If Darwin was right, is Christianity wrong?

If Darwin was right, is Christianity wrong?

The Question
In his 1859 book On the Origin of Species Charles Darwin developed the theory that simple life (like that of a microbe) evolved/changed through time into more complex life (like that of a man). To put it simply, this theory suggests that the accumulation of tiny changes over millions of years can account for the origin of a complex species like humanity.

If Darwinian evolutionary theory is true (and many suppose that it is) doesn’t this render God obsolete? Why should I believe in a Creator if Darwin can adequately explain the origin of species?

The Answer
To answer such questions, we first must understand the limits of the theory of evolution. Darwin’s theory offers a possible explanation of how a complex species came about, but it actually has nothing to say in regards to the origin of life in general. In other words, the theory suggests how microbes might become men, but it has no explanation for where the microbes came from.

Because of this, many people who believe in Darwinian evolution still believe in God. They believe that God was necessary to initiate the process of evolution. This view is known as Theistic Evolution.

But despite the confidence of many of its leading advocates, we are not convinced that Darwin’s theory best explains the evidence. While some Christians can be labeled as Theistic Evolutionists, others consider the Theory of Evolution to be fatally flawed on the basis of science and/or Scripture.

Some of the Christians who deny Darwinism agree with him that the earth is very (millions and millions of years) old. They believe the scientific evidence supports this and they suggest that each day of the creation week (Genesis 1) represented a long span of time. This view is known as the Day-Age Theory.

Other Christians reject the popular belief in evolution AND the popular belief that the earth is old. They believe the evidence demonstrates an ancient catastrophe (Noah’s flood) and not an ancient age (millions of years). This position is often referred to as Young-Earth Creationism.

In sum, then, Christianity does not stand or fall on the truthfulness of Darwin’s theory or popular ideas about the age of the earth. If Darwin was right, we still need an explanation for the original species and for the existence of matter itself! But Darwin’s theory has a lot more holes than we are sometimes led to believe.

Christianity stands or falls, not on the truthfulness of the Theory of Evolution, but on the truthfulness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.