What are the true thoughts and motives behind the creationism vs. evolution debate?
The biblical disobedience regarding evolutionism isn't the desire to investigate God's creation but the willingness (or eagerness) to reject God's word in the search. It's an echo of the Garden. Satan twisted God's words, convincing Eve that the evidence at hand didn't match a literal interpretation of God's words. So either God was wrong or she misinterpreted the words. There must be a hidden meaning behind the words that Eve could discover. And if she could find that meaning, she'd receive an even greater blessing—knowledge beyond what God had given her and freedom from His literal command (Genesis 3:1-6).
This is the oldest lie, and it's still alive and active in the world today, offering justification for anything we want to do. Evolutionists reinterpret (or reject) God's creation story, insisting that the evidence shows there's a different meaning to God's words, and that we'll be blessed with knowledge if we can find the secret. This is the sin—thinking we can find meaning beyond God.
The unbelievers are released to their idol of naturalism (Romans 1:20-23). Naturalism teaches that there is no supernatural in the universe. Everything is made of energy and matter. At the time Paul wrote Romans, the images "resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things" (vs. 23) were carved idols people literally bowed down and sacrificed to. Evolution worships those same idols. "Corruptible man" becomes renderings of "cavemen" extrapolated from the bones of men and apes. "Birds" become the archaeopteryx—a fossil that scientists claim is a transition between reptiles and birds, despite a distinct lack of evidence. The "four-footed animal" is "Ida," the fossil of a lemur with no grooming claw or fused teeth—"proof" that men evolved from lemurs. And the "crawling creatures" are the walking fish, the first animals to escape the primordial sludge and dare to stand on ground. Evolutionists "worship" (celebrate the worth of) these creatures by using them to define their lives and the meaning of existence.
Believers who choose to accept unbiblical interpretations of the formation of the universe have been released into idolatry as well. Like the Pharisee who prayed out loud (Luke 18:3-14) or the church members who deferred to the rich (James 2:1-4), their idol is the opinion of men. The secular world can be unforgiving on the subject of evolution and creationism. Claiming that God used evolution to create the world is a way for believers to maintain a moderate level of credibility in the secular science community while still affirming faith in God. Like the temple rulers who believed Jesus but feared the Pharisees more, "they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God" (John 12:42-43).
Although beliefs about evolution may indicate one's level of spiritual maturity in one area of the Christian walk; it is not a decisive issue of salvation. Many Christ-followers believe in old-earth creationism in one of many interpretations. And many secular scientists have come to a saving faith in God without changing their position on creation. Views of creation are not directly related to the definition of true religion (Micah 6:8), the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), or the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40). None of us will achieve full sanctification in this life any more than we will fully understand the details of our universe. But we'll get closer if we rely on God's word in the search.
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