Pastors and Evolution

I am about to generalize.  I apologize in advance to those accused who are not in need of the correction I seek to offer brother to brother.  

Many pastors who were active students of the Word in the 1960s and 1970s faced two destructive forces which combined to be deadly to a belief in the account of Creation as given in the scriptures.

The first force was that of the popularization of the theory of evolution itself.  While the theory was postulated before this time, it was during this time when the scientific community first made a cohesive effort to convince everyone that the theory was now an established fact which any reasonable person had to accept .

The second force was that of liberal exegetes who in that time were the darlings of nearly every publishing company and magazine editor.  Almost everything in the Bible that went beyond the bounds of simple reason was explained away.  The creation account was one of the first things to go.

Essentially every educated person they read said the same thing.  Whether they were Christian or Atheist, everyone together dismissed the miraculous and with it the creation account as recorded in Genesis.  Educated modernists simply could not be taken seriously if admitting to believing in such a magnificent account of how things came to be.

These arguments were new enough on the scene that there were not many resources available to argue against them if if one wished to or felt compelled to.  Oh, there were some who simply believed based on faith and were willing to be called fools. But most could not stand firm in the onslaught.

These pastors did not have the benefit of skilled exegetes who would show how the language of Genesis could and even should be taken quite literally.  There were faithful exegetes but not ones who had been given the necessary time to thoroughly respond to all of the liberal exegetes’ attacks on the text.

These pastors also did not have the benefit of the apologetic efforts of scientists who would readily cast doubt upon the theory of evolution through scientific observation.  They did not have groups like Answers In Genesis and the Institute for Creation Research who would popularize arguments that would demonstrate that science was not the enemy of belief but its ready companion.

I understand that my belief in the historicity in Genesis was aided by having access to exegetical resources which aimed to defend the common interpretation of the book of Genesis throughout time.   I understand that it was made steady by the defenses of creation by many scientists dedicated to showing God’s hand in nature.  But I still contend that my belief is truly based in faith worked by the Spirit that the Word of God is true and communicates to us the true history of our world.

I say, “Blessed are those of you who believed without the aid of the things my peers and I have blessedly been gifted with in our day.”  To those who did not persevere, I urge you to reconsider.  Take a look at the things that are now available.  I know it will be hard to turn now from beliefs you have accepted throughout the years.  But remember this, there is never shame in returning to a firmer belief in the Word of God and its perfect nature.