Charles Lyell and Uniformitarianism

 

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Is Your Faith like a Bowing Wall or a Tottering Fence?

By Dennis Edwards

In Psalm 62, David prays against the enemies of God and says they are like “a bowing wall, and a tottering fence.”[Psalms 62:3] What exactly does he mean? A bowing wall is receiving pressure from somewhere that is causing it to buckle and is in danger of collapsing. It is often a foundation wall that is not strong enough to withhold the exterior forces or the weight or height of the building that rests upon it. A tottering fence is ready by the slightest force to give way and fall. But that should not be the state of our faith. For we have a sure or solid foundation in Christ and His resurrection from the dead.[1 Corinthians 15:1-8, John 20:30-31] But, alas, the foundations have been destroyed, and now what shall the righteous do?[Psalms 11:3]

Since the late 1700s the foundations of faith have been attacked and Christianity and its truth denied. Such were the men like James Hutton, and Charles Lyle whose work in geology attacked Moses and got men to doubt the Biblical account and age of the earth. “They did not like to retain God in their knowledge, so God gave them over to a reprobate mind.”[Romans 1:28] “Millions of years” soon became the acceptable interpretation, the scientific interpretation. These men were “willingly ignorant”[2 Peter 3:5-6] of the Biblical creation record and historical Genesis flood. Thus they helped pave the way for Charles Darwin to later present a 19th century rendition of the classical Greek idea that life evolved from the sea spontaneously. Like Solomon had written some 2800 years before, “There is nothing new under the sun.”[Ecclesiastes 1:9]

It was in the same year 1859 in which Darwin published his book that Louis Pasteur scientifically proved that spontaneous generation was impossible. Life comes only from life, not from a primordial soup. However, "true science" would take a back seat to "assumed science." Darwin would fantasize on the possibility of life developing in a warm pond during earth’s early history. 19th century man wanted freedom from the moral constraints of religion. The war against God would continue and false faith and nominal religion would be its springboard. 

In politics Karl Marx was writing and wanted to dedicate his book “Das Kapital” to Darwin. But Darwin, coming from the financial elite of that age, felt it not wise to have his name together with that of Marx. Nietzsche with his “God is dead” in theology, along with Germany’s “higher critics,” did their best to destroy confidence in God’s word. Freud began the “science of psychology” based on Darwin’s evolutionary ideology. Together these attacks led to the weakening of the Christian foundation in the minds of the masses. “Had God really said?[Genesis 3:1]

Whereas from the time of Christ, Christianity had influenced and changed the surrounding culture, now atheism was gaining the upper hand and convincing the general public that God was indeed dead and in no need of fearing. In 1962-3 the Supreme Court removed prayer in school which children had traditionally prayed each morning before beginning class. In 1973 the American Supreme Court passed “Roe vs Wade” and opened the door to legalized abortion. Soon other laws originally formed off of Christian and Biblical doctrines were over turned. Man was being freed from the superstitions of the past. Reason was ruling over faith. Indeed the truth that God was dead was at last setting men free! 

Thus the foundations of faith in God were destroyed. Faith became obsolete and a thing of the past. Reason and science became the hallmarks of the enlightened man. And yet the call of Nietzsche's “Madman” rings in our ears.

 “Whither is God? he cried, I will tell you. We have killed him – you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained the earth from its sun? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying through an infinite nothingness? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us? Do we not need to light lanterns in the morning?...God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers?...Who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”[Nietzsche and the Madman, allaboutphilosophy.org, from Gay Science, 1887]

Yes, indeed it is colder and we have lost our moral compass -- God’s word. We and our own ideas and opinions have become our gods. We are left directionless, like a ship on the open sea with no rudder to use to guide us to safety. God’s word asks, “And what shall the righteous do?” Now that we have destroyed the foundations of our faith, now that we don’t believe God’s word is trustworthy, now that we doubt the Christian story and resurrection of Christ. What shall the Christian do? Where do we find moral fibre? Where do we find truth? Is there any right or wrong? 

But God’s word encourages us, “If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”[2 Chronicles 7:14] Shall we not turn from the false doctrines of men and back to faith in the Living God? Shall we not turn from the false ideologies of man which have caused us to lose our way and our relationship with the Lord? Shall we not cry unto the Lord for His mercy and truth and light in midst of gross darkness? Or will we continue to grope in darkness and yet believe we are walking in the light? As Christ has said, “If the light that is in us is darkness, how great is that darkness.”[Matthew 6:23]

