BiblicalInsights.net

John Morris wrote The Young Earth.  In this book, Morris gives ten geochronological arguments from different features of the earth that point to a young earth rather than an earth that is billions of years old.  On page 137, Morris quotes from G. Richard Bozarth’s article, “The Meaning of Evolution” published in the American Atheist on February, 1978, p. 30, “Christianity has fought, still fights, and will fight science (by this, he means naturalism-Morris) to the desperate end over evolution, because evolution destroys utterly and finally the very reason Jesus’ earthly life was supposedly made necessary.  Destroy Adam and Eve and the original sin, and in the rubble you will find the sorry remains of the son of god.  Take away the meaning of his death. If Jesus was not the redeemer who died for our sins, and this is what evolution means, then Christianity is nothing.”
In light of this quotation, how could any Christian attempt to harmonize what the Bible teaches with what evolutionists teach? The meaning of evolution is that Jesus is not our redeemer and Christianity is nothing!
Another interesting quotation comes from Phil Sanders.  Sanders wrote an article on the rise of religious skepticism titled, “Religious Skepticism on the Rise”, Spiritual Sword, January, 2016, pp. 16-20.  The article revealed that 22.8 percent of Americans now identify themselves as unaffiliated with any religious group.  Sanders states, “This segment of society has grown from 16.1 percent in 2007 to 22.8 percent in 2014 and is growing faster than any religious group in America. Sanders lists the characteristics of a skeptic:
1.  Skeptics question the validity or authenticity of something claiming to be true.
2.  They doubt the truth of Christianity and dismiss the important elements of it.
3.  They have no use for the “organized church” and consider the Bible to be full of ancient and dubious myths.
4.  Skeptics of biblical Christianity doubt whether there is a knowable God who intervenes in the world, whether miracles are possible, whether the soul is immortal, whether there will be a resurrection, and whether there is an afterlife.
5.  Many skeptics are empiricists, who only believe what they can perceive through their five senses.
6.  Others simply deny our ability to know anything for certain.
7.  Skeptics are not sure God even exists, so they see no reason to give him any place of authority or relevance to their lives.
The Barna Group found the three primary components that lead to disbelief in God’s existence are: (1) rejection of the Bible; (2) a lack of trust in the local church and (3) cultural reinforcement of a secular worldview.
Sanders identifies one of the influences of the secular worldview to be the common perception in public education, in the media, and at most museums that the universe is billions of years old and humanity evolved from lower forms of life.  Most theistic evolutionists hold to these views (see my book review on John Otis’ book, Theistic Evolution A Sinful Compromise).  “This constant emphasis on an ancient earth and evolution from so many “credible” sources of the world does not escape the attention of our young people who may not know how to answer this faith destroying theory” (Sanders, p. 17).
The theory of evolution means that Jesus is not our redeemer and Christianity is nothing!  The theory of evolution is a faith destroying theory.  Any person who attempts to harmonize the theory of evolution with the Bible is being irrational.  Let God be true and every man a liar (Romans 3:4).

The apostle Paul declares, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” (Rom. 16:17-18).  David Lipscomb remarked concerning this passage that ,”No greater evil, according to the Scriptures, could befall the churches than the divisions arising from the introduction of teachings and practices not required by God.  The fundamental truth of the Bible is that God alone has the right to direct and guide the faith and service of his children” (Commentary on Romans, pp. 275-276).
False Doctrine Produces Division
False doctrine challenges individuals to either defend the truth or else to abandon the truth for a lie.  Lovers of truth will defend it against false teachers.  I Thess. 2:13; Jude 3; I Pet. 3:15.
False doctrine will lead to the damnation of the souls of men.  II Thess. 2:11-12. False doctrine seriously undermines the spiritual well-being of men and women.
False doctrine fundamentally changes the gospel of Jesus Christ.  But, there is only one gospel (Gal. 1:8-9).
False doctrine undermines the credibility of the Bible.    False doctrine discredits what God said.  The Bible is called into question and doubted as a result.  “…let God be true, but every man a liar…” (Rom. 3:4).
False doctrine undermines the faith of those who are weak and ignorant.  As Paul said, it beguiles the hearts of the innocent (Rom. 16:18).  The hearts of the innocent are beguiled by the smooth and fair speech of the false teacher.  He charms.  He uses his reputation to deceive.  He lies to cover up his lies.
False doctrine does not originate with God, but with Satan.  Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44).  The false teacher is not aligned with God, but with the god of this world.
False doctrine does not unite the church, but divides it.  False doctrine will  produce a spiritual struggle within the body of Christ forcing those who love the truth to take a stand against the false teacher and his/her doctrine.  This violates the law of love and the imperative to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace (Matt. 7:12; Eph. 4:1-3).  Who is the troubler of the church?  The false teacher is, of course.
False doctrine (the substance of what is taught) is what defines a false teacher.  False teachers should be warned and marked (Rom. 16:17-18).  In marking a false teacher, Paul says that we should not fellowship him/her.  The false teacher is disqualified from receiving help/support from those who love the truth.  The warning of the false teacher is an effort to call them to repentance and recover them from the error of their ways.
False teachers give the appearance that they are serving Christ when, in fact, they are serving themselves.  “These makers of divisions and offenses, however fair and fine their pretensions and speeches might be, were not sincerely serving Christ, but rather serving their own sensual and selfish ends, and the aim of all their kind and plausible words is only to deceive those innocent ones who are slow to suspect it in others” (David Lipscomb, Ibid., p. 277).
False doctrine abounds and appears in many forms.  “…the only sure way of spotting counterfeit money is not by spending time studying counterfeit money, but carefully studying the real thing.  If you know the real thing, the counterfeit is obvious” (John Otis, Theistic Evolution, p. 4).  By studying God’s Word carefully, you will be able to spot a fake when you see or hear one.  Studying the creation account in God’s Word will help expose the fallacies of every form of evolution.

I recently uploaded a new book review.  The book is by John Otis and is titled, Theistic Evolution A Sinful Compromise.  Otis writes to expose a serious problem in the Presbyterian Church in America concerning the doctrine of creation.  He attacks the false notion of theistic evolution within the PCA.  Otis believes in the superiority of the Scriptures over the false concepts of evolution.  He recognizes the crux of the matter to be one of hermeneutics (the science of the interpretation of the Scriptures).  He also affirms that theistic evolution is a “Pandora’s Theological Box.”  You are invited to read the review under the Book Review page.  Just click on the page and then click on the name of the book.  The book consists of 322 pages, but the review is only seven pages.  The doctrinal compromise of theistic evolution has been advanced in the churches of Christ by the Warren Christian Apologetics Center under the direction of Charles Pugh III.  The Center recently published a book by Nobie Stone titled, Genesis 1 and Lessons From Space.  Dr. Stone is a theistic evolutionist.  The warning of John Otis in his book should serve as a warning to other religious groups who seek to compromise the Scriptures by advocating a concordant view between the Scriptures and Evolution.