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I Bequeath Thee -- Hopelessness! By Robert Berendt The popular teaching of evolution reared its ugly head over a century ago. Of all mankind's efforts to deny the one true God, this was perhaps the most devastating because it robs mankind of a purpose in life and hope for a future.
hristianity is supposed to be based on the Bible, but many Christians have added to the confusion. A clergyman told me years ago that the first six chapters of the Bible were myth. Soon I found that theologians were removing whole sections of Scripture. Martin Luther is purported to have said that the book of James was a "book of straw" because it did not agree with his understanding. Some Christians say that evolution can be accepted while still believing in a creating God -- but that compromise means the denial and removal of many of the Holy Scriptures. Wrong views Wrong views of the Bible result in wrong views of science. Other Christians insist that the earth and universe are only 6,000 years old and that dinosaurs never existed, but scientific facts and finds of complete dinosaur skeletons say otherwise. And thus many searching for truth are confused. Evolutionists are no less guilty. They took scientific fact and extrapolated it to the point of being preposterous. The denial of a designer in the face of undeniable evidence of the greatest perfection in the creation (such as the intricate DNA molecule) causes science to adopt totally illogical ideas. For honest progress and integrity, Christians should not deny and reject objective facts and truths about the universe, just as scientists should honestly admit their biases and the limitations of their knowledge base rather than extrapolate dogmatically or insist upon their interpretation of the limited knowledge base we have.
One modern generation after another has felt the pressure of this conundrum. The result is that many (especially in the West) just turned away from religion altogether. Paradoxically, many would say that globally there is probably a resurgence of religion. But popular religious beliefs are based less and less on the Bible. In the meantime, they "sort of" swallow the "scientific" statements of evolutionists and do not worry about God. Three decades ago I taught high school chemistry, physics and math. I made a point of taking the biology text and reading the introduction to the students. Nobody reads the introduction to a science book it seems, but in this one it clearly stated that this book was written and based on the theory of evolution. I felt that students should know what a theory is and what the difference was between theory and law or fact. True science is careful to search for facts and laws -- and to distinguish between that and theories. This was not done throughout the book. The biology teacher was irate and confronted me in the teacher's lounge one day. He asked how I could teach science and not believe in evolution. I asked him how he as a scientist could teach from an unproven theory as though it were true science, law and a fact. The conversation ended abruptly.
There has been an ongoing attempt to cause mankind to stray from the belief in the true God and Creator. We dismiss this invisible force and thus become disciples of the way that leads away from truth and from God. God's Word is truth (John 17:17). Truth gives freedom and improves the quality of life (John 8:32). In John 14:1-7, Jesus tells us that He is the way and the truth -- which leads to eternal life. God offers hope to mankind. This is the only hope that gives a purpose to life and a goal for mankind. Evolution denies a future and a purpose. Where God offers hope, evolution offers hopelessness. It is amazing that mankind chooses to lean toward hopelessness. Fine minds in the humanist school of thought would have mankind accidentally arising within a vacuum of hope and purpose, and living a noble life simply for the sake of doing so. The need for a hope
Humans are deceived into thinking that they have true freedom when they have no Creator to look to, no set of laws to follow and no one to define right and wrong for them. That route has been traveled in various ways -- with evolution being just one of those ways. Each of us -- once we are full grown and educated adults -- has the responsibility to search and seek for the meaning in life. This pursuit demands a significant expenditure of our energy, attention and time. Optimally, parents and adults will pass their experience and insight on to the young, to make this search more successful. In this generation, the legacy that all too many have inherited is one of hopelessness and a sense of drifting with no future. That inheritance is oblivion in the final analysis. Your Creator tells you and me to choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19). Why would we ever knowingly choose hopelessness and death? That is the question for today. Evolution bequeaths us hopelessness! God's truth reveals the sure hope for eternal salvation! Recommended reading For more information, please request our free booklet Copyright 2008 by United Church of God, an International Association All rights reserved. |
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Keywords: evolution young earth Bible historicity hope
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