Creation, Science and the New Gnosticism
by Austin L. Hughes
In the last century, new discoveries in geology and biology created a crisis for both academic and popular Christian theology. The evidence suggesting that the earth is very old and that organic species have an evolutionary relationship to one another appeared to contradict the account of creation given in the first two chapters of Genesis. Many Christians gradually came to believe that modern science can be reconciled with the Christian faith. Others reacted by upholding a traditional, literal interpretation of Genesis, apparently believing that such an interpretation represented the only alternative to “liberal” theology.
In our own century, one consequence of this reaction has been the development of an elaborate theory of the earth’s history known as “creation science.” Its proponents claim that this theory is the only account of the earth’s history that is compatible with Scripture and that is supported by an unbiased reading of the scientific evidence. I believe, that, contrary to the claims of its supporters, “creation science” does not represent a literal biblical account of the earth’s history but rather a heretical departure from historic, biblically centered Christianity.
“Creation scientists” have devoted much energy to searching for inconsistencies in evolutionary theory and for anomalies in the fossil record. While I believe that they might have found more constructive ways to spend their time, it is not my intention to review here the evidence for and against the conclusions of mainstream scientists. I do want to mention briefly one line of evidence for evolution which seems largely to be unknown to the “creation scientists.” This is the evidence from molecular biology, which is my own area of research. In the past fifteen years, molecular biologists have discovered a whole new world of evidence that the earth is millions of years old and that humans share ancestry with other animals. This evidence is far more convincing than any fossil, and furthermore each one of us carries it with us in the nucleus of every cell in our bodies.
The heritable characteristics of all organisms are determined by genes, which are stretches of nucleic acids; that is, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or, in the case of some viruses, ribonucleic acid (RNA). The sequence of the chemical building blocks of genes (called nucleotides) contains a code, which directs the synthesis of RNA and protein molecules. Furthermore, the genomes (full sets of chromosomes) of higher organisms such as ourselves contain vast amounts of DNA that plays no role in directing the synthesis of any other molecule and thus has no effect on the phenotype (that is, on the biochemical, physiological and anatomical characteristics of the organism). It is now possible to determine nucleotide sequences quite rapidly, and the sequence of the entire human genome will probably be known in another decade or two. Since evolutionary change is nothing more than change in the sequence of nucleic acids, comparing genomes of different species we are able to examine evolution at first hand.
A Christian, believing that God created the heavens and the earth, must ask himself or herself this question: If God really made humans and other animals and the universe itself only 6,000 years ago, why did he make us so that each of us carries the apparent evidence of a much longer past in every cell of our bodies? Recall that this evidence is found not only in coding DNA that affects the phenotype of the organism but also in non-coding DNA that has no phenotypic effect and thus cannot simply be explained away as reflecting a divine plan to create phenotypic similarities among organisms. To resolve such a dilemma, we must turn to the Scriptures, primarily to the accounts of creation in the first two chapters of Genesis.
Human Origins and Human Nature
In reading Genesis, it is instructive to ask ourselves how much common ground there is between the scriptural account of the creation and the scientific evidence. First, we notice that the Bible and the scientific evidence are in agreement that humans originated on this planet. “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:6) In Hebrew, the earthly origin of the man is emphasized by the similarity between the words for man (adam) and ground (adamah).
This may seem a small point of agreement, but in today’s world it is not trivial by any means. Where I live, public school instructors teaching biological evolution are much less likely to be challenged by Christian advocates of “creation science” than by adherents of New Age paganism, who believe that our species originated form colonization of this planet by inhabitants of some other galaxy. Genesis is adamant that our origins are earthly, a position that scientific evidence amply confirms.
The Scripture states that God made man from “the dust of the ground” and that he “formed out of the ground” other animals (Genesis 2:19; see also 1:24). Clearly, the Bible teaches that our physical natures have the same origin as other animals. Their bodies are made from the earth; or as we would express it today, they are composed of chemical elements commonly found on this planet. Thus Genesis agrees with evolutionary biology in seeing that our physical natures have a common origin and a shared substance with other animals.
Note, however, that the accounts of the creation of man and the other animals differ in significant ways. “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27) Humans are thus endowed with a spiritual nature, in the image of God, which they do not share with other animals. Our physical nature is shared with other animals, however; therefore, nothing in Genesis contradicts the origin of our physical natures by an evolutionary process.
A Journal of Mere Christianity—Delivered to Your Door
- Essays on theology, culture, and the Church
- Contributors from across the Christian traditions
Six print issues (one year) of Touchstone, plus full online access and PDF downloads for only $39.95.
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95.
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more on science from the online archives
29.4—July/August 2016
on Noticing That Modern Science Has Rendered Atheism Irrational by Harry Biltz
17.6—July/August 2004
Old Science Confronts a Formidable Challenge in the Scientific ID Movement by Jay W. Richards
28.2—March/April 2015
Why Scientism's Cherished Progress Narrative Fails by Jonathan Witt
more from the online archives
33.3—May/June 2020
Maternal Body: A Theology of Incarnation from the Christian East by Carrie Frederick Frost
Fertile Ground: A Pilgrimage Through Pregnancy by Laura S. Jansson by Agnes R. Howard
29.4—July/August 2016
Russell Kirk: American Conservative by Bradley J. Birzer by Hunter Baker
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
