MAKING SENSE OF THE CREATION EVOLUTION DEBATE

A critique by Andy Hanson

Note: This critique was shortened and framed in the larger context of a series of Hope Channel evangelistic efforts being produced by the Adventist Church. It can be viewed on the Spectrum Blog, thanks to its editor, Alexander Carpenter. The following is my extended critique of the five presentations alone.

Watching this series was a painful experience. For starters, the production values were abysmal—the audience never learned the name of the man who introduced the participants each evening, the camera work could only be rated “inexperienced amateur”, and the content of the five, ninety-minute broadcasts belied their promised titles.

Neither speaker appeared comfortable with their almost extemporaneous, tag team presentation of information. Timothy Standish babbled excitedly about the wonders of nature, and Ron Clouzet’s presentations were a jumble of theological and scientific references. He spoke when only a biblical worldview could satisfactorily establish what really happened.

Darwin was quoted often. His words revealed him to be very aware of the problems his evolutionary theory presented to the scientific community. He did not speculate about the origin of life, and only published The Origin of the Species after years of consulting with the leading scientific minds of his day. These honest reflections and carefully worded letters were used by the speakers to diminish Darwin’s credibility.

As I reread my notes, I have come to the conclusion that people who weren’t in attendance may think I’m overly critical. If you come to this conclusion, I suggest that you order this series of lectures and see for yourselves. It will be available in about six weeks. Email understandingcreation@gmail.com

Wednesday, May 4

THE WAY WE WERE: GOD AND THE BIG BANG

My title: Poetry is Science?

Notes:

• The Big Bang theory was competently explained and then discredited by an appeal to logic.
• The literal seven-day creation story was treated as fact.
• Creation of the earth, sun, and moon took place in six literal twenty-four hour days.
• When the stars were created was a matter of speculation. (There was no mention of the Genesis 2 creation story.)
• It was assumed that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible at God’s direction.
• There are a myriad of reasons, scientifically, to support the notion that our world is a very unique and special place.

Thursday, May 5

THE LIFE OF CREATURES: WONDER AND TROUBLE IN PARADISE

My title: Literal Confusion

Notes:

• All viewer questions considered were of the “softball variety”.
• Differences between accepted scientific conclusions and the literal words of the Bible are due to misinterpretations of the Biblical text.
• A Biblical world view takes into account supernatural acts and is therefore “unrestricted”
• Evolution requires periods of impossible “spontaneous generation”.
• How life began requires a “theological explanation” for both evolutionists and creationists.
• There is a difference between theoretical Macro Evolution and observable Micro Evolution.
• The earth was created 6000 years ago.
• The biblical account of the Universal Flood is factual. (It was not mentioned that, according to the biblical chronology, the Flood occurred around 2500 BC.)
• Basic animal “kinds” entered the Ark in pairs. (No mention was made of another account in Genesis 7.)
• According to Standish, the Arc was “a very big boat”.
• Waters above the earth and beneath the earth combined to cover the entire world.
• It is possible that a miraculous wind evaporated enough water so that dry land finally appeared.
• According to Clouzet, “There are a number of things we don’t have an explanation for.”
• The humility of Moses is required as believers seek to understand other worldviews.

Friday, May 6

GENES AND GENIES: WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT WE DON’T

My title: Gee Wiz!

Notes:

• Viewers with questions regarding race and repopulation of the earth after the flood are told that Abraham lived 500 years after the flood.
• Standish dazzles with stories about the incredible biology of life and gets carried away. This leaves Clouzet very little time to make his theological contribution.
• “It’s incredible!”; “It’s amazing!” are a frequent refrains.
• Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, still didn’t understand why things happen the way they do.
• Clouzet: “It takes trust to figure out what we don’t understand.”

