In his provocatively titled book From Darwin to Hitler, historian Richard Weikart examines the revolutionary impact Darwinism had on the ethics and morality of social thinkers in Nazi Germany. Believing that Darwinism had overturned any sense of the sanctity of human life, an evolutionary ‘fitness’ (especially in terms of intelligence and health) became the highest arbiter of morality for the Nazis. Weikart concludes that Darwinism played a strategic role not only in the rise of euthanasia, infanticide, abortion and racial extermination-all ultimately embraced by the Nazis. The contention that Hitler built his views on Darwinian principles raises one of the most important truths a mind can comprehend: Ideas have consequences.[i]
While many people in our current society believe that this concept of evolution, with its corresponding concept of the survival of the fittest, rejection of God, or that our world had an intelligent designer is unsustainable. Their premise is that a naturalistic and scientific explanation is the only reasonable and intelligent position that many people maintain. If one is to challenge or doubt their position, they consider that unreasonable, stupid, dangerous, insane and even wicked. Atheist like Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett would argue this position quite vehemently. In Dennett’s, ‘Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, he writes:
To put it bluntly but fairly, anyone today who doubts that the variety of life on this planet was produced by a process of evolution is simply ignorant-inexcusably ignorant.” Richard Dawkins wrote in a 1989 New York Times book review that ‘it is absolutely safe to say that if you meet someone who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I’d rather not consider that).[ii]
So how open are people today to hearing another position? When Richard Milton, an atheists published, ‘Shattering the Myths of Darwinism’ his response by most in the scientific community stunned him.
I expected it to arouse controversy, because it reports on scientific research that is itself controversial and because it deals with Darwinism- always a touchy subject with the biology establishment. I didn’t expect science to welcome an inquisitive reporter, but I did expect the controversy to be conducted at a rational level, so that people would rightly demand to inspect my evidence more closely and question me on the correctness of this or that fact. To my horror, I found that instead of challenging me, orthodox scientists simply set about seeing me off ‘their’ property.
Richard Dawkins, at Oxford University, wrote his review for the New Statesman magazine lest the paper commission someone else who would treat it as a serious scientific treatise.’ Dawkins devoted two-thirds of his review to attacking my British publishers, Fourth Estate, for their irresponsibility in daring to accept a book criticizing Darwinism and the reminder to assassinating my own character… Dawkins is employed at one of Britain’s most distinguished universities and is responsible for the education of future generations of students. Yet this is not the language of a responsible scientist and teacher. It is the language of a religious fundamentalist whose faith has been profaned.
Nature magazine, probably the most highly respected scientific magazine in the world, scented blood and joined in the frenzy. …These intemperate responses betoken more than a squabble between an inquisitive journalist and a couple of reactionary academics. They raise a number of important questions of public interest. Who do you have to be to have a voice about scientific research on which large sums of public money are spent? Who decides who you have to be? In what forum, or by what mechanism, can the voices of dissent ever be heard in science?
It is not just outsiders who cannot be heard, it is dissenting members of the scientific professions themselves. In my mailbox are letters from biologists who are concerned by the teaching of Darwinism as holy writ and from medical men whose practices have led them to make medical discoveries having a bearing on evolutionary biology. They have sought to publicize these discoveries in journals such as Nature but have been universally rejected because their discoveries are anti-Darwinian in implication and hence counter to the ruling ideology in the life sciences. They have appealed to me-a non-scientist-to help them gain publicity.[iii]
What we discover that is simply a hypothesis or a theory is sanctioned as reality and truth. To question is considered evil. People who state that they have an open mind are totally closed minded to any position other than their own.
So, what does the Bible have to say about the origins of matter, life and the existence of God? The bible never tries to prove God, rather it simply makes that as a statement of fact. When we examine Psalm 19, we are confronted not only how God reveals himself to us, but we are exposed to our condition before him.
THE FIRST MAJOR MEANS OF GOD REVEALING HIMSELF TO US IS THROUGH CREATION.
The material world is a declaration of an intelligent designer. There is a creator in all of this ordered and highly complex world.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.[iv]
- The Psalmist states the created world makes the declaration that there is a Creator.
The complexity of our world, the orderliness of this creation, demands an intelligent designer. To consider that this all randomly happened takes faith. What poses for science today is often a sham. True science would be about continually readjusting findings as new discoveries are made about the origins of life.
