Evolution and Revelation

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 10, 1908

Evolution and Revelation

It may not be generally known to the readers of the REVIEW that there is a well-edited magazine devoted wholly to the maintenance of the old-time belief in the inspiration and the authority of the Holy Scriptures. We refer to the Bible Student and Teacher, a monthly magazine issued by the Education Committee of the Bible League of North America.

In the July number of this publication we find an article with the title, "The Theory of Evolution and False Theology," in which the doctrine of evolution is vigorously assailed, and the effect of this scientific hypothesis upon the essential doctrines of the gospel is plainly set forth. The introduction to this article includes this explanation of the real meaning of evolution:—

It may not have occurred to all that the theory of evolution and false theology are indissolubly linked together. But every scientist understands, as do also intelligent teachers of the Scriptures, that the theory of evolution is not simply a question of the origin of species, but, in its present-day application, proposes to account for everything material, from fire-mist to the perfected frame of the universe; everything animated, from the sterilized cell of lowest life to the Man of Nazareth; and everything moral, from the sensations of an amoeba to the sacred communion between God and man.

The writer declares that the theory of evolution is unscientific, and he supports this statement by the discussion of the following declarations:—

It is a suggestion, not a science.
The theory of evolution is unproved and unprovable.
Its conclusions are without premises.

Again, the writer affirms that "the theory of evolution is unscriptural," fortifying this statement by showing that "the Word nowhere warrants it," and that "at many points evolution is anti-scriptural."

The writer shows the relation between the theory of evolution and false theology by elaborating these statements:—

According to evolutionists God is a force, and those ministers who have accepted the evolutionary theory of the natural universe, have lost their personal Heavenly Father in consequence.
Evolution makes Christ only a remarkable man.
This theory makes sin essentially a virtue.
The resurrection of Christ is even more offensive to evolutionists than regeneration.
It makes the cross only a criminal mistake.
To them redemption is a misleading term.

In conclusion, the writer quotes the following paragraph as a fitting summary of the results which have already attended the acceptance of the theory of evolution.

A pantheistic god, instead of a personal God. A human savior, instead of a divine Saviour. Infallible scholarship instead of an infallible Bible. Reformation instead of regeneration. Culture instead of conversion. The natural in all things, the supernatural in nothing.

In these days when so many who ought to be defenders of the truth are weakly yielding ground to the claims of a false science, it is refreshing to read so clear an analysis of the real meaning of evolution, and so vigorous a defense of the old-fashioned gospel.