Saturday, May 7

THE FLOOD AND THE FOSSILS: RECORD OF A LOST WORLD

My title: Lost in Geologic Time

Notes:

• Early on, it was clear that neither Standish nor Clouzet knew what they are talking about.
• Apropos quote: “Don’t always believe people who speak with great confidence.”
• ‘There’s not much chance that you will meet Darwin in Heaven.” (That is almost a direct Standish quote.)
• The geologic column is like a layer cake.
• The Grand Canyon’s exposed, extensive, unbroken sedimentary layers are evidence of a recent universal flood.
• There is very little evidence of life in the Precambrian period.
• Radio carbon dating is explained and critiqued. (No other dating method was mentioned.)
• (There was no discussion of the age of dinosaurs, Neanderthals, evidence of primitive homo sapiens, genetic history, oil fields, or plate tectonics.)

Sunday, May 8

FATHER GOD OR MOTHER EARTH: THE PROBLEM OF EVIL AND A LOVING GOD

My title: Blind Guides

Notes:

• A disclaimer from Standish: “We are not archeologists, physicists, or geologists.”
• “You’ve all seen the Discovery Channel.”
• God’s creative power is revealed in nature because most natural things are “happy and cooperating”.
• “No one can find out God from beginning to end.”
• Herbivores are “good” animals and remain pretty much as God created them.
• Sin turned some animals into “bad” animals like carnivores—a picture of serrated shark tooth flashes on the screen.
• “Rational people are unsettled by violence in the natural world.”
• Darwin was influenced by Milton’s deistic tendencies in Paradise Lost.
• “Darwin wrote about a God he didn’t understand.”
• “Everyone has a religion, even atheists.”
• “Science has no position regarding evil.”

The folks at ADRA are hard to impress.

Modified from the comic Dilbert, by Scott Adams
(click to enlarge)

Reviewing the Adventist Review

April 28, 2011

Vol. 188, No. 13

http://www.adventistreview.org/issue_toc.php?issue=2011-1512

GENERAL COMMENTS

This issue will offend no one. It’s full of good advice, and includes a bit of fascinating Adventist History, FATHER JOSEPH BATES, and a mission story, A CLOSE CALL, that almost never was. I also suggest a careful reading of the accreditation story detailed in World News and Perspectives.

WORLD NEWS AND PERSPECTIVES

La Sierra University is being subjected to scrutiny by the Adventist Accrediting Association regarding what the headline calls “Faithfulness to [the] Church’s Creation Belief.

In Bermuda, Adventist lay member Scott Smith has made the suggestion that churches shut their doors for a month and pastors and members take their ministry to gang members and their families.

The ADRA Board met on April 6 to acquaint themselves with the issues surrounding the agencies reorganization. Two new committees were established: a working committee to “consider the defining elements of ADRA, and a standing committee to oversee the group’s bylaws. “Questions about which level of governance—executive officers or the ADRA Board—was the right one to determine reductions in force had circulated since the February announcement” and has yet to be determined. A June financial report and future transparency in decision making were promised.

REVIEWS

In OUT OF THE PICTURE, Gerald Klingbeil makes his argument for “real” church attendance.

“Don’t get me wrong: we are blessed with wonderful preachers and their easily accessible messages. However, church is not virtual. Church is people and fellowship and warm embraces, and yes—also somebody stepping on my toes. Church is local because that’s where our mission is. Church is a snapshot full of people—and when some are on their way out or even missing, the picture is not complete.”

SWEET TO THE SOUL is Kimberly Luste Maran’s encounter with suicide that has become a constant reminder “to be kinder and gentler with people, for I don’t know what they might be suffering with on the inside”.

Norman R. Gulley takes issue with anyone who argues that the Bible teaches predestination in WHO DOES THE CHOOSING?

“Jesus cried out to God in an utter sense of God-forsakenness. All human sin, yours and mine, plunged Him into that awful agony. In the depths of death the traditional divine decree is shattered, and replaced. It is not God who does the choosing—electing some, rejecting the rest; He chose to die for all. So all humans can elect or reject His gift. This stands predestination on its head and refutes the challenge of the great controversy. God respects human freedom to choose. What awesome love!”

