“Common Ground” Between Creation and Evolution? (Part 1)

Is there “common ground” between the Bible and the supposed big bang? Well, at a recent summit in Geneva, Switzerland, a group of scientists and theologians tried to answer that question in light of this year’s discovery of the Higgs boson (“the god particle”) by CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. Of course, this discovery has led many to claim that our origins can be explained without a Creator.

The summit was called “The Big Bang and the interfaces of knowledge: towards a common language?” But really, the intent of the conference was to find ways for the big bang to be seen as compatible with the various religions of the world, including Christianity. As a result, professing Christian theologians would have another opportunity to promote compromise on Genesis. According to the conference website, the summit “enabled scientists from a range of disciplines to dialogue with philosophers and theologians from the world religions about the nature of the Big Bang Theory.”

Dr. John Lennox, a well-known professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford (England), was invited to speak as a representative of Christianity. Now, during the same week of this summit, I published a review of John Lennox’s book Seven Days that Divide the World. In that review, I indicated that, while Dr. Lennox is a committed evangelical Christian with a position of considerable influence in the UK, his view of Genesis is a low one. You see, Dr. Lennox tries to make room for evolutionary ideas in his view of the creation account.

There isn’t a full report on the conference that I have seen yet, but Dr. Lennox would very likely argue that he believes in the possibility of a big bang—and add that God was behind it.

Of course, whether or not Dr. Lennox believes the big bang is compatible with Genesis, mixing evolution and millions of years with Scripture is the fruit that a summit like this will inevitably produce. You see, by having Dr. Lennox there as a representative of Christianity, his presence and comments will likely result in other evangelicals who esteem him making the same kinds of compromises on Genesis that he does.

From the biblical worldview, the big bang is incompatible with Scripture because we’re told by the One who was there in the beginning—the Creator—that the universe was created supernaturally by the power of His spoken Word and that He created the earth before the sun, moon and stars. (To learn more, read “Does the Big Bang Fit with the Bible?”) When people accept the evolutionary belief, what they’re really saying is that God’s Word can’t be trusted—at least not in Genesis. I encourage you to read Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell’s (AiG–U.S.) article on the summit in News to Note.

The discovery of the Higgs boson is a great contribution to science—one that interests both biblical creationists and secular scientists—but it does not eliminate the need for a Creator, nor does it negate the literal truth of Genesis chapters 1–11. It also doesn’t answer the origins question, for you see, there is no “common ground” between God’s Word and concepts like the big bang and evolution—so summits and conferences that assume God’s Word can’t be trusted won’t be able to provide satisfactory answers to the question of how the universe began.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying, and check back tomorrow for part 2 of our look at this summit.

Ken

Note: I thank Steve Golden of our staff for his assistance in writing this blog.