One of the things Ken spoke about that evening was that the book of Genesis forms a critical part in the foundation of the Christian faith. It contains key principles such as the creation of the heavens and the earth, the creation of man in God's image, marriage and the birth of sin (Genesis 1-3).
For many years, schools have taught children that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is true. This I believe has partly contributed to a number of young people leaving the church. I for one can relate to this issue. Twenty years ago, I would never have thought I would be sitting here today a Christian, and believing that God created us. As a teenager living in Zimbabwe, the first thing I was taught in my history class was that human beings came from apes. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution was proof of the origin of life and human beings.
Although I grew up in a non-Christian home, we often attended church, so I had been exposed to the biblical notion that God had created the world. However, towards the end of secondary school, I began to question the truthfulness of the bible given the "evidence" for the theory of evolution. Africa was the "cradle of mankind" because the oldest fossils were found in Tanzania in support of this theory.
On the contrary, evidence was never brought forward to support the claims of the bible, and so I concluded that the bible was untrue. This brought about confusion in my mind and further pushed me to disbelieve in the existence of God.
It was only when I became a Christian that I began to truly grasp the bible and completely believe in what it teaches.
Given that the book of Genesis has key principles for Christianity, can we compromise on the account of creation? Can we add or subtract any part of this account as we please? Would our compromise impact our understanding of the rest of the bible and the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Let me put it this way: Suppose I have a friend that isn't a Christian and who has learned about Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in school and believes it to be true. This friend believes the Christian perspective regarding the creation of the world and mankind (as per account given in the book of Genesis) to be untrue. Now suppose I am to give a reason why I believe the biblical account is true. What are the possible responses I could give? I would like to suggest three possible responses:
Three responses
1. As a Christian, I believe in the bible in its entirety - from Genesis to Revelation. I believe that it is the absolute, infallible word of God and that God literally created the heavens and the earth in six days and that on the sixth day, God created man in His own image (Genesis 1 verse 27). Hence I would conclude that the theory of evolution is false.
2. As a Christian, I believe in the bible in its entirety - from Genesis to Revelation. I believe that it is the absolute, infallible word of God. However, it is possible that the creation of the heavens and the earth is not a literal six days but that the "days" could mean "millions" of years, and that in this time frame, God could have created man in His own image through the evolution of apes to the image that is possessed by humans today. The theory of evolution is true and can apply biblically.
3. As a Christian, I believe in the bible. The book of Genesis gives an explanation of the creation of the heavens, earth and mankind, but it's really just a story. It has been proven that the theory of evolution is true, so the biblical account of creation is untrue.
I am not ashamed
Many Christians would most probably provide one of the responses above. But I am not ashamed to admit that my immediate response to their question would be response number 1.
I fully believe in the bible. I would make no additions or subtractions to the already complete word of God. I believe the theory of evolution was just a theory and not proof of reality. Even though response number 2 claims to believe in the infallible word of God, I believe it contradicts itself by allowing the theory of evolution to infiltrate the word of God. Furthermore, I think response number 3 makes a mockery of God by claiming it is just "a story". I would suggest that response 2 and 3 undermine the authority of the word of God.
Some may say the account of creation (however perceived) doesn't really affect their faith or their salvation, so it really doesn't matter much. What's really more important is the gospel of Jesus Christ and that he died for our sins and now we can have a relationship with God. But compromising can highly impact our understanding of all scripture and can give others the impression that there is no authority in God's word.
Satan can disguise himself in so many different ways, and will use any means (even a theory) to try and distance people from God. Why can't we just accept the Word as it is? If we can comprise on Genesis, can we also compromise on the virgin birth and the resurrection of Jesus Christ? If I can omit from the book of Genesis, then surely I can omit or add to any other book in the bible!
So maybe the question we should be asking ourselves as Christians is: do we really want to uphold the supreme authority of God's word, or do we want to aid in creation of hostility towards the bible and diminish the authority of the word of God?
"Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar." [Proverbs 30 verses 5-6]
Kandima Awendila was born in Mozambique and lives and works as an IT Service Desk Engineer on the Gold Coast.
Kandi Awendila's archive of articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/kandima-awendila.html