STAYING SANE AMID INSTABILITY

Delbert Baker provides “a spiritual, responsible approach; an approach that is proactive versus reactive”.

1. Deliberately affirm your faith, not your fears.
2. Carefully watch world events (Matt. 24:42) and allow the signs that validate Christ’s words to affirm the sovereignty of God over the affairs of nations.
3. Responsibly ask why these events are taking place.
4. Know for yourself what Bible prophecies say about end-time events. Don’t depend on someone else’s interpretation. Study the books of Daniel and Revelation regarding the times in which we are living (Rev. 5. Embrace the empowering promise of the Holy Spirit’s presence to bring about revival and reformation in your life, and in the life of the worldwide church family.

THE SEVENTH DAY: IT'S MORE THAN A NAME--IT'S A MISSION. Denis Fortin explains.

“Seventh-day Adventists keep the Sabbath because God is our Creator, our Redeemer, and because we believe in His promise of a new earth. The Sabbath is our weekly reminder of His work of creation and redemption. Our name proclaims this beautiful message, a message of salvation and healing to be proclaimed “to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people” (Rev. 14:6).”

Nathan G. Thomas writes about the very first Seventh-day Adventist, FATHER JOSEPH BATES.

“It would be hard to overestimate the significance of this great man in the founding of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. With his energy and influence in the initial foundational period, and with his complete acceptance of Ellen White as a prophet, Seventh-day Adventism was given the jump-start it needed to succeed as a denomination.

TURNING METAL TO FLESH

Dateline Moscow: Editor Andrew McChesney’s Christian tolerance and courtesy is on the line! The newsroom is sympathetic but silent. Will virtue prevail?

“My newspaper’s managing editor called me just as I woke up. He said one of the world’s largest metals companies had called to complain about an article on the front page of that day’s issue.

“ ‘They asked for your cell phone number, but I refused to give it to them,’ ” he told me. “ ‘Can you call back their representative, Ilya?’ ”

“Now I was fully awake. The Russian-owned company in question has a hard-nosed reputation that makes journalists shudder. A phone call inevitably means a long-winded complaint and a demand for a correction or a retraction. Standing up to the company can lead to consequences. One of our reporters once bypassed the company’s press office to track down factory workers for comment, and company management blacklisted the newspaper for a year, stonewalling all questions.”

A CLOSE CALL is Lamar Phillips’ story about God's ability to use our efforts in ways He sees best. It’s a mission story that begins with his car stalled on train tracks in front of an onrushing train!

ETC. BOOKMARK is a book review of “The Case for the Investigative Judgment” (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2010), 350 pages, US$19.99, reviewed by Gerhard Pfandl, Ph.D., associate director of the Biblical Research Institute, General Conference of 
Seventh-day Adventists. Marvin Moore, longtime editor of Signs of the Times, responds to objections of critics, showing that the investigative judgment is in fact a biblical teaching.

THE PUMPKIN PIE INCIDENT by Marvene Thorpe-Baptiste that answers the question, “Does God really care about the mundane things in our lives?”

The GC In Executive Session

Modified from the comic Non Sequitur, by Wiley
(click to enlarge)

BRI Research Proves Invaluable

Modified from the comic Dilbert, by Scott Adams
(click to enlarge)

Reviewing the Adventist Review

April 21, 2011

Vol. 188, No. 12

www.adventistreview.org/issue_toc.php?issue=2011-1511

GENERAL COMMENTS

If you give this issue a cursory read, it’s strengths and weaknesses pretty much define official Adventist orthodoxy. But a closer reading provides hints that progressive Adventists are not regarded as goats in another pasture. That said, I do have a reaction to the Goldstein essay.

WORLD NEWS AND PERSPECTIVES

PENTICOST AND MORE is still going strong. So far this year, 62,542 new members have joined the Adventist Church in the Inter-American Division.

