"Is Creation Compatible with Evolution?" - A President Weighs In

An ABC Nightline interview with President George W. Bush this past Monday evening (12.8.2008) traversed the territory of the president's religious beliefs. Conservatives and Christians have long respected the president for his outspoken faith in God and Jesus Christ, even when those on the left would lambaste him, claiming his religion was being forced upon us and should not influence policy making. Though not an issue of policy, per se, the interview revealed something of President Bush's worldview that this evangelical found troubling.

From the transcript:

Asked about creation and evolution, Bush said: "I think you can have both. I think evolution can -- you're getting me way out of my lane here. I'm just a simple president. But it's, I think that God created the earth, created the world; I think the creation of the world is so mysterious it requires something as large as an almighty and I don't think it's incompatible with the scientific proof that there is evolution."

He added, "I happen to believe that evolution doesn't fully explain the mystery of life."

I appreciate the president's concession that he is "out of [his] lane." I would respectfully appeal to the president (whom I am convinced is a brother in Christ) and countless others who are misguided to believe evolution is compatible with Christianity. [NOTE: President-Elect Barack Obama has also made similar claims.

I will first note I am a student of theology not biology, so this blog is not going to bite off more than it can chew. But since this particular argument of science and religion occurs so often, as in this interview with our 43rd president, I will make a few assertations here as a young pastor and concerned cultural warrior.

I argue for the Bible's teaching that "In the beginning God created." Divine intelligence existed before the world was created, and this intelligence is the Creator and cause of all life. Even if we allow for some type of evolution process over time, there is no evidence to show that the process would even get started because for evolution to occur there must be an existing organism to evolve. To understand everything else, we must first realize that God created everything and gave loving mandates for how life should come about and exist.

Phillip E. Johnson of the University of California at Berkely writes, "Almost all illustrations of 'evolution in action' in textbooks or museum exhibits...involve no increase in complexity or appearance of new body parts or even permanent change of any kind. Small-scale, reversible population variations of this sort are usually called microevolution, although 'adaptive variation' would be a better term."

More from Johnson: "It is misleading to describe adaptive variation as 'evolution,' because the latter term commonly refers also to macroevolution...Charles Darwin assumed that macroevolution was merely microevolution extended over very long periods of time. Biology textbooks, museums, and television programs still teach people to make the same assumption, so that examples of macroevolution are used as proof that complex animals and even human beings evolved from simpler organisms by similar process."

Johnson affirms the greatest flaw of the theory of evolution "is that science has not discovered a process that can create all the necessary information" needed to coordinate the complex functions taking place in plants and animals. There is simply too much going on. Even Richard Dawkins, perhaps the most famous advocate of evolutionary theory flying in the face of religion, admits we're so biologically complicated that something had to initiate creation. He believes it to be ancient alien visitors.

Attesting to the theory of evolution also robs man of the imago Dei, or image of God that is imbued in each human being. This is fact affirmed by Scripture and science's own assertations of a necessary higher power. It is unfortunate the president and far too many other Christians have been dupped by supposed scientific evidence to the contrary.

Another disturbing statement from the president is that he prays to the same God as those with differing religious beliefs: "I do believe there is an almighty that is broad and big enough and loving enough that can encompass a lot of people."

So according to this, can Allah (or the god of any other religion) also be the Christian God?

No.

And, briefly, here's why: Theologically Muslims believe Allah to be "one God." They think the representation of God and Jesus in the Bible is in error and an affront to Allah. They would certainly not affirm the God of the Christians is the same and their Allah.

Evangelical Christians affirm a triune God who is one, but also three distinct personalities: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is unique among all religions and is not affirmed anywhere outside of the Bible and Christian theology. No other religion will accept God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as revealed in the Bible. The God of the Bible cannot be changed to any other "god" presented by any alternative religion. It is not the same God.

In closing, I pray for President Bush and other brothers and sisters in Christ: that this shrewdly cast veil of deception through "science" would be lifted and God would be glorified all the more at the realization that He is ultimate Creator and man is the pinnacle of His creation. May we all marvel at the complexity and majesty of this truth even as a hurting, bitter, and unbelieving world refuses this most basic of truths.

***President Bush also commented in the same interview that he does not believe the Bible should be taken literally. I will write on this in the coming days.