What Evolutionists Say-About Fundamentals
When I was a high school and college basketball player my coaches made it clear during our tryouts that no one would make the team unless they were willing to commit to learning, and demonstrating knowledge of, the fundamentals of the game. So far as I know this is true for all team sports as well as most individual sports. According to Webster’s Dictionary something fundamental is, “one of the minimum constituents without which a thing or system would not be what it is.” The importance of this concept to all matters of human endeavor is attested to by books and courses by the thousands where the word, “fundamentals” is in the titles. If one doubted this, they could be quickly educated by a simple search of Amazon books for the words “fundamentals of.”
So are ideologies, religions, and philosophies a part of human endeavor? Are there fundamentals for these concepts as well? The answer is of course, yes. Religions like Christianity have doctrines and dogmas that are to be followed. Biblical Christianity relies on the Holy Bible for its foundational concepts. For philosophical ideas like materialism, naturalism, evolutionism etc., more difficulty is involved determining fundamentals, because they are called “science” by many and therefore must have an elasticity to allow for the constant changes in that discipline. The bottom line is that the only required fundamental presupposition for materialism, naturalism and evolutionism is that they must be accepted as scientifically proven.
What about fundamentals for Christians? Between the years 1910 and 1915, a series of pamphlets were published by Bible believing Christians with the title, “The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth.” These pamphlets resulted in certain Christians forevermore being placed into a category called “fundamentalists.” History since the early 20th century shows that any Christian somehow identified as a member of that group of “fundamentalists” was to be described with derision, not only by secular humanists, but even by Christians of many stripes.
Just what were these stated “truths” that have gotten so many to express so much ridicule toward a certain group of Christians?
- The Bible is true and free from error in its original manuscripts.
- Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary as described in the Bible.
- Christ atoned for human sin by dying on the cross.
- Christ came back to life, in his own body, after his death (he was resurrected from the dead).
- Christ performed numerous miracles during his time on earth.
- The story of creation as described in the Bible is true, and the Creator God is sovereign over the universe.
At first glance the reader might think, “That sounds a lot like a foundational listing of traditional Christian doctrine.” However, the popular ideas of organic and cosmic evolution, the influence of liberal Christian compromisers, along with the ravages of “higher biblical criticism,” had taken its toll, especially among theological intellectuals. Consider the following quote from 1993: “However, there is little real conflict between scientists and most modern theologians. The serious tension lies between these same theologians and their followers, many of whom are unaware that their naïve yet cherished images of God the Creator were abandoned by their ministers long ago.” [Davies, Paul C., “What Hath COBE Wrought?” Sky and Telescope, vol. 85 (January 1993), p. 5.]
In the decades since the above quote, the vast majority of Christian seminaries have gone even further down that path of apostasy. My research has shown that this is the case primarily because these apostate theologians refuse to look for the truth themselves. It is easier and more comfortable for them to go along with the ideas of certain “authoritative men of science” than to consider the possibility that the history and science of the Bible might be true. For this reason it is no wonder that many Biblical Christians (this writer included) recommend that young pastors stay far away from these seminaries!
Secularists complain about fundamentalists and Christians in general, but they have every advantage for their ideas in the American culture, as described by the following: “If we do not resolve our problems with the creationists, we have only ourselves to blame. Let’s remember, the greatest resource of all is available to us – the educational system of the nation.” [Milne, David H., “How to Debate with Creationists and Win,” American Biology Teacher, vol. 43 (May 1981), p. 6.]
No one can deny the fact that the secularists control our public schools, most of academia, the media, the courts, and the entertainment industry. However, the truth is a scary thing to those who reject the Creator God, as seen in this quote: “But modern, scientific, progressive America witnesses, at this very moment, a resurgence of biblical literalism, fundamentalism, and evangelicalism that almost defies belief…But of all the recent manifestations of old-time religion, I can think of none more intellectually impertinent or socially and politically ominous than that of the Creation Research Society and its Institute for Creation Research, devoted to destroying the ideas of cosmic and organic evolution. The mischief that this organization is prepared to do to the life and earth sciences, particularly in elementary and secondary schools, staggers the scientific imagination.” [McKown, Delos B., “Close Encounters of an Ominous Kind: Science and Religion in Contemporary America,” The Humanist, vol. 39 (January-February 1979), p. 4).
Since 1979 I would estimate the number of biblical creation apologetics organizations has tripled at least. But, as seen in the Gallup Poll shown below the number of evolutionists as a percentage of the American population has more than doubled in that same period. Why should we expect anything else given the control that secularists have over the culture?
Creationists: Blue line. Evolutionists: Red plus Green lines.
And, in today’s political climate we are experiencing a culture where a significant portion of the American population would agree with the following decades old quote: “American religious fundamentalism is not only an increasingly malignant threat to human dignity, intellect, and reason, but also one of the most calculated campaigns of demagoguery, hate, cruelty, greed, ignorance, persecution, intolerance, oppression, injustice, exploitation, and pseudo-Christian barbarity that has existed within the borders of a civilized nation.” [Thomas, Randall, “Moral Majority: The Way of the Cross,” on the cover of American Atheist, vol. 24 (August 1982).]
Wow, are the atheists upset with Christian Fundamentalists, or what? The promoted atheistic cure for the truths of the Bible are to accept atheistic evolution instead, an idea without a scintilla of scientific foundation!
It seems that in today’s relativistic culture there is a requirement for fundamentals in every human endeavor except for Christianity. For a Christian to believe the Bible from the very first verse is to place him in a position of cultural derision – a member of the hated “Religious Fundamentalists.”
At one time, before I accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, I too was one who rejected the Bible and detested the fundamentalists. God used creation science to change my heart and mind. We must remember that others have also changed their hearts and minds, even while subjected to the lies of the culture. And we should pray that this process will continue until the time that the Lord returns. Here is what I wrote back in 2010: “The higher criticism that brought the backlash [to the rejection of God’s Word] has been shown to be worthless and invalid by conservative theological scholarship. The truth in the early 20th century was that evolution and millions of years were non-biblical. The truth one hundred years later is that evolution and millions of years are non-biblical. Since God and the Bible are the same yesterday, today, tomorrow, and forever, the truth at any time in the future will be that evolution and millions of years are non-biblical.” [Mitchell, J.D., The Creation Dialogues – 2nd Edition, 2014, CEC Publications, p. 43.]
The only Savior and true Foundation available for humanity is the Lord Jesus, (1Timothy 2:5-6). The atheists are fully aware that they can offer no alternative. The Bible is a unique story about the Lord Jesus and His directives for us while we are here on earth. Jesus says: I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me (John 14:6). One would do well to reject the invalid, constantly changing ideas of fallible men and turn instead to the perfect foundation offered by our Creator God.
J.D. Mitchell