Washington Adventist University has established a new campus on the property of Atlantic Union College, whose accreditation ends July 31.

The European Court of Human Rights has affirmed the right of Italy’s public schools to display crucifixes in classrooms.

Andrew University student, Ryan McCabe, painted full-length, life-sized portraits of 20 “high priority” children as determined by Compassion International www.compassion.com and scheduled a public showing of his work. All the children were sponsored within 24 hours! All sponsors received the portrait of “their child”.

Hugh Martin, Composer and Del Delker’s Accompanist, died on March 11 at his home in Encinitas, California. He was 96.

REVIEWS

In THE GREAT DIVIDE, E. Edward Zinke makes the following suggestion: “As we celebrate the passion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, let’s open our lives to its transforming power.”

MOVED BY THE SPIRIT by Stephen Chavez is a reminder about the way the Holy Spirit finds its way into our everyday experiences.

“The Holy Spirit has a way of reaching out and grabbing us in most unusual, unpredictable ways: sometimes in a line from a sermon or lyric from a top-40 song on the car radio; in a scene from an old movie or from a Bible verse previously unnoticed dozens of times; in the fragment of a dream or a reflection in the mirror while brushing your teeth. The Holy Spirit isn’t confined to a particular setting, nor does everyone experience the Spirit the same way.

“If there’s a secret to experiencing the Holy Spirit, it’s not to compare your experience with anyone else’s, but to be open to His leading.”

PERHAPS...IT IS THE RIGHT DECISION is both a statement and a spiritual philosophy for Martin Proebstle.

“My “perhaps” concerning the future is rooted in my trust in God in the present. Thus “perhaps” is not a sign of insecurity or of doubting God’s willingness to save, or even less God’s existence. It is in fact a sign of reliance and dependence on God; exactly because I realize my myopia in many life situations.”

BUZZING ABOUT THE BEEHIVE by Gina Wahlen reports on the Beehive ministries.

“The Beehive is currently focusing on six projects, ranging from the Daniel Challenge to thrift stores to Christian consulting services. In addition to the six ongoing projects, the ministry is also involved in two international mission projects—the creation of agricultural schools in India and Haiti.

A CHECKLISH FOR CHRISTIANS by Mike Jones includes his personal moral checklist.

1. My checklist reminds me to seek first the kingdom of God before I check the weather report, read the paper, or pray about other matters.
2. Going to the cross does amazing things for me. When I personalize looking at Jesus hanging on the cross (I do this with 1 Peter 2:24), my old compulsions and obsessions have less control over me. I receive the amazing new life that Jesus promised.
3. Getting a new heart enables me to love more fully as Jesus loved, and obtaining the mind of Christ gives me the software to think correctly and reprogram the hardware that is my messed-up brain.
4. Knowing I have received both power over “all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19) and wisdom (James 1:5) gives me far more courage to face my day than if I hadn’t obtained these gifts.
5. For me, being “changed into a different person” (1 Sam. 10:6) every day is huge—a wonderful new way to live the Christian life. I don’t become a nicer person; I become a different person.
6. Nothing beats heading into the war zone of each new day knowing that I’m fully protected by “the shield of faith” (Eph. 6:16). With the “sword of the Spirit” (God’s Word) (verse 17) in my mouth I can even win my battles because “the Lord will fight for [me]” (Ex. 14:14).
7. With Jeremiah (“When Your words came, I ate them” [Jer. 15:16]), I “eat” Jesus’ promises every day and ingest His love, wisdom, grace, and power into my life. Think about the implications of having Galatians 2:20 become your reality rather than just words: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

Hyveth Williams knows what has to happen to get A TASTE OF NEW WINE!

