In my previous blog post, I shared Part 2 of 7 of my online debate with BioLogos and one of their supporters, LA. To keep my post from breaching acceptable reading length, I had shared only a portion of my response to LA’s comment. I said I would share the “remaining” part of my response in the next post, but I forgot that in my blog post planning, I had actually divided my response to LA into three posts, not two. LA had made a comment regarding the church fathers: specifically, Augustine of Hippo. I responded to that with a lot of detail, so I separated that response into its own post. Below is Part 3 of 7 of the BioLogos Debate.
Me
“…and that life on earth began with simple one-cell organisms which increased in complexity over eons of time to include a wide variety of multi-celled organisms.”
When has anyone ever observed single-celled organisms evolve into animals? When has anyone observed increases in genetic information and complexity (i.e. a blind organism evolving eyesight)? This goes back to Question #2 in my original comment. Again, how is this based on observation instead of faith?
“A social media site is not really a good place to have a long serious discussion/debate about the conclusions of mainstream science. I suggest you read books on the subjects and perhaps consult with experts in these fields directly."
Again, the “conclusions of mainstream science” is the appeal to authority/majority logical fallacy. I can use the same logic and make the same type of suggestion to you: I can suggest that you read books from creation scientists and perhaps consult with experts in biblical geology, biology, anthropology, and so forth. While those “authorities” are helpful, the only authority that we should appeal to, in an ultimate sense, is the authority of the Word of God.
And by the way, I’ve been taught evolution and old earth beliefs through public school and secular university. In fact, even though I majored in Mechanical Engineering while in undergrad, I was required to take an anthropology class which indoctrinated me with evolutionary beliefs. I was a non-believer at the time, and the evolutionary worldview was a big stumbling block in regards to trusting God’s Word. Now, as a born-again Christian, I have a passion for creation apologetics, and studying creation apologetics actually forces me to study and understand the details of the evolutionary worldview. I actually know way more about evolution/old-earth now than I ever did as a non-believer in undergrad. This way, I am equipped in the following sense: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” –2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV).
“God's Creation, the natural world, is here for us to study. God gave us our minds. He gave us the ability to reason and to learn how it all works.”
Certainly, God gave us the ability to reason and study the universe because we are made in His image (Gen 1:27). With that being said though, can we “reason” apart from God’s Word? How did that work for Eve in the garden? This goes back to Question #3 in my original post. Moreover, we are in dire need of God’s special revelation, because our hearts and minds are marred by sin ever since Genesis 3. God’s Word describes the human mind as “depraved” (Rom 1:28), “dull” (2 Cor 3:14), “blinded” (2 Cor 4:4), “futile” (Eph 4:17), “darkened” (Eph 4:18), “deceiving/deceptive” (Col 2:4,8), “corrupt/corrupted” (1 Tim 6:5, Titus 1:15), “depraved” (2 Tim 3:8), and so forth (using NIV translation).
“I don't believe God inspired the Creation Story to teach ancient peoples the science behind His Creation. Instead, I believe His intent was simply to reveal Himself as the Creator of all things, that He created the universe in parts (or epochs), and that human beings at some point became estranged from Him. It is about our relationship to Him, The Story is certainly spiritually true.”
Indeed, the Word of God is not a “scientific textbook” per se, but it is a history book…and those historical details have major implications when studying historical science. For example, if there really was a global, catastrophic flood about 4,300 years ago, what would we expect to see? Wouldn’t we expect to see billions of dead things buried in rock layers laid down by water all over the Earth? And that is exactly what we see in the fossil record. You can learn more about that here: https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/.
Now, if the story is only "spiritually true," then what else in God's Word is only "spiritually true"? Did Jesus only "spiritually" rise from the dead, but not physically rise?
My last point to LA is critically important. If we can read Genesis chapters 1 through 11 and say that those accounts are only “spiritually true” and are not “literally/physically true,” then what other biblical accounts are only “spiritually true”? Sadly, this is what happens when we try to mix light with darkness, truth with lies, God's Word with Man's word, Christianity with Humanism.
In my next post, I will share my response to LA’s claim concerning Augustine of Hippo.