Evolution, creationism both take faith

I have been watching the debate that has been fought in the letters to the editor of this newspaper these past few weeks. I didn't really want to even bother with it, because frankly, I believe that it is a waste of my time.

I would rather be telling you about Jesus and how much he loves you and how much he wants to see you in heaven with him when the time comes.

Yet, I feel as though I must get the facts out about this debate that continues to rage on, and has raged on for over 150 years.

How many of you, when you hear or talk about how the earth is billions of years old, the ice age, missing links, the big bang or any other thing having to do with evolution, ever hear the word "theory"? Probably not too much.

I hate going to science museums for that very reason. Evolution is always purported as fact by those who believe in it. I guess I can't blame them. When you have faith in something, you want and need to believe it is real and true.

You're not going to have faith in something you know and believe is false, are you? We, who believe in the Scriptures, don't call creation a theory, do we?

The debate is about what to believe in. Do you believe in God and his word or do you believe in the study of evolutionary science and the scientists who study it? They both take faith. One has faith in God and the other has faith in scientists. So let's look at them both and see which one holds more credibility.

In case you don't quite understand the theory of evolution, here is what this theory states: 1. All life forms have developed from other species. 2. All living things are related to one another through a common descent. 3. All life on earth has a common origin. That is, in the distant past there once existed an original life form and that this life form gave rise to all subsequent life forms. 4. The process by which one species evolves into another involves random, heritable, genetic mutations, some of which are more likely to spread and persist in a gene pool than others.

Let me just say a Christian can agree with numbers three and four as they are stated here. The difference is that, for number three, we would call that original life form God. We would also say that the subsequent life forms were and are called plants, animals, and people.

For number four, we don't have a problem with "microevolution," which is the constant change within a species. Humans grow shorter and taller over generations. Humans, as well as other species, develop immunities as well as new bacteria and viruses all the time.

We also don't have a problem with the idea of natural selection. Different families within species, and sometimes whole species, go extinct. Through climate changes and the survival of the fittest some species thrive while other species deteriorate.

Yet, to use the scientific evidence for microevolution and transfer it to macroevolution is simply a denial of the real origin of all life. Why is it so hard for people to admit that God created the world in six days? Why is it so hard for people to simply accept the word of God? The reason is very simple and it comes from last week's article.

They want to be like God, or even more, they want to be a "god" unto themselves.They want to believe that the earth is the center of the universe instead of the creator. They want to believe that their minds, their reason and their intellect can go above and beyond anything in the Holy Scriptures and anything that God declares to be true and right.

It is a sin as old as Adam and Eve.

An evolutionary scientist will say that any talk of creation or study of biology, chemistry and physics in the light of creation cannot be called science because it involves trust in someone and something that goes above and beyond anything "scientific".

I went to Lutheran schools my whole life. I learned a lot about life systems, chemical reactions and how things live, move and have their being. I know there are a lot of good scientists who believe in a six day creation. Tons of them are working in labs and fields across the world right now.

Don't let these evolutionists trick you into thinking that you can't do good science if you believe in creation.

My friends, you have a choice. You can either believe in flawed, and at best, speculative evolutionary "science" that relies on poor, sinful, human brains making hypotheses and theories, a brain that can change its mind in an instant.

You can believe in a sin-filled earth and a bunch of fossils that are flawed because of sin. Or on the other hand you can believe in God's infallible word. You can believe in an almighty God that created all life, including fully developed human beings, in six consecutive, 24-hour days just like it says.

Both take faith. Both take a belief in something. It is just that one is human science and the other is God. You choose.