Blatant Heresy

Was there a real Adam and Eve? Was man created in his present form or did he evolve from an ape-like creature? Can evolution and creation be fused into one idea? According to Francis Collins, the Director of the National Institute of Health (NIH) and former head of the International Genome Project, the answer is yes. He believes that the biblical account of Adam and Eve is a fable. Furthermore, he believes that men and chimpanzees came from a common ancestor – a still-missing link. He believes strongly that we should believe in the evolution of life and the Big Bang origin of the universe.

According to Collins, the traditional view of two individuals, Adam and Eve, beginning humanity is not consistent with genetics or the diversity we see in the human race. As a renowned geneticist, Collins was able to discover that certain genes had links to specific diseases. In his book, The Language of God (2007), he indicated that genetic analyses predicted that approximately ten thousand ancestors gave rise to the entire population of 6 billion humans on the planet. Being a professing Christian that remains devoted to evolution, Collins is an interesting and controversial figure. Presently, he represents a vocal and growing movement that has arisen in some Christian churches and seminaries.

Such conclusions are based on the evolutionary concept that there is a slow rate of mutations occurring over a long period of time. This seems reasonable if you are predisposed to millions and billions of years of evolution while ignoring the time lines established in God’s Word. It also ignores the catastrophic judgments of God that appear in Genesis 3 as a result of Adam’s sin. Noah’s flood and the Tower of Babel also had lasting consequences on God’s creation. In Genesis 1 and 2, everything was good. This means that there was no “nature red in tooth and claw” that the famous author, Alfred Lord Tennyson, used to describe the untamed natural world. In the beginning, there was no death. The genetics of man had to be perfect. When sin was introduced in Genesis 3, death entered into God’s creation. Not only man, but the entire creation was cursed as a consequence of Adam’s disobedience.

In Rom. 8:18-25, the Apostle Paul explains that both man and all of creation were waiting to be redeemed. This curse had to affect our genetic code, causing imperfections to take place. These errors in the coding mechanism (mutations in the DNA) are easily seen. They are linked to certain diseases, a relationship that Francis Collins helped discover. It is ironic that he missed this important point: that disease originated in Genesis. Disease and death are consequences of sin. As Collins and others eliminate the importance of the Genesis account of the fall of man, they totally negate the tragic impact of the curse in Genesis. In doing so, they abolish the Bible’s stated reason for the gospel.

Geneticist John Sanford, the co-inventor of the “gene gun” approach to genetic engineering of plants, carefully analyzed the biblical ages of the patriarchs after the Flood. He came to the conclusion that man’s life span was decreasing at an accelerated rate. This mathematical phenomenon is affirmed in his book Genetic Entropy and the Mystery of the Genome.

In this book, he proposed that the human genome is rapidly degenerating due to mutations accumulating from one generation to the next as predicted in Exodus 34:7, “…visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

According to Sanford and contrary to Collins, he observes that genetic information is decreasing and causing living things, including man, to become extinct. Actually, according to rate of mutation, man is destined to exist for only 300 generations or 6000 years. Due to modern medical science, man has been blessed in so many ways by the ability to prolong his time on this planet and ward off his own extinction.

Francis Collins and so many others who hold onto the evolutionary model are in error. You can’t eliminate the passages of God’s word that don’t fit your finite criteria and remain free of error. Scripture is absolute. The Bible reveals the everlasting gospel. As Christ stated in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” Evolutionists would admit that man is finite and can err in his science laboratories. All who realize the true nature of science understand that it must be self-correcting, especially because it is fallible man’s endeavor to understand the world he lives in. In addition to this, we live in a less-than-perfect world. But Collins believes that Darwinian evolution is a proven fact and the central driving force that will continue to advance science to unbelievable levels.

Collins is so devoted to evolution that he cannot see any merit in the creationist view of a young earth. He states, “Creationism, while it is embraced by many in this country is, I’m afraid, in circumstance that is headed for deep trouble in the coming years.” His doomsday pronouncement on creationism is in direct opposition to what is being observed today. There is an astonishing growth in the outreach of creation ministries with a plethora of creation material flooding the market like never before. They are being used by many evangelical churches, Christian schools and those in the homeschool community. It has sustained momentum that will continue as more and more Christians are made aware of the importance of this message.

