Evolution is the religion of death!

Simba: But dad, don’t we eat the antelope?

Mufasa: Yes, Simba, but let me explain.  When we die, our bodies become the grass and the antelope eat the grass.  And so we are all connected in the great circle of life.

There are a lot of things I don’t like about evolution: it is contrary to the plain reading of Scripture, it means God lied in His revelation of the creation, and it’s just bad science in general.  I’m especially frustrated when Christians claim to believe in evolution.  Why do people who claim to believe in God, jump through hermeneutical hoops to make the Scriptures compatible with a theory that is not only false, is not only irrelevant to any other area of science, but is also antithetical to the most fundamental tenets of Christianity?  It makes no sense.

Perhaps the most dangerous doctrine of evolution is that it gives the completely wrong understanding of death.  In the above conversation, taken from The Lion King, Mufasa talks about death as part of the “great circle of life.”  Worldly advice like this gives a mistaken impression of death, one completely opposite to the understanding of death taught by Scripture.

The Bible is very clear that death is the judgment for sin. There are several passages that illustrate this: For the wages of sin is death, Romans 6:23;   Therefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed onto all men, for all have sinned; et al.  Romans 5:12.  Are you picking up what I’m putting down?  There’s nothing good about death.  We die physically because we are descended from Adam (1 Corinthians 15:22) but, after we die, the lost will be judged for their own sins before the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11-14). At that Judgment, everyone whose name is not written in the Book of Life, is cast into the Lake of Fire; this is called the second death (Revelation 20:14-15).

The gospel is the good news that we can have life in Christ. When we are born again, the Bible says we pass from death into life (John 5:24).  As Christians, our sins are forgiven by Christ's blood. Our physical death becomes that time when we are rid of these vessels of clay and enter into eternity knowing that we will have no part in the second death. In 1 Corinthians 15:55, Paul rejoices, saying, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

In an interview of Bill Nye, published in the NY Times, we read this interesting exchange:

NYE: I think the fear of death figures prominently in creationist thought. That the promise of eternal life is reassuring to people who are deeply troubled by the troubling fact that we’re all going to die. And it bugs me, too. But I press forward rather than running in circles screaming….

NY Times: And ultimately, death is a part of evolution.

NYE: It’s the key. The key is that you can pass on improvements by having kids. And there aren’t enough resources for any population to go completely unchecked, whether the population is humans or crickets. There isn’t enough for everybody, so you compete. And this is one of Darwin’s enormous insights.

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life,” (John 11:25). According to Nye, death is “the key” to evolution. He cites the high priest of evolution, Charles Darwin, and describes this doctrine of death as an “enormous insight.”  Rather than trusting in the One who promises eternal life, Nye would rather we be philosophical about death. We might fear it individually, but it keeps populations in check. It drives organisms to improve. In the bigger picture, death is good!

Because it plays such a key role in evolution, some people almost regard death as noble. Biologos, a group that identifies itself as Christian, has an article titled, Death and Rebirth: The Role of Extinction in Evolution. Wow, “death and rebirth!”  It almost seems to put evolution on equal footing with the Resurrection! In the article, the author makes this claim:

Extinction is actually a common feature of life on earth when viewed over long (e.g. geological) timescales. By some estimates, over 99% of the species that have ever lived have gone extinct [this is a lie, by the way].... Such an extinction event (of a single species, or perhaps a handful of species) alters the environment of other remaining species in an ecosystem. This, in turn, may influence the ability of some of these remaining species to reproduce compared to other species.... As the ecosystem landscape shifts due to loss of species, new biological opportunities, or niches, might arise. These new niches are then available to support new species to fill them.

There you go. Animals go extinct but that makes way for new animals to evolve. It's the circle of life. Some things live and some things die and it's good.  God tells us about this evil mindset in Proverbs 8:36, “all they that hate me love death.”

