is derived from the Greek word gnosis, meaning "to know."Gnostics also believed that the material world (matter) is evil and that only the spirit is good. They constructed an evil God and beings of the Old Testament to explain the creation of the world (matter), and considered Jesus Christ a wholly spiritual God.

The doctrine of creation affects the way we view ourselves. If we owe our existence to God then:1. We have no rights over God - how can a character have rights over the author of the book they appear in?2. Our existence is meaningful as we have been put here by God rather than being the product of evolution3. If we are made by God, we owe him everything.

Is evolution possible?

There is great difference of opinion between scientists and philosophers as to whether evolution is possible - does the nature of species make it an impossibility? There are many on each side who are totally convinced as to their own point of view.God is more than capable of making a world where species evolve from each other by natural means - we have to acknowledge that it is possible.

The question for theologians and scientists is did it happen, did evolution take place?Kreeft suggests that it is undecided and then goes further to suggest that the theory of evolution is in trouble at this time - but gives no evidence to support this view.

What difference does evolution make?

Kreeft deals with 3 meanings of evolution:1. Evolution is simply a theory about what happened - more complex species appeared on earth as shown by the fossil record.2. Evolution is a theory about how this happened - by natural selection, the survival of the fittest.3. Evolution is the absence of design - no God was involved in the process.

Kreeft suggests idea 3 is not scientific theory, it is philosophical and theological. Ideas 1 and 2 are evolution in the scientific sense.If we evolved by chance - our lives have no overarching meaning, no plan of God upon them. Meaning, purpose and values have to be invented for ourselves without any reference to a higher authority or standard. What you personally desire then determines what set of ethics you choose.

Kreeft, “There is no logical contradiction between Gen 1:1 and the thought that once species were here on earth they evolved by natural selection.”Science is like studying the inner ecology of a fishbowl; the Bible is like a letter from the person who set up the fishbowl. The two ideas are not exclusive - and can easily include or suggest each other.

Kreeft says Gen 1:24 does not suggest each species was created individually by God but that the earth brought them forth.Evolution based on observable science does not know if, or if not, there is a creator or designer behind it. (Kreeft says: “though the evidence suggests design”)Again Kreeft suggests there is no logical problem with saying the soul (image of God) is breathed into us by God and the fact that scientists suggest our body evolving from lower forms - he says Gen 2:7 suggest this double origin:

Kreeft says Gen 1:24 does not suggest each species was created individually by God but that the earth brought them forth.Evolution based on observable science does not know if, or if not, there is a creator or designer behind it. (Kreeft says: “though the evidence suggests design”)Again Kreeft suggests there is no logical problem with saying the soul (image of God) is breathed into us by God and the fact that scientists suggest our body evolving from lower forms - he says Gen 2:7 suggest this double origin:

Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and

breathed into his nostrils the breath of

life, and the man became a living being.

Does evolution contradict creation?

The universe was created by God - if he did not create it there was nothing else for it to evolve from, and not any time in which for this to happen.But what about life evolving? Did God create organic life directly or from inorganic life by a natural process? Kreeft argues that there would appear to be no certainty here.

He goes on to say as human life is organic then God could have allowed its development by natural selection. In comparison to creating the whole universe doing this would be a very small task for God. Again Kreeft suggests that nothing we know from God or nature says that this could not have taken place, but that also direct creation could have occurred too.

The soul could not have evolved - spirit cannot come from matter. No matter what molecular lineup you have you cannot get thought, consciousness, reason etc. from bits of matter. The knowledge of a thing is not one of the things parts - it is transcendent to the thing, coming from without.