The creationist movement began with the 1961 publication of Genesis Flood co-authored by John Whitcomb and Henry Morris. They used scientific evidences to support the Word of God. There was a huge separation between science and God that took place after the 1925 Scopes Trail. Secularists invaded our educational market and became particularly entrenched in our universities and colleges. From there, they spread their atheistic evolutionary dogma throughout our educational institutions. Morris and company wanted to make the vital connection that God’s Word, particularly Genesis 1-11, was affirmed with solid scientific evidence. This began the modern creation movement that encouraged many other like-minded scientists, pastors, and Christian leaders to take a stand on the inerrancy of God’s Word from Genesis to Revelation.

Francis Collins and so many theistic evolutionists are so indoctrinated with evolutionary thinking that they fail to recognize that the creationist movement is making an impact in America. Certainly this nation falls in line with creationists regarding the origins of man. This is confirmed by a May 2014 Gallup Poll. It reports that 42% of Americans still believe that God created man in less than 10,000 years. It has been 30 years since a 1982 Gallup poll asked the same questions. There has been very little change over the past three decades. Most Americans steadfastly oppose Collins and other outspoken evolutionists concerning the human evolutionary scenario. They continue to support, “In the beginning, God created…” (Gen 1:1).

As a Christian that has sparked a new interest in Theistic Evolution, Collins felt that Theistic Evolution was too vague. For this reason, he founded BioLogos, hoping to unite evolutionary science with Christianity. According to Collins, the term BioLogos is “God speaking life into being.” He believes that man and all life were spoken into existence using the process of evolution. Collins considers God to be much bigger than we think He is. He also maintains that as man fills the gaps with knowledge that the Scripture will have to conform to it. His desire to establish BioLogos and advance this cause caught the attention of the Templeton Foundation. It has granted BioLogos nearly 9 million dollars with millions more from other donors providing grants to academic leaders, organizations, and even churches who promote “evolutionary creation.” A number of Christian colleges including Wheaton, Calvin, Gordon, Trinity Western University, and others have fallen in line by throwing out the literal interpretation of Genesis. Even Pope Francis opens the door for evolution stating, “Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.”

There are many Christians who have accepted evolution as a true science attempting to accommodate the Scriptures to fit Darwin’s theory. When Adam and Eve are dismissed and the Genesis account is seen as non-literal, it leads to blatant heresy. Genesis 1 and 2 gives us the foundation for the Gospel. In Genesis 1, we have God’s eye-witness account of the origins of the universe and all life, including man. In Genesis 1:27, the word “created” is used three times emphasizing the designation of two people, male and female. Later, in Genesis 2, Adam and Eve are named as the progenitors of the human race. Man was the result of a miraculous act. Genesis 2:7 explains that man was formed from the dust of the earth and created in the image of God’s eternal Son. There is no place for the evolutionary tree in the Scripture. Man is a direct creation of God who gave him life. He is not the result of evolutionary monkey business.

Christ referred to Genesis 1 and 2 when he preached about marriage in Matthew 19:4. He referred to Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24) stating in the same verse noted above, “He who made them at the beginning.” This is a clear reference to Genesis 1:1, “In the Beginning,” leaving no room for billions and billions of years of evolution. The gospel message is based on the understanding that everyone needs the Savior. Genesis 1 and 2 demonstrate that man is a special creation, unique from any other form of life. The genealogies in the Old Testament ultimately bring us to the Messiah. It is established in Genesis 5 that Adam and Eve were the parents of mankind. The underlying message concerning our need for a Savior is that man is sinful. This is established in Genesis 1 and 2 illustrating that man was ordained as a special creation of God.

In Genesis 3, Adam disobeyed God’s Word, which resulted in the curse of death being pronounced on both man and the rest of God’s Creation. The first Adam represents sinful man as indicated in Romans 5:12, Romans 5:18-19, I Corinthians 15:22, and I Corinthians 15:42-45. The apostle Paul speaks about the second Adam, in the Person of Jesus Christ, whose purpose was to free those in bondage to sin by grace through faith in Him (Eph. 2:8). He became the sacrificial Lamb, shedding His blood to pay for the sins of man, thereby transforming sinners into saints and resurrecting them as new creations (II Cor. 5:17).

When misguided Christians side with evolutionists and proclaim that the opening chapters of Genesis are nothing more than fables, the seeds of heresy are sown. When they substitute evolution with long ages, they invalidate the reason for, and the meaning of, the gospel. Such action is blatant heresy! Christians need to be vigilant. We are called to be salt and the light in a corrupt and dark world. It is only by the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ and standing on the firm foundation of God’s Word that people can be saved. It is not the ideas of men, regardless of their stature or accomplishments, which opens blind eyes and unstops deaf ears. The Apostle Paul warns his son in the faith writing, “O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.” [science in the KJV] (I Tim. 6:20).