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September 7 - September 16, 2023
After many years and many decades of study, after multiple scientists collect mountains of evidence and publish it for other scientists to critique, a hypothesis that continues to be supported time and time again reaches the rank of science theory.
Natural selection does not mean perfection. The term “survival of the fittest” is a misleading and inaccurate definition of natural selection. “Survival of the fittest” implies that an individual is the strongest or fastest or most talented. An individual does not have to be the best in order to be “fit.” Natural selection is not survival of the fittest. Natural selection is survival of the “fit enough”: fit enough to survive, find a mate, and leave offspring.
A self-described “complete and total Christian,” no one is more dismayed by the hijacking of her work by creationists than Schweitzer herself.17
If all humans descended from one man and one woman in the last six to ten thousand years, what kinds of things would we expect to see? Blood donations would be simple—no need for cross-matching. Organ transplants? Piece of cake. No need to match donors with recipients, and no need for anti-rejection drugs. If all humans descend from a population of two, humans would be so genetically identical any sort of transplant would be a breeze.
A literal Genesis means a stand against the vast majority of modern science and scientists.17 A literal Genesis means a stand against the science trusted for medical care, disease research, agriculture, aviation, engineering, and energy. A literal Genesis means mentally segregating the science explaining origins from the same science supporting our modern lives.
If God’s creation “reveals knowledge,” is the revealed knowledge trustworthy? Is it consistent with God’s nature to fill creation with red herrings? Is it consistent with God’s nature to create a deceptive world, a world not as it appears? Is it consistent with God’s nature to mislead us?
Trying to force a modern understanding of science into an ancient document misses lots of boats. Not only do we miss the message intended by the original authors and compilers, we also force the Bible to be something it is not—a scientifically accurate natural history of the earth. When we read Genesis, we don’t learn about modern science, but we do learn about God.
For me, as a Christian, the Bible has authority because it testifies to Jesus. The Bible has authority because it bears witness to people trying to live as God’s people. The Bible has authority in how I live my life. But the Bible is not an authority about the facts of modern science. It was never meant to be. The Bible is telling a different story. The Bible gives us the answers to the who and why of creation; science answers the how and when.
The evidence supporting the idea that all living things are descended from a common ancestor is truly overwhelming. I would not necessarily wish that to be so, as a Bible-believing Christian. But it is so. It does not serve faith well to try to deny that.21
