It’s not surprising that the Facebook algorithm has picked up my interest in the science and Christian faith topic. So it’s always recommending these “atheism vs. Christianity” or “evolution vs. creationism” kind of FB groups.
My Facebook feed is already drowned in ads and whatever Zuckerberg thinks I should know, to the point that I cannot even see the photos my parents posted this morning. No thank you, Zuck. I will pass.
One day as I was doing my regular FB strolls, I saw this “Creationism” page that piqued my interest because I noticed some of my friends were in it (their names shall not be named 🙂). Yes, people can see which public groups you are part of.
“Is it worth sharing my thoughts there as a Christian biologist?” I thought to myself naively.
I am curious to see what’s going on. After all… why not? Why shouldn’t I join it?
There are almost 100,000 people in this group. I don’t know the exact demographics of the people, but certainly people from all around the world.
On the guidelines and rules, the definition of Creationism is listed as:
“Creationism, the belief that the universe and all life in it arose thru an act of divine creation.”
Divine creation. That usually means not through natural processes like evolution. I was right, the majority of the Christians here are Young Earth Creationists (YEC).
I did not expect this to be a debate group, at least I don’t think it intended to be one. My suspicion is that it started with only Christians, but slowly atheists started to trickle in to see what was going on. They were curious just like me.
The two major camps are creationism vs. evolution. You either believe God created life thru an act of divine creation or you’re an atheist who “believes” in evolution. No other choice. At least it seems like that.
From the Christian side, they present “evidence” for a divine Creator, such as how evolution is obviously wrong, a global flood that killed all the dinosaurs, and the universe is only a few thousand years old. Their content almost exclusively comes from creation science ministries like Answers in Genesis, Institute of Creation Research, and Intelligent Design Movement. Nothing new.
What Christians show and claim here reveals a vast ignorance of the subject, and it is embarrassing to watch. The misunderstanding of evolution and of how science works made me feel somewhat hopeless. Take a deep breath. Phew.
Atheists fought back with scientific evidence for evolution, ancient earth, and with claims that the Bible is a fairy tale, and so on. They say there could not possibly be a God because of what we see in the natural world.
Evolution is real, therefore the Bible must be false. It is an easy conclusion for them because the Christians made it so.
Both sides attack a strawman version of the other side. It is not really a debate anymore, because everybody is just mocking each other with closed ears and closed minds. It is an absolute clown fiesta 🤡—a circus show.
This is the conflict model between science and faith at its peak.
Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse. I saw this poll in the group. It’s a survey on the position on religion and openness to change.
Of all the people who took the poll, 25% are atheists and 75% are Christians.
Among believers, 29% accept mainstream science, which is higher than I expected. Twenty-five percent are YEC but open to change, but a solid 45% of YECs say they will never change their position.
Among the atheists, 25% say they would never change their position, but 75% are open to believing in God if there is solid proof. I really do not like how belief in God is tied to YEC here. You can absolutely be a Christian and accept an ancient earth and common descent.
What bothers me most is that almost half of the Christians here claim that “nothing could ever convince them to change their YEC view.” Personally, there are very, very few things I would say like this about, not even evolution, and I am a scientist.
The ironic thing is that these YECs keep posting about the supposed “scientific evidence” for a creator, arguing that it “proves” God’s existence.
But if nothing could ever convince them to change their view, why present any arguments or evidence for YEC at all?
If someone accepts either evolution or YEC because of the evidence, then they should also be open to the possibility that their position could be wrong if they are presented with compelling data.
Seventy-five percent of the atheists are open-minded, but only 25% of the Christians are.
If you thought I was going to jump into hand-to-hand combat with them, I am sorry to disappoint you. I remained silent the entire time I was in this group. I did not make a single comment. Why? Because it is virtually pointless. If you have ever seen two heated people arguing and talking past each other, this group is exactly that.
Any post or comment would be bombarded by both Christians and atheists, because both sides believe they are right and that the other side is clearly wrong and stupid. No productive dialogue can happen in that kind of environment.
It is obvious that both sides are doing something wrong. But what troubles me most is seeing Christians confidently make false scientific claims in areas where they are not experts. In many cases, they show a vast ignorance of the subject.
What impact does this have on our witness when Christians do this?
Saint Augustine, one of the most influential early Christian theologians, warned us about this 1,600 years ago…
In the Literal Meaning of Genesis1, Augustine writes:
“Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world,… and this knowledge he holds to as being certain from reason and experience.
Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking non-sense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn.”
Non-Christians are not fools. Just because they do not believe in God doesn’t mean they cannot study the world and draw evidence-based scientific conclusions. That doesn’t mean their interpretations cannot be wrong. But when over 98% of scientists accept an ancient universe and evolution2, including many, many Christian scientists, that should make you pause and think.
God gave us science as the best method for understanding our natural world. It’s a form of common grace that is not restricted only to Christians.
Often I hear from Christians say that Scripture clearly teaches that the earth is young or humans were created through divine creation. But what they don’t realize is that there are different views on creation within Christianity. Genuine and faithful Christians hold different views on these topics. YEC is not the only one and Christians should not present it as if it were the Gospel.
Many early church fathers, including Saint Augustine, believed that God revealed himself in the ‘Two Books’: Scripture and nature. Although the Bible is inerrant in what it teaches or affirms, our interpretations of it can be, and often are, wrong.
So when there seems to be a conflict between what we learn from Scripture and what we find in the natural world, we ought to check our interpretations of both books, not just one.
But the real danger is this, St. Augustine continued:
“The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the household of the faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men.
If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason?”
When Christians confidently claim that the earth is young and that evolution is wrong because the Bible says so, they make it very difficult for scientifically minded seekers to even consider Christianity.
To them, and to most Christian scientists, the evidence for an ancient earth and common descent is overwhelming. Believing in YEC is asking them to abandon their rationality and deny the reality of the natural world.
If Christians deny the basic truths about the natural world, how can we expect nonbelievers to trust what we say about the unseen kingdom of God?
They cannot even get to know who Jesus is, which is the essence of Christianity, because they are gatekept at the door by a certain view of creation. How sad is that?
St. Augustine’s wise words should really be a warning to us in how we approach the science-and-faith topic. As Christians, we need to do better than this.
Other related posts:
From Young Earth Creationist to Evolutionary Biologist: My Personal Story
The Surprising Origins of Modern Young Earth Creationism
Did Animals Die Before The Fall?
Hi! I am Chi-Jing Leow, a Christian biologist. I am also a follower of Jesus, and I care deeply about exploring the topics at the intersection of science and faith.
References:
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/02/11/darwin-day/
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