The Bible On Macroevolution

From time to time Christians on the internet are confronted by Village Atheists, Metaphysical & Methodological Naturalists, & others about the alleged truth of Macroevolution.   How should we respond?

Answers In Genesis responds by engaging the alleged science behind Macroevolution,e but most of us aren’t scientists who are familiar with the topic.  Therefore, I prefer to let the Macroevolutionist drone on & exhaust their arsenal, after which I challenge them on their metascience. 

Why should we approach this issue as Methodological Naturalists?  Methodological Naturalism is the handmaiden of Metaphysical Naturalism.    Has science proven either one?  

All it takes to dismantle Metaphysical Naturalism is the Numbers Argument. 

See Here & Here. 

Since we do not live in a naturalistic universe, then why should we deploy methodology with naturalistic bias at its root?   The propaganda teaches us that Methodological Naturalism eliminates bias, as if giving consideration to Supernatural mechanisms is forbidden.

Think about how self-refuting a proposition that really is.  

Imagine you see bright lights in your house at 0430 AM. The lights are off, & you’re sitting on your couch eating a quick snack before going back to bed. The lights move as if the Atraxi from Doctor Who are probing your house in order to find Prisoner Zero.  

You checked, there was no special effects crew. 

There are no Extraterrestrials with a scout ship who were hovering in your back yard between the Redwood & your back porch, and your house is surrounded by woods on the two sides from which pranksters (or space aliens) & their SFX Department could pull off the sort of thing required to send light through your back porch sunroom & into your kitchen-den family room & into the basement stairwell that runs through the center of your house. 

In addition, have dreams as vivid as walking next door to your neighbors’ home.  They are as sharp and colorful as the Wizard of Oz in UHD 3D, & you start hearing voices that sound like angels and people you know.   In addition, even though you have a health locus of control of a ten & are notorious for reminding physicians who think they are your rulers of that fact, you, in an effort to do your due diligence relative to your mental health, talk to a psychologist or psychiatrist.  

However, he or she is a Village Atheist who sits there, listens to you, and then diagnoses you with a delusional disorder or schizophrenia because his or her commitment to metaphysical naturalism outweighs his or her obligation to produce an evidentiary argument to prove to you that these supernatural events did not happen.  In your therapist’s mind, there must be a naturalistic explanation.  Instead, of producing an evidentiary argument, he thinks this is all really improbable, so he does some math in his head and dismisses you, & his or her philosophical argument conduces to trying to talk you into believing his point of view based on his or her skepticism (or that of others) & his or her personal improbability table.  Perhaps he or she even writes you a prescription and tries to talk you into signing up for more intensive therapy that will help cure you of your delusion.

The next night, as you go to bed, a white window as large as a TV screen opens appears for 5 or 6 seconds & looks like the sort of window generated by an empty old-fashioned film projector. You see it, & you go to sleep knowing what your psychiatrist/psychologist did was medical malpractice and he is the deluded one. He diagnosed you based on a math equation, not actual evidence. Instead of confronting you with evidence, this trusted medical professional replaced proper diagnostic practice with his or her skepticism. 

Pay attention to the number of Village Atheists who talk about logic & reason, crowing about how enlightened they are, asserting that there is little if any evidence for the existence of God, who at times engage in psychobabble & accuse or all but accuse theists in general, & Christians (& other Co-Religionists) in particular, of living out a delusion - when the truth of the matter is that at least part of their argumentation about the existence or non-existence of God conduces to “Skepticism!” - as if skepticism (probabilistic argumentation) is all it takes to dismiss or refute argumentation for the existence of a personal being with an infinite, immutable mind.  

 

Once again, Romans 1:18 - 32 comes to the rescue.   

As we have discussed many times here, many Christians read the terms “natural” & “contrary to nature” in naturalistic terms, as if “natural,” in relation to what the Bible teaches about homosexuality,” means “heterosexual / heteronormative,” & “contrary to nature” means “homosexual & bisexual.”  

There are two ways to understand the reasoning behind that interpretation.  In the ancient world, where polytheism ruled the hearts & minds of people more often than not, they would say that since their gods had sexual characteristics, “natural” & “contrary to nature” in relation to sexual ethics are a reflection of the gods’ sexual characteristics.   We have sexual characteristics, therefore the gods do too. People reasoned from their sexuality to the gods’ sexuality. 

In a more modern context, a Metaphysical Naturalist &/or Methodological Naturalist might be prone to reason from “Naturalism!” in relation to the biological sciences to “natural” meaning “heterosexual” without reference to the image of God or gods,” insofar a Naturalism in general eliminates is a major vector that excludes supernatural ideas, including thoughts about God, from the discussion. 

On this view, the deployment of “natural” as “heterosexual / heteronormative” & “homosexual / bisexual” isn’t as much a function of beliefs about the ontology of God or the gods as it is about heterosexism &/or outright homophobia.  

Metaphysical & Methodological Naturalism might seem like tools to adopt as a means to control for any number of biases — but the truth of the matter is that is by no means the case, insofar as these concepts constitute morally unnatural means of reasoning.  

At its most fundamental level, Romans 1:18 - 32 constitutes an indictment against humanity for suppressing the existence, attributes, & authority of God & supplanting it with their own image authority &/or animals, & other created images & doing worship ethics (Faith) sexual (& other) ethics (Practice) accordingly.    Metaphysical & Methological Naturalism encourage us to reason from the created order to theological &/or philosophical & ethical principles — which is the ** opposite ** of what the text teaches. 

Finally, Romans 1:20 is clear that the purpose of the created order is to testify to God’s existence, attributes, & authority.  God is infinite, eternal, & unchangeable.  His self-revelation to people & animals (who are finite, ephemeral (though created to live forever) & mutable) is progressive.  

God does not evolve.  Therefore Macroevolution does not obtain.  God’s revelation of Himself to finite creatures is progressive.  Therefore microevolution does obtain. 

May God continue to bless us all, each & every one, & may we “Go & Sin No More.”

O LORD, Hear our prayer(s)!