When a tsunami or earthquake kills thousands of people, critics often say that such tragedies are evidence there is no God. How should we answer?  Christians who believe in an “old” creation and theistic evolution have no “good news” for unbelievers.  If God used evolution to create us, then death and tragedy are intentional. If the earth is billions of years old, then earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods are rather ordinary.  They are how God shapes the earth. Over the supposed billions of years the earth has existed, there would have been millions of earthquakes. Why then should we consider any one of them a tragedy? It's just another tink of God's hammer as He continues shaping the earth just as He's always done. If a tsunami kills thousands of people, then what of it?  I suppose they're just another step in the evolutionary ladder who have gone the way of Homo ergaster or Australopithecus. 

The role of death in evolution is the complete opposite of what death truly is. Death is an intruder into the creation. It is the consequence of Adam's sin and later, of our own sins. It is an enemy that will one day be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:26). Death should be dreaded by the lost and they should seek a way to avoid it. The gospel – the good news – is that there is life in Jesus!!  It is supposed to be the job of Christians to take this message to the lost, to preach this gospel to every creature.  James 5:20 says, Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.  

As we’ve already seen, there is precisely one penalty for sin - death. All have sinned; all die. The mortality rate among people is exactly 100%. Some people die in their sleep; some people die at the point of a sword; some people die very old; some people die very young; but everybody dies! We all have the same destiny - a grave. We all also have the same opportunity - salvation through the Son.  That’s the message we need to give to the lost and dying.

I see Nye as only a little bit removed from a witch doctor. He mixes a little bit of science with a lot of religious beliefs. He is a faithful apostle of the world, spreading a terrible gospel. Evolution is the religion of death.

They say to a stone, “Thou hast brought me forth!”

Romans 1 gives us a sobering insight into the worldview of unbelievers.  Verse 20 says, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”  The Bible clearly says that the existence of God is seen in His creation and people who claim to not believe really have no excuse for their unbelief.  

The passage goes on to say, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans 1:21-23)

There’s an old saying that a person who doesn’t believe in something will fall for anything.  What I see in unbelievers now is exactly what is being described by Paul in Romans.  People who consider themselves to be skeptics, critical thinks, or enlightened, tend to believe in the craziest things!  Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools!

I’m reminded of the passage from Jeremiah 2:26-28:

As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets. Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. 

Now, in the context of the passage, these verses are specifically dealing with Israel’s sin of idolatry. The people worshipped idols of stone and wood as though these were their gods. They rejected the Creator God and replaced Him with gods of their own choosing and God is chiding their foolishness for believing a tree or a rock created them.

Now, I know what you’re thinking.  You’re thinking, “Bentley, surely you’re not saying atheists today believe they were made by a rock!”  Yes!!  That’s exactly what I’m saying!  Even today, atheists believe there was once an event dubbed, abiogenesis. It’s the belief that non-living chemicals somehow arranged themselves to become the first living life form – the supposed common ancestor of all living things. 

From a Universe Today article on Abiogenesis, we read the following:

Intensive study of the Earth's rocks has turned up lots and lots of evidence that some kinds of prokaryotes lived happily on Earth about 3.5 billion years ago…. So, if life arose on Earth, it did so from the chemicals in the water, air, and rocks of the early Earth … and in no more than a few hundred million years. 

There are many different theories as to how such a thing could happen but it’s important to note that abiogenesis has never been duplicated or observed. Not one time.  Ever!!  So even though there is no scientific evidence that such a thing is possible, or even a plausible explanation of how it might occur, they still believe it happened because … well … here we are!

So tell me, what exactly is the qualitative difference between believing we came from a rock and believing we came from a fortunate arrangement of chemicals?  Read the above quote again.  It’s saying life arose from chemicals found in the water, air, and the rocks of the early earth.  I’m not putting words into the mouths of evolutionists or atheists; they say it themselves and they seem very confident about it.   

Some people ridicule me for believing in creation. I think it’s far more incredible to believe life just happened by itself.  There are people who think it’s somehow more enlightened, open-minded, and scientific to think life came from rocks than it is to think God created life.  Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools.  They are no different than the rebellious nation of Judah, who bowed down before idols made of wood and stone. 

I’m careful when I use the word literally.  Some people say literally to describe things that aren’t literal but in this case, though, I’m being deliberate.  Evolutionists literally say about rocks, “You have brought us forth!”