Jaws of Doubt

There is a creature alive today that has survived millions of years of evolution without change, without passion, and without logic. It lives to kill, a mindless eating machine. It will attack and devour anything. It is as if God created the devil, and gave him . . . jaws.

Accompanied by the now iconic score featuring the unforgettably suspenseful, low, thrumming “shark theme” (ba-dum, ba-dum!), this was the narrator’s blood-chilling opening delivery voiced in the trailer of the 1975 blockbuster movie by award-winning director Steven Spielberg: Jaws.

Even though the special effects available to the movie industry back then were lacking (so the shark was not shown very much at all), Jaws became a worldwide phenomenon in spite of (or perhaps because of) it. And it still remains one of the most gripping, edge-of-your-seat, action/horror/suspense adventures created in motion picture history.

It was highly culturally influential, and the carefully crafted trailer script undoubtedly fanned the flames of controversy surrounding the origins debate (where did we, and all we experience, come from originally?) in the multitude of minds that heard it—especially in the more Christianized West.

Put it all together: God creating Satan, Satan embodying evil in the form of a monstrous creature that will attack and devour anything, evolution creating a killing machine and therefore God “creating” a mindless eating machine devoid of mercy through the process of evolution? How does all of that somehow cohere with the loving God of the Bible?

The Dilemma of Theodicy

One can easily see the quandary posed for Christians by this narration and simply by the very real scenario of a shark attack itself. The terrifying idea of being savaged by a creature and helplessly devoured alive invoked the theological dilemma known as theodicy for Bible believers, in as visceral a way as possible.

The definition of theodicy is: “The vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil.”1 Any of life’s tragedies provoke this dilemma, which inevitably boils down to some form of the question, “Why is there death and suffering in the world if God is a loving God?”

Behind this come questions like, “Why did God create Satan—the very embodiment of evil?” “Why did God create man-eating sharks?” “Did God use evolution to create?” “If evolution is true, then does that disprove creation and/or the need for belief in the Creator?”

Evolution—The Antithesis of God

Many atheists have indeed stated that their root of disbelief in God comes from their belief in the story of evolution as true. An example comes from atheist Professor of philosophy Daniel Dennett:

The theory of evolution demolishes the best reason anyone has ever suggested for believing in a divine creator. This does not demonstrate that there is no divine creator, of course, but only shows that if there is one, it (He?) needn’t have bothered to create anything, since natural selection would have taken care of all that.2

And the veritable high priest of atheism, Professor Richard Dawkins, made the point quite clearly to Christian interviewer Howard Conder.

Conder: So, was there a defining moment where you made a decision that you didn’t believe in God?

Dawkins: Yes . . . I suppose, I switched from Christian theism to some sort of deism round about the age of fourteen or fifteen. And then switched to atheism round about the age of sixteen—fifteen, sixteen.

Conder: And was there a particular point, or something that you read, or an experience you had that said, yes this is it, God does not . . .

Dawkins: Oh well, by far the most important I suppose was understanding evolution.

He also made it clear what he thinks about Christians who attempt to marry naturalistic, evolutionary ideas with biblical Christianity (revealing that it accomplishes little as far as wooing non-believers toward a Christian worldview).

I think the evangelical Christians have really sort of got it right in a way, in seeing evolution as the enemy. Whereas the more, what shall we say, sophisticated theologians are quite happy to live with evolution, I think they are deluded. I think the evangelicals have got it right, in that there really is a deep incompatibility between evolution and Christianity, and I think I realized that at the age of about sixteen.3

A Pointy Problem

Now, atheists will often opine that the fact that there is so much death, suffering, and evil in the world proves that God does not exist. However, it should be noted that if God does not exist and the story of evolution is true, then a shark (or any other creature) killing something else is not a real tragedy; it’s simply an event.

However, it should be noted that if God does not exist and the story of evolution is true, then a shark (or any other creature) killing something else is not a real tragedy; it’s simply an event.

Except for the creature whose existence (brought about by random, chance accidents over millions of years) has been terminated, it isn’t truly a bad thing (it was apparently good for the shark), and if someone has a negative emotional response to the event, it’s simply because of their neural hardwiring brought about by their evolutionary ancestry.