Our time is short. Our times are in His hands.[Psalm 31:15] Please let us call upon the Lord while he may be found. For darkness shall cover the earth and great darkness the people.[Isaiah 60:2] But God’s light shall shine out upon them that call upon His name and walk in His truth and follow His law of love. Apostle Paul calls us to be steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord;[1 Corinthians 15:54] not like a bowing wall or tottering fence. For we have a sure foundation, a precious corner stone, Jesus Christ, the stone of offence. The stone which the builder’s neglected has become the chief corner stone.[1 Peter 2:7-8, Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:20, Psalms 118:22, Isaiah 28:16, Mark 12:10, Matthew 21:44. Luke 20:17]

Call upon Him and He will answer you. He will be with you in trouble. He will honour you and show you His salvation.[Psalms 91:15-16] He is the strong tower which the righteous run to and are safe.[Proverbs 18:10] Trust in Him. Believe His word and not the vain and proud ramblings and traditions of men. Remember, if you continue in His word, believing it, receiving it, and following its light, you will be His disciple indeed. And ye shall know the truth, not my truth nor your truth, but the truth; and the truth shall make you free![John 8:32] Don't be a bowing wall!

---

Originally published December 3, 2019

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Two Men Who Changed the World!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      By Dennis Edwards:

On February 12th, 1809 two men were born who would change the course of history. Abraham Lincoln was one of them. He once said, “I can see how it is possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say, there is no God.”[1] He also made a comment about the Bible: “In regards to this great book (the Bible), I have but to say it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man´s welfare, here, and hereafter, are found portrayed in it.”[2] We all remember Lincoln as President during the American Civil War and his famous Gettysburg address and the emancipation of the slaves.

But born the same day as he, in Shrewsbury, England was another man, who´s life and writings have had a far greater affect on mankind than that of Lincoln. This man once wrote, “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.”[3] He also said, “The mystery of the beginning of all things is insolvable by us; and I for one must be content to remain agnostic.”[4] Charles Darwin who´s Origins of the Species has had a greater impact on modern man than perhaps any other idea. His theory has affected every aspect of our thinking including education, psychology, sociology, science, history, political science, economics, philosophy and religion. Charles´ book was published in 1859. In it, he presented his idea of the descent of life from a common ancestor, the idea that all life goes back to a common origin.

                                                                                                                                                              The General Theory of Evolution or “molecules to man” evolution is the idea that life formed spontaneously about 3.5 billion years ago. Slowly by the process of natural selection, together with beneficial mutations, the first living cell eventually evolved into all the different life forms that we see alive today. Darwin was famous for suggesting that natural selection or nature acting upon a living organism would act like a selective breeder.

Even though Edwin Blythe wrote about natural selection earlier in 1831, it is Darwin who has received the credit. The truth is that nature does act upon organisms and cause them to change. For example: look at a pack of wolves. In the pack, some wolves have short hair, some medium and some long. Some wolves have thick hair, some thin and some in between. If the wolves migrate into a colder climate, natures affect on the pack would be to favor those with the longer and thicker hair. The wolves with shorter or thinner hair would be selected against. In time, the shorter/thinner hair wolves would die out, leaving just the long/thicker haired ones. Natural selection is this process and it does happen.

However, Darwin assumed natural selection had creative power. He saw that another “species” could be developed slightly different from the original one. Thus, he postulated that with enough time, millions of years, for example, a completely new animal type could evolve. A bear or a wolf could eventually evolve into a whale given enough time. Time became the master of the plot.

Darwin´s idea, oddly enough, was quite quickly accepted by the religious community. Many churches and religious leaders had already accepted Charles Lyell´s idea of millions of years and the uniformitarian interpretation of geology. James Hutton back in 1788 had published his book The Theory of the Earth reinterpreting the geological column into millions of years instead of the traditional Biblical 6000 years. In 1830 Lyell had published his Principles of Geology convincingly arguing in favor of Hutton´s reinterpretation of the geologic record. Lyell´s mantra was to get Moses out of science.

Up until that time, scientist had generally interpreted the geological evidence in terms of the creation and the flood. Kepler, Newton, Pastuer and Mendel, to name a few, were all creationists. In 1658 Archbishop James Ussher´s Annals of the World had been published and traced the history of the world back to the flood and then to creation on the 23rd of October 4004 BC. The flood was believed to have occurred some 1650 years later in 2350 BC. Most scientists, until the 1800´s, had believed in a rational God who had created a rational world for us to live in. Therefore, by the careful studying of life and of nature, one could discover the how and the why to the way God had done things. As the famous early scientist and astronomer Johann Kepler said about his research, “I was merely thinking God´s thoughts after Him.”[5]

The religious community was already accepting the ideas of millions of years. In 1855, four years before the publishing of Charles book, we find that even the famous evangelist Charles Spurgeon had succumbed to the idea of millions of years. “Can any man tell me when the beginning was? Years ago we thought the beginning of the world was when Adam came upon it. But we have discovered that thousands of years before that God was preparing chaotic matter to make it a fit abode for man, putting races of creatures upon it, who might die and leave behind the marks of his handiwork and marvelous skill, before he tried his hand on man.”[6]

