The Church
always thought that the Bible is the inspired and unerring word of God which
should be taken literally in most cases. But in dealing with a difficult
subject all related Scripture must
be considered before deciding on an interpretation of a passage.
The Bible is
God's book of words, while the universe is God's book of works. Since the Bible
and the creation are both from God, neither is more true
than the other. They are but different witnesses of the same God, of His power
and glory. Theology is man's attempt to understand the Bible. Science is man's
attempt to understand the universe. Theology and science can both be flawed
since they are interpreted by man,
whose knowledge is always incomplete.
When the truth
will become fully revealed the Bible and the creation record will agree. “For now we see
through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then
shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Cor 13:12).
The meaning of some terms.
The following terms are thrown around in nearly every
creation/evolution debate. Clear definitions are essential to insure common
understanding of a position.
Abiogenesis — The supposed development
of living organisms from nonliving matter. Also called
autogenesis, spontaneous generation. Spontaneous generation is a
deceptive definition, as naturalists generally believe the first life developed
over a great period of time by unguided chemical reactions.
Cosmology — The study of the
physical universe considered as a totality of phenomena in time and space.
Creationism — The position that
the account of the creation of the universe given at the beginning of the Bible
is literally true. Usually thought of as a belief in a young-earth creation,
but applies equally to an old-earth view.
Evolution — The theory that groups of organisms change
with passage of time, mainly as a result of natural selection, so that
descendants differ morphologically and physiologically from their ancestors.
While this is a literal definition, this term is seldom thought to stop with
“change with time.” It usually is believed to involve origins from a common
ancestor and is often associated with the atheistic view of naturalism. Many
Bible-believing Christians, however, see no conflict between a belief in
evolution and a belief in the God of the Bible.
Microevolution — Evolution resulting from a succession of
relatively small genetic variations that often cause
the formation of new subspecies.
Macroevolution — Large-scale evolution occurring over geologic
time that results in the formation of new taxonomic groups.
Naturalism — A theory denying
that an event or object has a supernatural significance; spec: the doctrine that scientific laws are adequate to account for
all phenomena. This is atheism.
Species — A fundamental category of taxonomic classification, ranking below a
genus or subgenus and consisting of related organisms capable of interbreeding.
Subspecies — A subdivision of a
taxonomic species, usually based on geographic distribution.
Taxonomy — The classification of organisms in an ordered system that indicates
natural relationships.