“Let’s not be afraid to step up for a taste of new wine! Even as an institution we must be willing to say, as did Zacchaeus upon receiving Christ, if our church has taken anything from anyone by false accusation or by silence in the presence of sin, we will restore it fourfold” (see Luke 19:8). Just as the new wine of an experience of Christ cannot be put into the old container of a selfish character, neither can reformation and revival be forced into the old wineskin of a church that has not recognized and repented of the corporate sins of racism, legalism, and exclusivism, to name a few.”

THE PRAYER OF A PROPHET: COME, LORD JESUS

During the 1903 General Conference session held in Oakland, California, Ellen White offered the following heartfelt prayer just before delivering a morning talk titled “Unity of Effort.” In this excerpt we see a deep longing for the Holy Spirit to work among people.

“O my Savior, Thou who has shown compassion to us all, again we ask Thee to grant unto us a rich portion of Thy mercy, Thy fullness, Thy compassion, Thy everlasting love. Come, Lord Jesus, and make us partakers of Thy divine nature, that we may overcome the corruption that is in the world through lust. Oh, may the Spirit of Christ, the love of God, comfort every heart this morning! Banish darkness, turn away the deceptive powers of the enemy, and let Thy voice and Thy Spirit and Thy love come into our souls, that we may sit together in heavenly places with Christ Jesus; and Thy name shall have all the glory. Amen.”

In FACING THE EASTERN SKY, Wellington Manullang tells the story of Hatsue, a woman of childlike faith who wanted to be buried facing east so she could be “one of the first to Jesus when He appears”.

Andy Nash shares a unique perspective in ANOINTED ONE.

“A study of the anointing of Jesus with nard perfume followed by His triumphal entry on a colt into Jerusalem can be beautifully enhanced with nard itself. I ordered pure spikenard oil from www.victorie-inc.us (a very small amount costs $13.95). During a worship service we dispensed the perfume with diffuser lamps throughout the room for a beautiful experience. We found it deeply meaningful to realize that Jesus would likely have smelled like nard the entire final week of His life, giving off the fragrance of royalty wherever He went.”

THE FIT OF THE DRESS is important to Wilona Karimabadi.

“No two of us are the same—and that was His design because the Lord knows how to meet us exactly where we are. We need only to be open to the many ways He can reach us and teach us to learn all that we can from Him. And there are many methods to try, and more ways than we can fathom for the blessings of the Lord to fall on us.”

COMMENT

In A SAFE PLACE Cliff Goldstein expounds on his position concerning Adventism and evolution.

“As I have said numerous times: Adventism and evolution are mutually exclusive. If one is true, the other is false. Ergo, you can be an Adventist or an evolutionist, but not both. Our name, Seventh-day Adventist, implies a rejection of any creation story that’s premised not on the six days before the seventh but on eons of evolutionary hell.

"Because I’ve taken this unyielding position on what’s an unyieldable position, I’ve been accused—both in the flesh and in the fleshly androgyny of cyberspace—of advocating that anyone who believes in evolution ought to be thrown out of the church.

“That’s false. What I’ve said is that it’s hard to see how anyone who believes in evolution would want to be in this church…Evolution is an acid that erodes everything it touches. That would include the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14, which have the central theme of creation and redemption, two truths nullified by evolution, even a “theistic” kind. (Who’d want to worship a theos who created like that, anyway?)”

In this piece Cliff opines that Adventism should be a “safe place” for individuals to struggle with evolutionary ideas. Bravo! Unfortunately, he implies that anyone who rejects the idea of a literal six-day creation or does not believe that “the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14 [are] the central theme of creation” have no reason to call themselves Adventists.

His parting shot at Christian evolutionists “(Who’d want to worship a theos who created like that, anyway?)” is personal rhetoric. I, like Job, am unable to comprehend why things are as they are. However, I love the beauty and infinite complexity of this world, and I can worship the ”theos” that caused it no matter how it was created.

Rib Removal Leads to Loss of Paradise.

From Non Sequitur, by Wiley
(click image to enlarge)