Such activity certainly cannot truly be categorized as bad or evil in any true moral sense. For example, Dictionary.com defines the “law of the jungle” (what happens “in the wild”) as,

A system or mode of action in which the strongest survive, presumably as animals in nature or as human beings whose activity is not regulated by the laws or ethics of civilization.4

The Oxford English Dictionary defines “law of the jungle” in this way:

The code of survival in jungle life, now usually with reference to the superiority of brute force or self-interest in the struggle for survival.5

Obviously, sharks need to eat to survive. However, when watching Shark Week on Discovery Channel, do we categorize a great white’s activity when stalking seals as that of a “serial killer” in the way we apply that term to humans? Would we assign that category to them even when they cannibalize their own kind (which they do)? Obviously, no.

But if humans are simply evolved animals, why would the ethics involved be any different?

Evolutionary Ethics?

In the chapter discussing “natural law,” the textbook Ethics says,

Humans have a natural drive to eat, drink, sleep and procreate. These actions are in accord with a natural law for species to survive and procreate.6

Interestingly, in the movie Jaws, the shark expert (Hooper), brought in to help deal with the beast terrorizing the fictional seaside village of Amity, reiterates this natural law in a tense scene involving whether the authorities should close the beaches or not. Hooper says the following while addressing the mayor of the town (Mr. Vaughn) in an effort to convince him of the seriousness of their situation:

Mr. Vaughn, what we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, an eating machine. It’s really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks, and that’s all.

So, according to the story of evolution, sharks evolved and humans evolved. Sharks need to eat, and humans need to eat. So, what would be the logical distinction between sharks’ and humans’ “morality” in an evolutionary worldview? Someone’s “feelings” perhaps?

Think of it this way. Someone might cry while watching events unfold in a movie, even though those events aren’t real in a literal sense. They are made up—staged on purpose to elicit an emotional response. But feelings, while powerful, are completely subjective. Feelings, like people, come and go.

In an evolutionary worldview, feelings evolved like everything else to provide some sort of survival advantage. And if the only reason an atheist can cite for categorizing something as tragic, wrong, or evil is their feelings, that means it’s all just part of a naturalistic experience that ultimately has no real significance whatsoever.

So how can someone declare that the existence of evil proves God doesn’t exist, if evil itself doesn’t exist if God doesn’t?

The fact is, without an absolute, unchanging, moral law given to us by an absolute, unchanging sovereign Creator God, there can be no such thing as good or evil, just “things that happen.” So how can someone declare that the existence of evil proves God doesn’t exist, if evil itself doesn’t exist if God doesn’t?

Consistent Atheists Agree

As much as atheists often attempt some kind of appeal to morality despite not having a solid basis for it, consistent atheists, such as P. Z. Myers, often just put their cards on the table and admit it outright:

First, there is no moral law: the universe is a nasty, heartless place where most things wouldn’t mind killing you if you let them. No one is compelled to be nice; you or anyone could go on a murder spree, and all that is stopping you is your self-interest.7

Of course, the “self-interest” he’s mentioning here is because of the laws against violence upheld in most civilized countries, which are ultimately based on the biblical idea that humans have an intrinsic value and worth that goes beyond that of animals (despite what organizations like PETA attempt to promote).

In other words (according to Myers), it’s not that murder is actually wrong that you shouldn’t do it: it’s because someone might lock you up because they hold to those outdated ideas of morality.

Atheist Dr. William B. Provine (now deceased), former professor of biological sciences at Cornell University, couldn’t have stated it more clearly when he said,

Let me summarize my views on what modern evolutionary biology tells us loud and clear . . . . There are no gods, no purposes, no goal-directed forces of any kind. There is no life after death. When I die, I am absolutely certain that I am going to be dead. That’s the end for me. There is no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning to life, and no free will for humans, either.8

The fact is, while most people simply don’t want to “go there” because of the moral dilemma such thinking provokes, these atheists, grounded in their belief in the story of evolution, are being completely logical with their conclusions about morality should the God of the Bible not exist.

To make the point even more crystal clear, before his death, convicted mass murderer Jeffrey Dahmer (considered by many to be the most notorious killer of all time) made the following comment on the Dateline NBC program on November 29, 1994:

If a person doesn’t think that there is a God to be accountable to, then what’s the point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? That’s how I thought anyway. I always believed the theory of evolution as truth, that we all just came from the slime. When we died, you know, that was it, there is nothing.

Do You Need God to Be Good?

Often times, atheists will accuse Christians of being “good” for the wrong reasons. They posit that individuals who think they need God to be good do so only because they fear the punishment of hell, and so they are moral for the wrong reasons; they are actually only being selfish!

