On Theistic Evolution

Some Christians, in light of the overwhelming evidence for evolution and an old earth, have attempted to reconcile Christianity and evolution with theistic evolution, or the belief that Genesis is actually symbolic and evolution is correct. Some justify this syncretism by saying that one day to God could mean thousands or millions of years to us. After all, He is God, isn't He? Some have attempted to say that since the big bang, time has been expanding, and when seven days is applied to this time expansion, seven days totals to around fifteen billion years, around what scientists have determined the age of the universe to be.

Atheists and creationists alike have leveled numerous attacks at this view. Unfortunately for theistic evolutionists, this view runs into several problems with Genesis and in fact undermines the entire theology behind Christianity. It directly contradicts some aspects of Genesis and some things elsewhere in the Bible.

Discrepancies with Genesis

If Genesis is just a poetic description of the beginnings of the universe and life on Earth, then it seems to have the order of events wrong. According to secular theories, stars and galaxies were formed first, followed by planets and solar systems, then DNA (and thus life) emerged on earth. Genesis, however, has the earth forming first, then the plants, then the sun (how the plants survived before the sun was formed is beyond me), followed by the surrounding cosmos.

Genesis describes the sun rising and setting between the days. This indicates a literal day, which runs into direct contradiction with the "day=era" theory. I don't know enough about modern cosmology to discuss the time expansion theory, but it runs into the problem of having the events in a different order, described earlier.

According to theistic evolution, God did not create the planet ex nihilo, or from nothing, a very important doctrine in Christianity. Genesis never states, not even in some metaphoric or symbolic way, that God created some sort of organic material to set off life's formation. It does not have earth forming from cosmic dust. It does not even state this symbolically (e.g. "God created dust to form the earth" or "God made the earth from dust"). This is very difficult for a Christian to explain away or interpret his way around (although I'm sure it can be done).

The Sabbath day Moses commanded the Jews to follow is meaningless by theistic evolution. In Exodus, the Jews are clearly instructed to work for six days and then do no work on the seventh, "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day [...]" (Ex. 20.11 KJV). The Jews weren't told to work for four and a half billion years and rest for a few hundred million. They were told to work for six days and to not work on the seventh. This is explicit!

Issues with Christian Theology

As described in this video, theistic evolution runs into the problem of evil. Evolution is rampant with suffering and death. It is why the weaker members of a species die off and give way to the stronger species for reproduction. It is why child birth is so painful. If God intentionally used evolution to create life, then the blame for death and suffering can no longer be placed on man's fall.

Theistic evolution undermines the entire doctrine of salvation by Christ's death on the cross. If suffering existed before man's creation and His actions, then there really is no need for salvation since it really isn't man's fault to begin with. Think about it. Because of disease and resource scarcity (a result of evolution), people have to kill members of other species to research cures for diseases and have to kill each other in war for resources. Theistic evolution really doesn't account for this.

If man's fall is just some sort of allegorical myth, then the integrity of Christian doctrine is undermined, since salvation through Christ reduces to symbolic allegory. Salvation through Christ is the central doctrine of Christianity. You cannot call yourself a Christian if you don't believe in this doctrine!

Clearly, theistic evolution raises some grave questions about Scripture and the entire theology of Christianity.

Conclusion

I am not attempting to disprove God or Christianity here. I am merely pointing out that theistic evolution seems to create a lot of problems for Christians who hold to the view. I am not saying that evolution somehow disproves God (although it certainly doesn't help Him out), but I am saying that for the theistic evolutionist, these issues have to be addressed.

From my personal standpoint, theistic evolution is a way of bridging the (very large) gap between modern science and Christianity. All it seems to do is just throw God into the mix. In short, it's a cop out. When Genesis is conflicted with scientific evidence, theistic evolution creates an excuse that clearly generates more problems than it solves (something not uncommon in Christian apologetics).

Further Reading:

"10 Dangers of Theistic Evolution"

"Is the 'Gap Theory' an acceptable way to harmonize the Bible and the geologic record?"