by Elisha Ann Wahlquist
Though the term "evolution" and its derivatives are tossed about much today, not many know of its track record in history-or even its true roots. Let's look at those for a minute.
Contrary to popular opinion, the theory of evolution has been around for thousands of years. Anaximander, and early Greek writer, said, "humans originally resembled another type of animal, namely fish." Many other ancient philosophers came up with similar ideas about the creation of the world and mankind, as they tried to leave God out of the picture. Even before 1859, when Darwin set forth a version of these earlier theories in The Origin of Species, there were many that had proposed advanced theories similar to those he set forth. In fact, in recent years Darwin has been accused of plagiarizing the works of people like his grandfather Erasmus, whose book Zoonomia is markedly similar, and Alfred Russel Wallace, who wrote a manuscript on the theory of evolution and showed it to Darwin in 1858. So, though Darwin has been made famous (or infamous) by the theory of evolution, it is the musings of the ancients, and later the ideas of his contemporaries, that were the fore-runners to modern-day evolutionism.
The evolutionary theory rapidly gained acceptance in the existing cultural vacuum. Insipid theology and the failure of churches to train the fathers to train up their children in God's ways contributed to the erosion of belief in the Bible alone. More and more Christians began to look for ways to mesh the theory of evolution with the Bible. Soon, their ideas (now called "progressive creationism" or "theistic evolution") began to gain acceptance, as clergymen and pastors preached-or failed to actively counter-this insidious new addition to God's Word. One of the simpler theories professed that the 'days' in the Genesis account were actually millions of years. Others didn't bother to twist the Bible's words-they just claimed that those chapters were "just a fairy tale" and that evolution was really how that world came about. How do these theories affect God's Word? What is their fruit? Matthew 7:19-20 says, "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."
Let's simplify with an example. What is the result if we take a history book that claims to be totally true and say that the first part (the first building block of the whole treatise) is false? Logically, it throws a cloud of major doubt on all the rest of the book. If it claims to be true, and some of it isn't, then its statement that it is true is not true, which means that the book cannot be trusted to have any truth in it! Therefore, by saying that some of the Bible is not true, those who try to fit evolution with the Bible are undermining its whole foundation! If we doubt one part, then there is no foundation-not even God's words, since we are calling Him a liar by saying part of His Word is not true-to even believe that Christ has saved us from the penalties of our sins!
Since we are "trying the fruits," we might ask, "What have been the results of evolution in history?" From Nazist furor to Communism with all is inherent atrocies, evolution has left a bloody trail.[1] Nazism was dependent on it. Its core creed was "it is right and good for the strongest race to survive; to pity or help the weak is to defy nature's laws." The German people, having swallowed the theory of evolution with its chillingly familiar "survival of the fittest" theory, were easily lured into the trap of Nazism. Another ideology that relies heavily upon the evolutionary theory is another "ism"-Communism. By removing God and replacing him with the evolutionary mechanism, man's standards can be whatever they decide, and whatever achieves the right result is permissible. A leading Communist, Mao Zedong, whose bloody regime was responsible for the death of tens of millions, openly declared that his two favorite books were by Darwin and Huxley. They provided the "rationale" for his comment, as millions of the Chinese people were starving from his forced famine, "We have so many people we can afford to lose a few." This is in stark contrast to Christian morality! Leon Trotsky, a military leader who seized control of Communist Russia after Lenin's death, and whose ferocious violence was merciless, said this about Darwin's Origin of Species: "Darwin destroyed the last of my ideological prejudices. …Facts began to establish themselves in a certain system. The idea of evolution and determinism…took possession of me completely."
The theory of evolution has been found in idolatrous and godless cultures throughout history. Looking at its cruel results (of which the above is only the tip of the iceberg), and its incompatibility with God's Word, it is clear that evolution, though disguised under the garb of science, is a terrifyingly adept tool to brainwash and propagandize millions of people to commit crimes and atrocies without a qualm. History has not painted a pretty picture of its fruits.
- 10/12/05
[1] It is estimated that Communism alone has killed over 90 million people.
Selected Scripture Verses (outside of Genesis) relating to Creation:
Isa. 42:5 "Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:"
Isa. 45:18 "For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else."
Eph. 3:9 "And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:"