Once you deny the authority of God´s word you are left with believing man´s word over God´s word. Since the Garden of Eden, the enemy´s method has been to try to get God´s people to doubt God´s word. “And the serpent said unto the woman, ´Has God said?´”[7] Doubting the truth of God´s word led to Eve´s and Adam’s ultimate disobedience. By accepting the millions of years of Hutton and Lyell, by accepting Darwin´s General Theory of Evolution, modern man has eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and has been deceived. As Michael Denton Australian biologists and agnostic wrote in his book Evolution: A Theory in Crisis in 1985, “Today it is perhaps the Darwinian view of nature more than any other that is responsible for the agnostic and skeptical outlook of the twentieth century.”[8]

Even though there was no proof in the fossil record in 1859, Charles postulated that later generations would find the missing fossil links to prove his theory. However, the links have never been found.

Scientists know today that neither natural selection nor beneficial mutation can add new genetic information to the genome. Dr. Jonathan Wells, molecular biologist has said, “There is no evidence that DNA can provide the sorts of variation needed for evolution. There is no evidence for beneficial mutations at the level of macroevolution, but there is also no evidence at the level of what is commonly regarded as microevolution.”[9] Therefore, “molecules to man” evolution doesn’t have a mechanism. Rather than reveal the truth to the general public, the evolutionary scientists try to cover up the facts. As they themselves have admitted, “we cannot allow one divine foot in the door.”[10] Even though the scientists know evolution has no mechanism, they hold to the theory because the only other viable possibly is divine creation. To them, creation is intolerable.

But don’t dinosaurs and fossils prove the earth is millions of year’s old, one may ask? All the dinosaur’s bones prove is that dinosaurs once existed and have become extinct. The bones do not come with labels and dates on them. What most people do not understand is that every scientist has preconceived ideas. Scientists are not neutral. Why is there such a difference in opinion between the evolution scientist and creation scientist? Either one can be highly decorated scientifically, yet both will interpret the evidence, the fossils, differently. The reason is they have different mindsets and their mindsets, or belief systems, cause them to interpret fossils or geological events differently.

One might also ask about carbon dating and radiometric dating. Haven´t these proven the earth is millions or even billions of years old? Remember, evidence is always interpreted. Creation scientists have good answers to these questions which we do not have room to discuss now. But there are good logical scientific answers. Remember, science is done by fallible men and women who always start their science with assumptions. Depending on their assumptions, they come up with different conclusions. In his book The Young Earth, Dr. John Morris goes over many of the physical evidences that seem to indicate that the a young earth perspective makes better sense than a "millions of years" perspective.[11]

I believe, we can trust God´s Word, always, over man´s word. Even though you may be intimidated by the scientific jargon and reasoning, God has an answer. Creation scientists and apologetics are doing all they can to get the tools to you so you can answer questions about science, evolution and faith. With a little study and research, you will soon be able to defend the faith, as Peter has admonished us to do. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts (you´ll need to spend time with the Lord): and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”[12] God bless you as you “study to show yourself approved unto God, rightly dividing the word of truth.”[13] Amen!

More information about the creation/evolution debate can be found at these websites: Creation Ministries International at www.creation.com or Answers in Genesis at www.answersingenesis.org or the Institute for Creation Research at www.icr.org or www.creationtoday.org .

Footnotes:

1. Lincoln, Abraham; http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/131220-i-can-see-how-it-might-be-possible-for-a.
2. Lincoln, Abraham; http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/392563-in-regards-to-this-great-book-the-bible-i-have
3. Darwin, Charles; The Origins of the Species, 1859; http://www.bartleby.com/11/6005.html
4. Darwin, Charles; Life and Letters; http://www.millthorpeschool.co.uk/departments/re/Y10%20Powerpoints/Christian%20beliefs%20about%20God.pdf
5. Kepler, Johann; 1571-1630, http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Johannes_Kepler
6. Spurgeon, Charles; C.H. Spurgeon, “Election,” The New Park Street Pulpit 1-from 1855-56 sermons (1990): 318.
7. Genesis 3:1
8. Denton, Dr. Michael; Evolution: A Theory in Crisis; http://www.exampleofgrace.net/evolution-is-a-false-relgion.php
9. Wells, Dr. Jonathan; The Design of Life, 2008; with William Demski..
10. Lewontin, Prof. Richard; Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds - Page 81, by Philip E. Johnson, 1997.
11. Morris, Dr. John, The Young Earth, Master Books, 2007. or see the following link: http://www.temcat.com/L-4-Topical-Library/Creation/TheYoung-Earth.pdf
12. 1Peter 3:15
13. 2Timothy 2:15

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