Heralded as the deathblow to creationism by evolutionists. Usually claimed as
non-existent by creationists or at least as a gross misrepresentation of the
facts. Many, and perhaps most, Christians are unaware of observed
speciation, and if confronted with the evidence are ill equipped to deal with
this knowledge. The reason is twofold. First, many believe that macroevolution
is in direct opposition to the Bible. Second, the Scripture says that on the
seventh day God ceased from His work and rested. Most of us have been lead to
believe there are only two choices, we can believe the Bible or we can believe
science. But in truth, there is no reason we must compromise either the Bible
or science.
Biologists have directly observed and documented various
cases where the breeding of a controlled or isolated population has resulted in
the inability of the subject to breed with the original population. They have
hence observed macroevolution. The traditional creationist explanation has been
to claim that this represents a normal expression of the natural variability
that was always present in the DNA, so nothing new has been created.
A second defense traditionally used by creationists is too
limiting. The evidence is acknowledged, but the resulting species is claimed to
be of the same Biblical kind as the original organism: flies remain flies,
bacteria remain bacteria, etc. Of course this infuriates the evolutionist who
then demands a definition of a “kind.” The debate usually deteriorates from
there.
The creationist solution here is that the Biblical kind is
synonymous with the folk method of classifying a species. Everyone knows a fly
when they see one. The fact that it may be one of dozens of species is
irrelevant.
Naturalism advocates are generally quick to state that the
Bible is not a science book. So why do they expect a scientific explanation for
kind? If fact, they often don't. They usually want to derail the creationist
argument and replace it with their own view of reality — the scientific natural
cause reality.
The Bible is a collection of books focusing on God's
dealing with, and love for, mankind. It details God's
plan to restore man to His image through the cross. The Bible also mentions
some scientific concepts, such as the beginning of time and matter and the
existence of extra dimensions. The Bible should be taken seriously, and yet for
many evolutionists it cannot be as long as this stumbling block remains.
The observed speciation conflict is resolved when we
realize the problem is in our faulty expectations. As was mentioned before, we
expect that God said “tree” and poof, there was a fully formed mighty oak tree,
and we expect that when the Creator rests from His work, He just kicks back on
His throne and works no more. We expect this but it is not what God has done.
If God has really ceased carrying for the world, everything will end up in
chaos. Rather, He continues to work and to provide for us: “For you created my
inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I
am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full
well” (Psa 139:13-14 NIV).
If He provides for us, how can the Bible say God rested
from His work? Blame old misconceptions for this seeming paradox. The problem
exists because we have let our fear convince us the Bible says something that
it does not. Any new species is still God's doing, because it is a result of
the laws that He created. God is the one that made the process function, as God
is the one who instituted and holds all the natural laws together. There are
kinds mentioned in Genesis, but the making of kinds is not what God rested from
on the seventh day. Scripture does accurately record that God rested from His
work of creating, while some new species do exist. Confused? Let's dig deeper.