06/2003           
APrayer
of Jesus
I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise
and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will

YOUR QUESTION (No. 21)

EVOLUTION?

Evolution?  I'm astounded!  What about Matthew 19:4 "And he answered and said unto them, 'Have you not read that he who made them at the beginning made them male and female.?'"

MY ANSWER

It was about 38 years past when I had this discussion with my 12 year old son.  I was yet striving to find my way out of the mental and spiritual shackles imposed by the Southern Baptists and holding onto my anti-evolution conviction.  I was wrong and he was right.

Since then I have listened to Jesus, having resolved to claim his promise:

John.8 

[31] Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples,
[
32] and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

He has not disappointed me, though he must have been very, very patient with me through the years.  By listening to him I have learned not only the truth of evolution, but also why it had to be in some such fashion that we humans have appeared in the world.  It could not have been otherwise.  To see why I feel this way, you may want to see my articles on Jesus and Science.  

The Matthew 19:4 utterance exemplifies how Jesus spoke to the people of that century in terms they could understand, not giving them science lectures but appealing to their scriptures in ways they could not refute.  The expression "the beginning" is a direct reference to the creation process described in Genesis 1,
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
That statement is perfectly true, and in the light of evolution it becomes powerfully meaningful to the mind that has been liberated from mental constraints imposed by Christian fundamentalism.  What Genesis does not say is how long the process took to complete. Jesus made no comment on this; had he done so his hearers would have had no basis whatever for understanding him and would only have been confused.  But today we can easily understand if we have been liberated from the shackles of fundamentalism.

One thing we must not do, if we would know the Truth, is follow in the footsteps of our predecessors and attempt to glean science from Genesis, although there are things there that reveal the influence of the divine mind -- for example, that creation was a long, stepwise process during which man (male and female) did not appear until the (sixth) day of creation.  But when that writer sought to explain the details, he or she revealed utter incomprehension as to how the universe works and how it came into existence.

Six days for the creation to be finished?  (Genesis 2:1, 2; Exodus 20:11)

God separated the light from the darkness?  (Genesis 1:3)

There was evening and morning, the first day? (Genesis 1:4)

We should all agree that this separation results from the rotation of the earth as it moves about the Sun.  Since neither existed on the first day, this could not occur. The author of Genesis, not knowing anything about how the rotation of the earth causes night and day, assumed it was the result of supernatural activity as God separated the light from the darkness.  The Sun and the Moon do not appear until the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19), after the earth with all its vegetation.  The writer of Genesis knew absolutely nothing about how all the vegetation on the earth, indeed all life, is utterly dependent on the energy derived from the nuclear furnace that is the Sun.


Then there are the two contradictory descriptions of the Creation provided by Genesis 1 and 2.  Which came first, man or beast?  According to Genesis 1, the beast came first consistent with evolution; but according to Genesis 2, the man came first!  

When we attempt to understand the processes of nature by recourse to Genesis, we get into all kinds of trouble very quickly.  Jesus nevertheless verified portions by his use of it.  Matthew 19:4 is a notable example.  

Creation is an ongoing process today.  The Creator is not finished yet!  We can actually see suns and planetary systems evolving through stages elsewhere in the galaxy, showing us, first hand, how our Solar System evolved.  Evolution is not a mere theory.  We can actually see it if only we look in the right places with our eyes open.  

Jesus surely understood all of this and he knew that the creative process was ongoing  He knew that the Father has never rested from the work of creation as Genesis claims (2:1). He not only knew it, he said it:

John.5

[17] But Jesus answered them, My Father is working still, and I am working.
This powerful statement flatly contradicts Genesis 2:1  It reveals that Jesus understood the ongoing evolutionary process of which we are the current products.  They have never rested -- neither the Father nor the Son!

Matthew 19:4 is absolutely true!  We have been male and female from our beginnings.  And it is true that, if we listen most carefully to Jesus,
. . . you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
If you are so inclined, the Jesus and Science pages will provide further explanation of why I have come to see things as consistent with evolution, and as acturally requiring evolution!

Peace to you!