The accusation is that a Christian’s foundation for morality and ethics is therefore not virtuous but is rather simply built on fear and guilt rather than doing good because it’s the right thing to do. It’s kind of like having Santa Claus, who “knows if you’ve been bad or good,” teach a course on morality—the idea that you should “be good for goodness’ sake.”

However, these people seem to have forgotten what their most vocal champions have deduced because of their similar belief in the story of evolution and denial of belief in God. A perfect example comes from Richard Dawkins, who expressed his concept of the universe as that of one with

no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. ... DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.9

Did you catch that? He’s asserting no evil and no good, no right and no wrong. So, the point again is, how can someone be “good for the right reason” if there is no such thing as good in the first place? Once more, we see the ridiculous endpoint of atheism as far as morality is concerned.

There is no moral law. There is no ultimate foundation for ethics. There is no ultimate meaning to life: no evil and no good. And if we are all just “dancing to our DNA,” there is no free will for humans either. Everything we experience is simply a conglomeration of events that will ultimately end when the universe comes to an end.

You’ll die; your kids will die; your grandchildren will die. No one will ever know we were even here. All of this is meaningless, so enjoy the ride. That is the ultimate message of the atheistic worldview.

Theodicy Answered

The question of theodicy (why is there evil if God is good) is indeed the most challenging question for those who believe in God, and the topic has been explored and debated by humanity through the ages. However, the entire reason for the topic itself is predicated on the existence of God, because without God there can be no such thing as evil, so why discuss it?

Genesis tells us that God’s original creation was “very good,” and that it became marred because of Adam’s sin. It was at the fall that sin and death entered into the cosmos, and now the entire creation groans because of it.

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)

So, the big picture as to why there is death and suffering in the world is that man’s actions resulted in God punishment, which included a degradation in man and everything in his environment—the functioning of all things, including great white sharks.

Vegetarian Sharks?

Interestingly, even in the sin-cursed world we live in, we can catch glimpses of how things may have been in the beginning. For example, some sharks (like the bonnethead, a species of hammerhead shark) are mostly vegetarian—a surprise to many.10

Interestingly, even in the sin-cursed world we live in, we can catch glimpses of how things may have been in the beginning.

As scary as Bruce (nicknamed after Steven Spielberg’s lawyer) the shark was in the movie Jaws, even great white sharks have been filmed many times purposefully eating kelp (not simply as a result of incidentally eating it during predatory behavior).11

In one video, the narrator sounds very surprised when a 14-foot white shark—presented with the choice of tuna, squid, or kelp bait—struck the first two times at the kelp!12

Vegetarian Everything!

However, when starting from a biblical worldview, this shouldn’t be surprising at all. Genesis 1:29–30 reveals that in the beginning, God created animals as well as humans to be vegetarian, or more specifically, to eat things that were not considered living creatures in the strictly biblical sense (those designated in the Hebrew as nephesh chayyah creatures).

While the Bible never uses the Hebrew term nephesh chayyah (living soul/creature) when referring to invertebrates, it does when referring to humans and fish (Genesis 1:20, 2:7). So it is reasonable then to assume that the pre-fall diet of animals could have included both phytoplankton and zooplankton. Therefore, eating them would not constitute carnivorous behavior or entail “death” as biblically defined.

So, when Bible skeptics bring up creatures that are supposedly “strict carnivores” (like sharks) as evidence against certain animals ever having been vegetarian, they are failing to consider the true history of the world. The Bible says that in the pre-fall world there were no animals eating one another, no bloodshed, and no death. However, this changed at the time of the fall.

Just because we may observe creatures behaving a certain way today does not mean they have always done so. This is evidenced by the fact that time and again animals once thought to be only carnivores are found to be vegetarian or omnivorous. As one of the researchers surmised about the bonnethead shark,

Given that bonnetheads have a digestive system that resembles that of closely-related species that we know to be strict carnivores, we need to re-think what it means to have a “carnivorous gut.”13

Victorious Ending

Jaws’ third act is indeed climactic, and the movie’s final scene builds to a frenzied, final victory that left movie audiences cheering at the definitive defeat of the great beast that had haunted the lives of those living with its presence nearby.

In the same way, believers in God’s Word that have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior have a blessed hope; that even though we live in a sin-cursed world where tragedy can strike in many forms, we will one day have victory and live in peace and harmony forever—presumably even with those creatures that we avoid with good reason today.

God’s Word says that one day he will restore the world to its very good status, and there will be no more bad things in the new heavens and new earth.

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” (Revelation 5:11–13)

Amen.