The ancients worshiped the creation rather than the creator. The sun particularly was an object of their worship, and it is one reason why the author of Genesis describes the creation of the sun as the greater light to govern the day. “God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night.”[v]
We might think that we have greatly advanced beyond the ancient thinking but let me remind us that we still have people today who live their lives shaped by the celestial rotation of the planets. Rather than trust God they trust the stars which is the nature of astrology and horoscopes and they become the guiding principle of their lives. We find this warning from the Old Testament.
Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.[vi]
So, humanity moves in a direction away from the revelation of God, by a false worship of creation itself. If we will not worship the Creator, then we default and begin to worship the creature. Historical documentation reveals how the ancients worshiped the material world. But are we any better today in our world? Today, there are still people who worship the creation, animist are those who worship the created world and the spirits that have deceived them.
Pantheism is another form of false worship where everything is considered a god. One expression of pantheism is Hinduism. It is amazing how many gods, Hindu’s worship: over 330 million gods. In the West, Hinduism is expressed in another form called the ‘New Age’ which is a form another form of pantheism.
Some would object and say that they are not religious at all. They are secularist, or atheists and don’t believe in God, but the reality is that human beings are worshipers and what those who are atheists’ worship is themselves. It is the worship of humanity. It is placing ourselves above God. Atheism, simply means, ‘no God.’ The Psalmist describes this person as a fool. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”[vii]
Gerhard Von Rad writes regarding the meaning of this term fool. “The fool was not simply an ‘imbecile,’ but a man who resisted a truth which presented itself to him in creation, who, for whatever reasons, did not trust in an order which would be beneficial for him, but which now turns against him.”[viii]
So, that does the bible have to say about people who suppress the truth? In Romans 1:18-20; we are told that the knowledge of God is revealed by what is seen.
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.[ix]
“The knowledge of God described is hardly a saving knowledge. Paul’s purpose is to show that the knowledge of God that all people have through observing the created order is suppressed (v. 18) and distorted (vv. 21-23), so that all without exception have no excuse (v. 20).”[x]
Paul is saying that God had declared His existence by what is seen. Alvin Plantinga writes in response to people who reject God as the primary source of creation:
Daniel Dennett maintains that this whole process-the process of descent with modification driven by natural selection winnowing random genetic mutation—is not directed or guided or overseen by any intelligent agent. The whole process has happened without the aid of God or anyone (or anything) at all like God: ‘An impersonal, unreflective, robotic, mindless little scrap of molecular machinery is the ultimate basis of all the agency, and hence meaning, and hence consciousness, in the universe [Dennett, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, 203.]’ In response to Dennett, Plantinga argues against this random idea of how life came to be.
Life itself originated just by way of the regularities of physics and chemistry (through a sort of natural selection); and undirected natural selection has produced language and mind, including our artistic, moral, religious, and intellectual proclivities.
Now many—atheists and others—have found these claims at least extremely doubtful; some have found them preposterous. Is it really so much as possible that language, say, or consciousness, or the ability to compose great music, …or think up the idea of natural selection should have been produced by mindless process of this sort? That is an ambitious claim.
That mind and life in all its variety have come to be in this unguided fashion is of course inconsistent with Christian belief, as well as other kinds of theistic belief [which is belief in a personal God]. For according to Christians and other theists, God has designed and created the world; he intended that it take a certain form and then caused it to take that form.[xi]
God had a purpose in creating our world the way He did. The more we study the world God made the more amazing it all is.
B. We now come to one of the important elements of God’s creation: the sun.
“In the heavens God pitched a tent for the sun, it is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.”[xii]
The Psalms literary genre is poetry. Poetry uses symbols to communicate abstract ideas. Our sun is really a star and shines to bring light and life to our planet. As our planet rotates around the sun, we have the sense that the sun rises and then sets, darkness comes upon us, and then it comes again. The Psalmist shows the relationship of how our spiritual lives are sustained by God’s word. Like the sun which brings light and life to our world, so the word of God brings the same to our soul.
The sun is described like a bridegroom which in the ancient world was eagerly awaited by the bridal party. So, the sun is seen as coming from its place impacting all who are exposed to its warmth. The point is that through the created world that God designed, it calls attention to his existence. However, to know God we must have a more specific revelation than nature. God, who is the ultimate communicator has spoken to us through his word.
THE SECOND MAJOR MEANS OF REVEALING HIMSELF TO US IS THROUGH HIS WORD.
