Evolutionary Teaching Creates Stumbling Block to Savior

Georgia Congressman Paul Broun is being mocked by many in the media for his public stand on the truth of God’s Word. Speaking September 27 at the 2012 Sportsman’s Banquet at Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell, Georgia, the Congressman declared, “God’s Word is true.” In contrast to the truth of God’s Word, he said the things he was taught about evolution, embryology (no doubt referring to its use to support evolution through the theory of embryonic recapitulation),1 and the big bang were lies. And those lies, he says, are “from the pit of hell” because they create a stumbling block to keep people from understanding their need for a Savior.

Dr. Broun’s assessment of the terrible impact of the popularization of evolutionary dogma should remind us of the words of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings [which include Genesis], how will you believe My words?” (John 5:46–47) Understanding the origin of sin, guilt, and death provides a firm foundation for seeing the need to depend on God’s grace through Christ’s shed blood for salvation. Furthermore, trust in the Bible from its beginning provides the foundation to faithfully trust all of God’s Word, which has many teachings relevant to the governing of a just and righteous society (which as Proverbs 14:34 says, exalts a nation).

Some of the jibes directed at Congressman Broun have been based on his identification of himself “as a scientist.” Dr. Paul Broun is a medical doctor, a graduate of the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. He completed his residency at the prestigious University Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. He currently chairs a subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Technology. Many remarks in the media have been quite nasty, and many headlines declare him to be “anti-science.”

Acquiring a belief in Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and young earth creation does not strip a scientist of his or her credentials or the ability to understand and apply sound scientific principles.

This sort of name-calling is absurd, as a physician is as much a scientist as an astronomer or a geologist or a biologist. Each has an area of specialty. Medical doctors spend a great deal of time learning advanced levels of basic science as a foundation for even more advanced levels of medical science. They apply scientific principles as they make observations, perform tests, evaluate controlled scientific tests of treatment options, and make informed decisions about the evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of their patients. And as last spring’s furor over the eminent physician Dr. Benjamin Carson’s understanding of science illustrates, acquiring a belief in Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and young earth creation does not strip a scientist of his or her credentials or the ability to understand and apply sound scientific principles.

Congressman Broun declared his belief in a young earth with creation in six literal days. He mentioned that scientific data back up his beliefs. As we often point out, it is only by making worldview-based interpretations of data rooted in unverifiable ideas of uniformitarian naturalism that scientists can claim the earth is over four billion years old. (See “Philosophical Naturalism and the Age of the Earth: Are They Related?” to learn more.) On the other hand, interpretations of the scientific data based on the authoritative historical account provided by God in the Bible support a young-earth view. As to how young, although the congressmen mentioned 9,000 years, we would put the age at around 6,000 years based on our assessment of biblical chronology. And of course, these numbers are a far cry from the vast ages claimed by evolutionists.

The Devil’s lies have been fooling people ever since Eve heard the serpent question God’s truthfulness and character. Dr. Broun fingered the real liar—the Devil—when he said the lies of evolution are from hell. Jesus said to those Pharisees who perverted God’s Word, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). Many of those Pharisees doubtless thought they were right. The same can be said of many evolutionists who sincerely believe what they teach, but the source of evolution’s lie is the Devil, who is using the evolutionists to deceive the whole world (cf Revelation 12:9).