The Unexpected Perspective

What should Christians think about Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection? What should they think about the big bang theory? Ever since these theories were developed in the midnineteenth and early twentieth centuries respectively, there has been seemingly endless debate with no single resolution generally accepted by the majority of Christians.

This book takes a new and fresh look at the question. It maintains that the issue is very important, one that Christians should care a great deal about, and that it is important for Christians to develop a comprehensive answer consistent with the Bible and accepted modern science. It approaches the problem from a different and unexpected perspective and draws conclusions that, while they will be surprising to many, ought to leave the vast majority of Christians very satisfied. Moreover, it will likely be very surprising to many non-Christians but potentially quite intriguing to them as well.

A good starting point for rethinking something is to approach the subject from a new direction. I don’t mean that Darwin and the big bang theory are going away; that isn’t going to happen. Instead, my proposed starting point is the fact that Christians have traditionally lined up against Darwin and the big bang because they didn’t believe these scientific theories squared with biblical doctrine. What would have to happen for Christians, especially conservative and evangelical ones, to embrace Darwin and the big bang theory wholeheartedly? This of course could completely change the nature of the debate. Imagine that Christians of all persuasions wanted to believe in Darwin and the big bang theory even more than do people such as Richard Dawkins. That seemingly preposterous idea is the heart of this book. I will lay out the way by which evangelical Christians might find themselves becoming among the strongest defenders of Darwin and even the big bang theory. If this is possible, imagine the implications.

First, Christians wouldn’t find themselves wanting to leave the church because of disagreements over science. Second, they might once again be taken seriously by non-Christians on science issues. Third, the Christian message might once again provide appeal to non-Christians who but for the issue of science might have considered it. Keep in mind that up until the recent past historically speaking, a high percentage of scientists as well as other well-educated people were Christian.

In business and industry, newcomers, not the dominant players, create breakthroughs in new products and services. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, two of the most influential people in IT over the past forty years, were classic outsiders. Neither was a college graduate, and neither had formal computer engineering credentials or a background with one of the major players in the IT industry. They were successful in part because they weren’t constrained by conventional thinking. Gates for example famously asked, why not put a computer on everyone’s desk? That was preposterous thinking in the late 1970s but today is commonplace.

I don’t claim to be a scientist or a biblical scholar, so I’m clearly an outsider in this debate. I’m a church elder and a very committed Christian, as well as adherent to the creeds and confessions of the Reformed Church, but I’m certainly not formally trained as a scholar. Instead, I’ve spent most of my career in the business world. Besides being an entrepreneur and CPA,41 I’m the named inventor on numerous patents. Entrepreneurs and inventors commonly look at problems in new and unique ways, with inventors recombining existing knowledge to create new products and services and entrepreneurs doing the same to create new businesses and nonprofits. I propose to do the same with the debate about Darwin, the big bang, and the Bible.

A common way entrepreneurs and inventors begin is by looking at a problem in reverse. For example, conventional wisdom may say that B follows A. Instead, one should ask, what would happen if A followed B? Alternatively, it might be appropriate to ask, what would have to happen in order for A to follow B instead of B following A? Such seemingly perverse reverses of thinking often lead to dramatic breakthroughs in thinking as well as in new inventions. One of the approaches that helped me as well as many other inventors to create new things was to use creative forms of rearrangement as well as by formulating unconventional questions. The same principle is often applied in comedy; one of life’s “unanswered questions”: you can’t yell “Fire!” in a crowded movie house, but can you yell “Movie!” in a crowded firehouse? Scientists have calculated the speed of light, but what about the speed of dark? Of course, comedy is not the same thing as trying to develop a new way of thinking, but this can be a worthwhile approach to look at a problems and situations in a new, creative way.

The reason, as I set forth in this book, is because of the benefits I’ve identified. Embracing Darwin and the big bang will in my mind 1. reinforce key doctrines that Christians have believed for nearly two thousand years, 2. provide a set of arguments that Christians can use to refute arguments made by non-Christians against Christianity, and 3. provide additional arguments that Christians can use when they share the Christian message with nonbelievers. If I can show that Darwin and the big bang theory reinforce key Christian doctrines and provide arguments that will benefit Christians, I can’t see any reason why Christians wouldn’t run to embrace these ideas wholeheartedly. What I’m proposing is dramatically different from just saying, “Fellow Christians, we should accept Darwin and the big bang theory because they’re not saying anything inconsistent with what we already believe.”

Instead, I’m saying that Christians should embrace Darwin and the big bang because it will offer Christians five benefits. First, it offers a real-life way to describe the original sin of Adam and Eve and why all humans share in that sinfulness from birth. Second, it provides a realistic way to show that Adam and Eve were historical figures, not imaginary persons, and that the garden of Eden was real. Third, it offers a way to reinforce the efforts of Christians to share the Christian message with nonbelievers. Fourth, it suggests a practical, effective way for Christians to demonstrate in public schools that there is an alternative to the atheist view of the origin of the universe, one that can be presented without the objection that religion is being taught. Finally, it provides a set of coherent arguments for Christians to use to address secular humanism. While I believe my theory is equally applicable to Christians across the spectrum of belief, I present my argument with the goal of persuading the most conservative of evangelicals. If the argument is persuasive with them, it will carry with Christians of more-moderate, even liberal, views.