While the created world is a general revelation of who God is, the Bible is the specific revelation of God. We are immediately shown the importance of God’s message to us.
The Law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the LORD are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.[xiii]
These texts describe for us the value of God’s word in our lives. God’s word is flawless or perfect. God’s word refreshes our souls. It is trustworthy and gives us wisdom and guidance for our lives. Scripture instructs us in what is right and gives us joy. God’s word enlightens us to understand the world in which we live. The Bible brings us to a knowledge of God and his ways, which have sustained life for God’s people throughout human history. The value of God’s word is worth more than all the money in the world.
Yet, when we think about the word of God, what generally comes into our minds is the written word, or the bible. That is true but it is not the complete picture. God’s word leads us to the person of the word.
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.[xiv]
Jesus is the word of God. If we don’t come to know him then it becomes just another book. Jesus told the religious leaders in his day, that they thought they understood the Scriptures, but he told them that they testify of himself. If we don’t come to Jesus, we have missed the whole message of the Bible. “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”[xv]
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.[xvi]
Clive S. Lewis states the purpose clearly. “It is Christ Himself, not the Bible, who is the true Word of God. The bible, read in the right spirit and with the guidance of good teachers, will bring us to him.”[xvii]
God’s word is a revelation of Christ. Peter Craigie writes: “For the heavens declare the glory of God, but the law declares the will of God for mankind, the creature.”[xviii]
Just like the sun’s heat dominates where it shines, so too, the word of God brings light and warmth to the soul of men and women. “Just as the sun can be both welcome, in giving warmth and terrifying in its unrelenting heat, so too the Torah can be both life-imparting, but also scorching, testing, and purifying. But neither are dispensable. ‘There could be no life on this planet without the sun; there can be no true human life without the revealed word of God in the Torah.”[xix]
So, what affects does the word of God have upon us? It revives or converts, gives us wisdom, brings joy into our lives, gives us understanding. Ultimately, it exposes what is really within us.
By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. But who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.[xx]
The value of God’s word is greater than gold and sweeter than honey fresh from the comb. It’s ultimate value to a person is what it does in transforming lives. God’s word warns us from destructive behavior, also there is a great reward in obeying God’s word. It helps us see what we and even others cannot see about our true condition. God’s word can uncover the destructive tendencies we have within our own soul. The Johari Windows was created by psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in 1955 to help people better understand themselves and others.
The Psalmist is telling us that God reveals Himself through our created world. He declares that He is and that we need to respond to Him through His word, not just the written message, but the person of the message, the Lord Jesus Christ. He only can reveal the true condition of our soul. We don’t fully understand ourselves and why we do what we do. There is a power and a principle at work within us, our sinful nature that can destroy us and those we love. Only God’s love and power is able to reveal and to deal with our sin.
“But who can discern their own errors. Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.”[xxii]
https://pixabay.com/photos/earth-planet-space-world-11008
[i] James Emery White, A Mind for God, (Downers Grove, Il: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 25.
[ii] Alvin Plantinga, Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, & Naturalism, (Oxford: University Press, 2011), 33.
[iii] www.krusch.com/books/evolution/Shattering_Myths_Of_Darwinism.pdf
[iv] Psalm 19:1-4a, The New International Version of the Bible, Zondervan, 2011.
[v] Genesis 1:16.
[vi] Deuteronomy 4:15b-19
[vii] Psalm 14:1.
[viii] Gerhard Von Rad, Wisdom in Israel, (Nashville, Tn: Abingdon Press, 1972), 298.
[ix] Romans 1:18-20.
[x] Thomas Schreiner, Romans, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, Mi: Baker Books, 1998), 85.
[xi] Alvin Plantinga, Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, & Naturalism, 34-35.
[xii] Psalm 19:4b-6.
[xiii] Psalm 19:7-10.
[xiv] Hebrews 1:1-3.
[xv] John 5:39-40.
[xvi] John 1:1-3, 14.
[xvii] C. S. Lewis, The Quotable Lewis, eds. Wayne Martindale & Jerry Root, (Wheaton, Il: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990), 72.
[xviii] Peter Craigie, Psalm 1-50, Word Biblical Commentary, (Waco, Tx: Word Books, Publisher, 1983), 183.
[xix][xix] Ibid, 183-84.
[xx] Psalm 19:11-14
[xxi] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Johari_Window.PNG
[xxii] Psalm 19:12-13a.
