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d. Theistic evolution is not tenable in the light of Scripture.
Some Christian scientists and
theologians seek to harmonize the doctrine of creation, as taught by Scripture, and the theory
of evolution by accepting what they call theistic evolution. It is a protest against the attempt to
eliminate God, and postulates Him as the almighty worker back of the whole process of
development. Evolution is regarded simply as God’s method of working in the development of
nature. Theistic evolution really amounts to this, that God created the world (the cosmos) by a
process of evolution, a process of natural development, in which He does not miraculously
intervene, except in cases where this is absolutely necessary. It is willing to admit that the
absolute beginning of the world could only result from a direct creative activity of God; and, if it
can find no natural explanation, will also grant a direct intervention of God in the origination of
life and of man. It has been hailed as Christian evolution, though there is not necessarily
anything Christian about it. Many, otherwise opposed to the theory of evolution, have
welcomed it, because it recognizes God in the process and is supposed to be compatible with
the Scriptural doctrine of creation. Hence it is freely taught in churches and Sunday Schools. As
a matter of fact, however, it is a very dangerous hybrid. The name is a contradiction in terms,
for it is neither theism nor naturalism, neither creation nor evolution in the accepted sense of
the terms. And it does not require a great deal of penetration to see that Dr. Fairhurst is right in
his conviction “that theistic evolution destroys the Bible as the inspired book of authority as
effectively as does atheistic evolution.”[Theistic Evolution, p. 7.] Like naturalistic evolution it
teaches that it required millions of years to produce the present habitable world; and that God
did not create the various species of plants and animals, and that, so that they produced their
own kind; that man, at least on his physical side, is a descendant of the brute and therefore
began his career on a low level; that there has been no fall in the Biblical sense of the word, but
only repeated lapses of men in their upward course; that sin is only a weakness, resulting from
man’s animal instincts and desires, and does not constitute guilt; that redemption is brought
about by the ever-increasing control of the higher element in man over his lower propensities;
that miracles do not occur, either in the natural or in the spiritual world; that regeneration,
conversion, and sanctification are simply natural psychological changes, and so on. In a word, it
is a theory that is absolutely subversive of Scripture truth.
Some Christian scholars of the present day feel that Bergson’s theory of Creative Evolution
commends itself to those who do not want to leave God out of consideration. This French
philosopher assumes an élan vital, a vital impulse in the world, as the ground and animating
principle of all life. This vital principle does not spring from matter, but is rather the originating
cause of matter. It pervades matter, overcomes its inertia and resistance by acting as a living
force on that which is essentially dying, and ever creates, not new material, but new
movements adapted to ends of its own, and thus creates very much as the artist creates. It is
directive and purposive and yet, though conscious, does not work according to a preconceived