I was taught these theories in 10th grade biology in 1967; apparently public schools quit presenting biblical creation a short time thereafter. I remember, after hearing them that I could believe neither of them, as they were too fantastic and unrealistic for me to accept.
I was 16, and not very scholarly, but I did articulate the above as I considered those theories.
My unresolved thoughts on the matter of creation were on a shelf in my mind until at age 53-54 I read through the Bible. I was born again and was given faith to believe in biblical creation.
I linked a 22-page pdf below, therein, I wrote about the covenants of the Bible to argue against the tenets of the Baha’i Faith. I linked it, because it is very relevant to the video of this post. It is for those who might want more.
Biblical Creation VS Evolution, by Pastor Patrick Hines
The following highlights are from the initial 16 minutes of his 40-minute sermon. It covers his introduction. Thereafter he began to discuss scripture from Colossians and Hebrews. I listened to the sermon a few times; it is well worth hearing many times until one clearly understands what he says.
[The link at the end of this post is to Pastor Hines’ Sermon Audio site, the page with all the series he has preached. He has preached on the Bible and works such as the Canons of Dort….]
[Bracketed statements, emboldening and underscoring are mine.]
- No section of the Bible has been more heavily attacked than Gen. 1-11 from inside and outside the church
- The Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles accepted and believed Genesis 1-11 as real, literal, actual history as seen in their discussions of Adam, the flood, Jonah, etc.
- The world history in Gen 1-11 is the foundation on which every other doctrine of the Christian faith rests
- Doctrines such as: marriage, Gen 2; the fall and need for redemption, Gen 3; the promised gospel and need of grace, Gen 3; the Sabbath day, Gen 2; major people groups and where they lived, Gen 10; origin of human language, Gen 11; that animals and plants reproduce after their own kind, Gen 1; that man is created in the image of God and has dignity above that of animals, Gen 1; that there is a covenant of works man is obliged to keep, Gen 2; the pain of childbirth, Gen 3; origin of physical death, Gen 3….
- The above points and others are why atheists attack Gen 1-11
- The questions addressed in scriptures from Gen 1-11 include: From where did everything come? What purpose does the universe have? Who are we? Whose are we?
- Anyone who believes that there are religious as well as non-religious ways of answering the above questions, doesn’t understand them
- The origin of the universe was / is not open to scientific inquiry or investigation; questions surrounding creation / origins cannot be answered scientifically by man unless someone invents a time machine
- Joe Morecraft, in his commentary on the Westminster Larger Catechism, wrote: Scientific investigation and human experience can tell us nothing since no human being was then present; therefore, the theory of evolution does not have the competence to explain the origin of life; its basis, that matter in its undeveloped state has existed eternally, is a totally indemonstrable assumption based on blind faith, not on reason, experience, or scientific investigation
- Only God, who was present at the beginning, can provide an account of how and why He created the universe and He has done that in His special revelation, the Bible
- Even if an observer had witnessed God creating the universe, he couldn’t explain it apart from God’s interpretation
- God taunts rebellious man who seeks to understand our origins apart from His word, as in Job 38
- Our culture believes that there is a scientific way of looking at origins; and people commonly think that the evolutionary worldview is not religious, but that biblical creationism is
- Questions and answers regarding the origins and purpose of mankind are inherently religious
- Because the way in which you answer such questions will be based entirely upon your worldview; question such as: Does God exist? What is real? Does reality only consist of matter or is there a supernatural realm? Are there moral absolutes? Does history have purpose and meaning? What is man’s duty and purpose in life?
- Your answers to such questions comprise your worldview
- None of the above questions can be answered scientifically
- Creationism and evolution are theories of origins on equal footing in the sense that both are religious in nature, neither is scientific; neither is open to scientific investigation
- No one ever observed matter coming into existence; no one ever observed the formation of a new species
- In the sixth grade, he was taught that life originated in a little warm pond…
- There is no neutrality regarding the above questions; even an agnostic has to take a position
- Mankind is inherently religious and worldview oriented, he wants to believe and embrace something and will attempt to live consistently with those beliefs he embraces [a list of historical facts that support this statement]
- If you’re Presbyterian, you may know that the Presbyterian USA assembly strayed from the Bible to the social gospel; a couple of generations later, they embraced abortion rights, gay marriage…
- Ideas have consequences, and nothing has greater consequences than beliefs about the following questions: Is there a God? Has He spoken to us? Has He revealed himself to us? Who are we? What are we? Why are we here? Is there a purpose in existence?
- If God created the universe, then it has purpose [His word indicates such]
- If God created man, then he has God-given duties and purpose for which he will be held accountable
- If the universe came into existence on its own and man just happens to be an accidental byproduct of natural and physical forces, as the atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell stated, then, man has no inherent dignity and answers to no objective of right and wrong
- It is only because there is a God who created us and is in covenant with us, that we have moral obligations to love Him and others…
- We need to carefully consider the implications of our worldview
- The Bible is not a scientific textbook, yet it is historically accurate in its account of events from the beginning until the end; God revealed what He wanted us to know about Him and His creation: It conveys to us His nature and attributes; the purpose and work of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; and the God calls all to repent and believe the gospel which enables reconciliation with God
- That is, the Bible provides information that we must know in order to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever [as all souls are eternal, and those who refuse to believe the gospel will live eternally in hell, so the Bible states- just read the book of Matthew, and you will hear Jesus saying those things]
- The Bible clearly states that man was created in his current form, he did NOT evolve from some lower being; he was not an accident [the last few points are summarized in Acts 17 and in 1 Corinthians 15 by the apostle Paul]
- At this point, Pastor Hines began to discuss scriptures: Colossians 1:15-18 and Hebrews 11:1-3 as they relate to this topic
I found the above video at the YouTube site, Christian Sermons and Audio Books to which I subscribe. It is the most beneficial site I subscribe to, as he has sermons and audio books by great preachers of the past as well as current. The following link is to his video page:
https://www.youtube.com/c/stack45ny/videos
The following document took me 6 months to write; it was prepared for people I knew that belonged to the Baha’i faith and believed that Abraham, Moses and Christ each propounded a separate world religion; the document shows, by looking at the covenants of the Bible, that these three belonged to the church.
That is clear in the Bible if you understand the progression of Bible covenants which the document outlines. Even if you don’t care about the main focus of my document, reading it will help you immensely if you plan to read through the Bible, as you will have insight as to its doctrine of redemption which is central:
Covenant with Bible refs.pdf 4.2.20
When did public schools quit teaching creationism? The following link is to an article on that topic for those who would like to know:
PASTOR HINES SERMON AUDIO PAGE, HIS PREACHING SERIES:
https://www.sermonaudio.com/source_series.asp?sourceid=bridwellheightspca
Pastor Hines on Genesis and various cultural issues: