Is Evolution Compatible with the Bible?

Many people, although they may not know the term, are theistic evolutionists ; that is, they believe God used evolution to create the universe and everything in it. For some, this appears to be an acceptable compromise—belief in evolution and belief in God. The first provides scientific respectability, while the second provides eternal hope and satisfies an inward conviction that there must be a Creator. For these people, evolution is compatible with the Bible. 

But is it? Since Darwin's time (mid-late 1800s), many who know what the Bible says, have tried to reinterpret the Bible to make it compatible with the theory of evolution. The fact that there are so many theistic evolution theories indicates the general dissatisfaction with each. It also suggests that reconciling evolution with the Bible is not as easy and straightforward as some claim. You will soon see why. 

The better-known efforts to reinterpret the early chapters of Genesis include the day-age theory, the gap theory, and progressive creation. Each theory begins with the uncritical acceptance of various aspects of evolution and then reinterprets Genesis to force it to accommodate evolution. Most of these reinterpretations of Genesis contradict other parts of scripture. They also contradict interpretations of the text made by ancient and modern Hebrew scholars, the clear statements of many Old Testament writers, all New Testament writers, and Jesus Christ Himself. 

Many who accept these theories sincerely reject evolution. Unfortunately, they fail to realize the evolutionary assumptions on which these theories, and their beliefs, are built. Those assumptions may appear "scientific" to them, unless they closely examine the evidence. 

No single theistic evolution theory incorporates all 73 beliefs listed below. However, each belief is compatible with one or more of the primary theistic evolution theories. Actually, there is no compelling scientific evidence for any of these evolutionary beliefs. In fact, much scientific evidence refutes them. (See The Scientific Case for Creation.) 

Notice how many ideas in the left-hand column below are uncritically accepted by mainstream society. Notice also how these ideas have subtly alienated many from the Bible—which both contradicts theistic evolution and lays the foundation for some of our most basic beliefs and institutions. Undermining this foundation has obviously contributed to many societal problems. 
 

Theistic Evolution	The Biblical Account
Genesis 1-11 is either allegory, poetry, or myth. It is not literally true.	Genesis 1-11 is accurate history involving real people and major events. Every New Testament writer and Jesus Christ cited these foundational events shaping human culture.
Genesis contains two conflicting creation accounts, Genesis 1:1-2:3 and Genesis 2:4-2:25. Obviously, both cannot be taken literally.	Genesis contains two descriptions of the Creation. The first is chronological, while the second is from man's perspective. A close study of the Hebrew words shows no conflict. Even Christ, who in a single sentence mentioned both descriptions, knew that they referred to the same creation event. (Mt 19:4-5)
Natural processes (or "Mother Nature") can explain the formation of the heavenly bodies, the earth, and life. Matter preceded mind.	The Creator, using supernatural events, brought forth the heavenly bodies, the earth, and life. Mind preceded matter. (Gen 1-2)
Space, time, and matter are eternal. Time existed before things were created.	God, who is eternal, created space, time, and matter. The Creation came out of nothing. There was a beginning. 2 Time began at the Creation. (Gen 1:1, Mt 24:21, Mk 13:19, Jn 1:1, Col 1:16, Heb 11:3)
The universe, as we know it, began as a burst of light with the big bang.	Light came forth after the heavens and earth were created. (Gen 1:1-3)
The big bang was the basic creation event. It occurred during a fraction of a second.	A series of creative acts occurred during the creation week. (Gen 1)
Since the big bang, the average temperature of the expanding universe has continually decreased. Eventually, the sun will exhaust its fuel and the earth will lose its heat and freeze solid.	The earth began in a relatively cool state (see #12 below). Eventually, intense heat will destroy the heavens, and the earth. (II Peter 3: 7,10)
The earth slowly formed in the presence of sunlight.	On the first day, the earth was formed in darkness. (Gen 1:2) Soon afterwards, but before the sun and stars were made, light was created. (Gen 1:3)
Hydrogen, helium, and some lithium formed millions of years before all the other 100+ chemical elements.	All chemical elements came into existence during the creation week. (Gen 2:2, Ex 20:11)
The sun and most stars formed billions of years before the earth. Stars are still forming.	The earth was created three days before the sun and stars. Today, stars are dying, not being created. (Gen 1:2, 1:16; Ex 20:11)
During the fourth creation period, the sun, moon, and stars were "made to appear" 3 on a previously cloud-covered earth.	On the fourth creation day, the sun, moon, and stars were made. (Gen 1:14-19)
The earth initially had a hot, molten surface. Millions of years later, water--chemically locked in the earth's interior--oozed out.	On the first day, the earth had a liquid water surface. Therefore, the earth was relatively cool at the beginning. (Gen 1:2)
The earth slowly coalesced from meteoritic impacts that melted the earth's surface and vaporized all surface water.	The earth formed quickly. After the second day, its surface was spread out above the liquid subterranean waters. (Ps 136:6)
Land formed before the oceans.	A global ocean existed before land. Dry land appeared when the surface waters were gathered into one place. (Gen 1:2, 1:9)
Evolution took place over billions of years.	Creation took place in six literal days. (Gen 1, Ex 20:11)
The present is the key to the past; that is, presently observable natural processes explain all past events. (This principle, called uniformitarianism, underlies much of geology.)	The present is not always the key to the past. God sometimes works suddenly, as He did during the Creation, the fall, the flood, and the dispersion at Babel. (Gen 1-3, 6-8, 11) No natural process on the earth approaches the flood in its extent, power, destruction, and duration. 4 (II Peter 3:3-6)
Once the atmosphere began to evolve, rains occurred on the earth.	Before the flood, man apparently had not seen a rainbow in the sky. (Gen 9:11-17) The hydrodynamic cycle must have been quite different. Perhaps there was no rain before the flood. 5
There have been no worldwide catastrophes. There have been brief, local floods.	A catastrophic, worldwide flood covered all the earth's preflood mountains after 150 days. (Gen 7:19-20, 7:24; Ps 104:6-9) This year-long flood (Gen 7:11, 8:14) destroyed practically all humans and air-breathing land animals. (Gen 6:13, 6:17, 7:4, 7:21-23, 8:21, 9:11; Lk 17:27; I Pet 3:20; II Pet 2:5, 3:6)
The first animals were microscopic, single-celled creatures.	The first animals included great sea monsters, such as whales, and other complex creatures. (Gen 1:20-21)
The first sea life was a small blob of complex chemicals. It took a billion years for other sea life to form.	On the fifth day, sea life was created, and the waters swarmed with all the various kinds of sea creatures. (Gen 1:20-22)
The original atmosphere consisted of methane, ammonia, and other poisonous gases. Over billions of years, the atmosphere became what it is today.	The atmosphere was created quickly and has since supported all living things. (Gen 1:6-8)
Plant life helped produce our atmosphere.	The atmosphere was created before plant life. (Gen 1:6-12)
Plants evolved over a long period of time. Flowering plants evolved 220 million years after all other plants.	All major categories of plants, including their seeds and fruit, were created on the third day. (Gen 1:11-12)
The sun evolved several billion years before plant life.	The sun was made one day after plant life. (Gen 1:12-16)
The six creation "days" were really six ages. As Genesis 1 states, plants appeared one "day" (age) before the sun, two "days" (ages) before animals, and three "days" (ages) before insects. After each creation age, there were millions of evenings and mornings.	To survive, plants need the sun and animals--especially insects. They were all created within three days of each other. (Gen 1:11-23) Had it taken much longer, plants could not have survived.6 After each creation day, there was an evening and a morning. (Gen 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31)
Various forms of plant life and animal life evolved during each of four sequential, geological eras: Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. These eras were of unequal length.	Life was created during only three of the six creation days--3rd day: plant life, 5th day: sea life and birds, and the 6th day: other land animals and man. (Gen 1)
New forms of life have continued to arise within each of the major categories: plants, sea creatures, birds, and land animals.	All plants were created first, then all sea creatures and birds, then all land animals. Finally, man was created. (Gen 1)
There is continuity among all forms of life. All organisms have a common ancestor. Therefore, there were continuous transitions among all plants and among all animals. The millions of species are not fixed and not distinct.	There are permanent discontinuities between the many different "kinds" of life. In fact, the Bible states ten times that each "kind" will reproduce after itself. (Gen 1) The kinds are fixed and distinct.
Sea life preceded land life by hundreds of millions of years.	Sea life did not precede land life. (Gen 1:11-13, 1:20-23)
Many animals and plants became extinct before man evolved.	All animal and plant kinds have lived contemporaneously with man. Adam named all the different kinds of cattle, birds, and beasts of the field. (Gen 1:20-30, 2:20)
Insects evolved millions of years before birds and flowering plants.	Birds and all plants were created before "creeping things." (Gen 1:20-24)
Either reptiles or dinosaurs evolved into birds. More than a hundred million years later, sixty million years after the dinosaurs became extinct, man evolved.	Birds were created before dinosaurs, reptiles, and other beasts of the earth. (Gen 1:20-25) Man saw and wrote about dinosaurs and giant seagoing reptiles. (Job 40:15 - 41:34)
Fish evolved hundreds of millions of years before birds and fruit trees. The first fish and birds came from eggs.	Fruit trees were created before fish. Fish and birds were created on the same day. Fish were created swimming and birds were created flying. (Gen 1:11, 21-22)
It is uncertain which came first, the chicken or the egg.	The chicken preceded the laying of the first egg. In fact, all animals were created fully formed and functional.
The first animals were simple sea creatures. Much later, fish evolved, then amphibians, and finally mammals. The last mammals to evolve included whales.	The first animals created included highly developed mammals such as the great whales. Days later, many so-called "lower forms" were created. (Gen 1:21, 1:24)
For hundreds of millions of years before man evolved, many animals were carnivores (meat eaters).	Early animals were herbivores (plant eaters). After either the fall or the flood, some became carnivores. (Gen 1:30)
Females evolved before males.	Males and females within a "kind" were created on the same day. (Gen 1:20-25)
Creation is a process. Macroevolution continues today.	Creation was a distinct event. (Ps 148:5) God finished "all His work" in six days. (Gen 2:1-3; Ex 20:11, 31:17; Heb 4:1-11)
Everything in nature, from protons to people, evolved by slow, continuous processes.	Everything in nature was created in one or more rapid, discrete steps. (Ps 33:6-9) Five times Genesis states that "God said . . . and it was so." (Gen 1:6-7, 1:9, 1:11, 1:14-15, 1:24) All the Bible's miracles occurred quickly, including the biggest and first miracle--Creation itself.
Evolution works, in part, through a process called "survival of the fittest." Violence, pain, and death were necessary for animals to become more complex. Suffering, cruelty, and death are natural results of the evolutionary process. In this sense, death produced man.	God is all-powerful and does not need to use violence, pain, or death to create. God did not author evil, suffering, or disease. Several attributes of our Creator are love, peace, and joy. Right after the Creation, everything was "very good." (Gen 1:31) Suffering and cruelty entered the world when Adam sinned. (Gen 3) In this sense, man produced death. (Gen 2:17, Rom 5:12)
Man is a product of nature. Man is controlled and shaped by his environment. In fact, the environment determined to a large extent how man evolved.	Man was given dominion over nature. God told man to control his environment--to subdue the earth and rule over every living thing that moves on the earth. (Gen 1:26, 1:28-30)
There really was no one individual we can call "Adam"; the term refers to "mankind" or a race of primitive men. Adam and Eve may be mythical characters in a saga explaining how evil originated--or in a timeless myth representing the sinful choices we all make.	Inspired writers of both Testaments spoke of Adam as an individual, not as a race of people. (Gen 5:3; I Chron 1:1; Lk 3:38; Acts 17:26; Rom 5:12; I Cor 15:21-22, 15:45-47) Eve was also a unique person. (I Cor 11:8-9, I Tim 2:13-14) We are all descended from Adam and Eve. (Gen 3:20)
Man is an animal that has evolved a little higher than the apes.	Man, who was given dominion over all animals, was created in the image of God. (Gen 1:26-27, 1:30, 5:1) Man was made "a little lower than the angels." (Ps 8:5)
Man has existed only during the past 1/1000th of the earth's history--10,000,000,000 years after the universe began and 4,000,000,000 years after the earth formed.	Man has existed since the Creation. (Mt 19:4; Mk 10:6, 13:19; Lk 11:50; Jn 8:44; Rom 1:20)
Man evolved from a lower animal.	Adam was formed from the dust. (Gen 2:7)
Almost all fossils, including those of dinosaurs, were formed before man appeared on earth.	Man was created before any fossils formed, including those of dinosaurs.
Man's genealogy includes many apelike animals. It spans over a hundred thousand generations.	Man's genealogy begins with Adam and Eve. It involves only several hundred generations. The Bible gives the line of descent from Adam to Noah and even up to historical times. (Gen 5, I Chron 1, Lk 3:23-38)
Apes, man's closest relatives, have no difficulty or pain in childbirth. For some unknown reason, human childbirth is painful and dangerous for mother and child. Natural selection should have eliminated women with narrow birth canals. 7	Pain in childbirth was multiplied as a result of the Fall. (Gen 3:16)
God breathed a spirit into an apelike creature. This became man.	God breathed the breath of life into a lifeless human body. This became man. (Gen 2:7)
The earliest people were meat eaters. The first animals that could be considered human were hunters. Hundreds of thousands of years later, man began farming.	The earliest people were vegetarians. (Gen 1:29) The first man, Adam, was a gardener. (Gen 2:15) Later, Adam became a farmer, while his son Abel was a herdsman. (Gen 4:2) Less than ten generations later, man began hunting. (Gen 9:3)
Since man evolved from the animals, there is very little difference in the psychological makeup and behavior of animals and man. (This premise underlies much of modern psychology.)	Man was created distinct from the animals and in the image of God. (Gen 1:26-27, 5:1) Adam did not find any animal that was physically and emotionally compatible with him. Only another human, Eve, could be his counterpart. (Gen 2:20)
The first human male came from a female. Woman, like man, evolved from animals. The story of Eve being formed by "divine surgery" from Adam's side is nonsense. Eve had a mother.	The first human female came from a male. (Acts 17:26, I Cor 11:8) Eve was specially created--taken from the side of Adam. (Gen 2:21-23) Eve had no mother.
Marriage, a cultural convention, evolved from human experience. Marriage therefore changes as culture evolves.	Marriage is a permanent bond instituted by God. (Gen 2:24)
Man slowly developed our basic units of time: a day, a week, a month, and a year.	Genesis 1, which was not composed by man, defines our basic units of time.
No one established the seven-day week. It was culturally derived. Surprisingly, practically all known cultures throughout history have had a seven-day week.	God established the seven-day week for man's benefit. (Mk 2:27) It reminds us of His activity and rest during the creation week. (Gen 1, Ex 20:8-11)
The Garden of Eden is a myth.	Eden was a literal place. (Is 51:3; Ezek 28:13, 36:35; Joel 2:3)
People have rarely lived beyond 100 years, especially in the primitive past.	Before the flood, conditions were such that at least the people listed in chapter 5 of Genesis lived to be about 900 years old.
Lunar months may have been mistakenly called "years" by the early Hebrews. Thus, the patriarchal ages (typically 900 "years") in Genesis 5 could be much younger in true years.	Two patriarchs in Genesis 5 were 65 years old when their sons in the patriarchal line were born. (Gen 5:15, 5:21) If those "years" were lunar months, then they had children when they were five years old!
Early man was quite primitive and technologically immature.	Within only a few hundred years after the Creation, man built musical instruments and refined alloys. (Gen 4:21-22) Early man also had the technology to build Noah's Ark (Gen 6:14-16) and the Tower of Babel. (Gen 11:3-6)
Language evolved slowly; it began with grunts and signs of emotion.	Adam, who was created with a large vocabulary, conducted intelligent conversations from the beginning. He named many, but not all, land animals on the day he was created. (Gen 2:18-24) Languages multiplied suddenly at Babel. 8 (Gen 11:1-9)
The genealogies listed from Adam to Joseph contain many gaps. Each gap may span centuries.	The genealogies from Adam to Joseph are tightly linked, since each patriarch's age is given when the next named patriarch was born. 9 Therefore, more time cannot be inserted between patriarchs.
Cain, Adam and Eve's first son, was banished to a distant land and would not have had a wife, unless he married a subhuman primate or another evolved human.	Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters. (Gen 5:4) Cain probably married a sister, although it is theoretically possible that he married a niece. 10
For a billion years, millions of species have slowly improved and become more complex. This is still happening. New forms of life are always evolving.	Right after the Creation, God saw all that He had made, and it was "very good." (Gen 1:31) Since then, things have deteriorated (Gen 3:16-19, Rom 8:18-22) and diversified. We have never seen a new kind of life evolve.
Death entered the world just after the simplest form of life evolved--a billion years before man evolved.	Death entered the world after Adam was created and sinned. (Rom 5:12)
Death preceded the activities that some people call sin. 11	Sin preceded death. (Gen 2:17, 3:1-24; Rom 5:12, 6:23)
The "Fall of Adam" had only spiritual consequences.	The Fall of Adam had both spiritual and physical consequences. (Gen 2:17, 3:14-24; Rom 8:18-22; I Cor 15:21-22)
Ever since plants evolved, some have been poisonous. This enhanced their survivability.	Before the Fall, every green plant was edible. (Gen 1:29-30)
Thorns and thistles evolved along with plants. Pain in childbirth is as old as mankind.	Adam's sin caused thorns, thistles, and pain in childbirth. (Gen 3:16-18)
Man's wickedness is a result of his animal nature.	Man's wickedness is a result of his fallen nature.
God gave Adam a spirit. Since Adam was the first primate who could be called human, he had to die. Death was not a penalty for disobedience.	The First Adam and Last Adam (Jesus Christ) had miraculous bodies, but both could die as a penalty for human disobedience. (Rom 5:14-15, I Cor 15:45) If Adam's body evolved from an animal, this profound theological correspondence is broken, along with the "plan of redemption." 12
Struggle and death preceded man's arrival on earth. This struggle has continued ever since. Those earlier conditions cannot be restored.	The completed Creation, which included man, was "very good." (Gen 1:31) There was no struggle and death. Subsequently, man (by his own free will) fell from this universal paradise, causing struggle and death to enter the world. Someday, this paradise will be restored as a "new heaven and a new earth." (Is 11:6-9, Rev 22:2-3)
Man is continually improving--physically, mentally, socially, morally, and spiritually.	Since early times, man has advanced technologically. (Gen 4:21-22, 11:6) This was largely inevitable. (Gen 11:6) However, man has regressed physically, morally, and spiritually. (Gen 3, 5, 11)
Since man culminates billions of years of upward progress, his well-being and continued improvement must be our greatest concern. 13	Since God created man (and everything else), God should be our greatest concern. Man, who was made in the image of God, was given dominion over all other creatures. (Gen 1:26) Man must exercise great care and concern for the creation, especially for his fellow man. However, man is a fallen, or sinful, creature who needs a Savior. (Jn 3:16)

Having examined the many contradictions between theistic evolution and the Biblical view of life and history, one should consider the following question: 

If God is not limited in power and could have created the world, if He has given man a record of what He did, and if the scientific evidence does not contradict it, then what prevents you from believing that it actually happened? 14 If evolution happened, then death was widespread before man evolved. But if death preceded man and was not a result of Adam's sin, then sin is a fiction. If sin is a fiction, then we have no need for a Savior.

References and Notes 

This format and approximately one-fifth of the ideas are drawn from an article by Richard Niessen in The Creation Research Society Quarterly, Vol. 16, March 1980, pp. 220-221. 

If each effect had a cause that also had a cause, an infinite chain of events would stretch back in time—with no beginning. Philosophically, one must accept either (1) this infinite regression or (2) an infinite God. Scientifically, one can conclude that there was a beginning; that is, no infinite regression. Biblically, one only needs to read and believe the first three words of the Bible (the title of this book)—a far simpler exercise. 

Those holding this widespread belief never explain to whom the sun appeared. Humans, according to these theistic evolutionists, arrived several billion years later. Claiming that the word "made" in Genesis 1:16 really means "made to appear" is a deceptive play on words. 

Some advocates of the day-age theory say that the light of Genesis 1:3 sustained plants until the sun appeared an age later. While sunlight produces photosynthesis, light in general does not. For example, light from an ordinary light bulb will not grow a potted plant shielded from all sunlight. Special light bulbs, designed to grow plants, must closely match the sun's spectrum across all colors and into the infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths. Some plants, such as tomatoes and strawberries, have difficulty growing under such bulbs. For most plants the light must have a day-night cycle. Some plants even need light with annual cycles. These cycles cause the plant to change from one stage of growth to another, such as budding to blooming. If the light source's distance from the plant varies too much, the changing light intensity will harm the plant. The most obvious way for a light source to satisfy these plant requirements is for it to correspond to the sun's location, brightness, and spectrum—in other words, for the light to be the sun. 

No one is certain what the light of Genesis 1:3 was, what its characteristics were, or where it originated. Therefore, it is not clear that it could have sustained all plant life and kept the earth at just the right daily and seasonal temperatures for three ages until the sun "took over." Did the light of Genesis 1:3 just "switch off" when the sun was made during "the fourth age"? Remember, the "six ages" to most theistic evolutionists lasted 4,600,000,000 years. 

Even if the absence of sunlight for "an age" were not a problem for the day-age theory, the absence of animals for two "ages" is a fatal problem. Animals produce the carbon dioxide plants require, and insects are important for reproductive fertilization, especially for flowering plants. Obviously, insects, other animals, and probably the sun must have existed within days or weeks of the first plants. Many theistic evolutionists fail to understand this simple fact. 

Joshua Fischman, "Putting a New Spin on the Birth of Human Birth," Science , Vol. 264, 20 May 1994, pp. 1082-1083. 

Was it improper for brothers and sisters to marry? In many countries today, close intermarriages are discouraged or prohibited by law, because they often produce genetic defects in children. For example, children whose parents are first cousins have a 4.4% greater chance of dying before age ten. This figure includes late miscarriages, six months or more after conception. (See Kevin Davies, "Cost of Consanguinity," Nature , Vol. 371, 13 October 1994, p. 630.) 

Damaged genes, which are usually caused by radiation and other adverse environmental factors, have steadily accumulated in humans since the time of Adam and Eve. Most defective genes are not immediately harmful, because each person usually has a good corresponding gene from the other parent. However, if the parents are closely related, they have a much greater chance of having both inherited the same bad gene from their common ancestor. If their child then receives this defective gene, physical abnormalities usually result. 

Since damaged genes accumulate with time, Adam and Eve's children and grandchildren probably had very few genetic defects. (Gen 1:31) Therefore, close intermarriages would not have had the medical consequences they have today. The biblical prohibition forbidding incest was introduced when Moses was inspired to write Leviticus 18:6-18.

Many atheists understand just how important this is better than many theists. G. Richard Bozarth, writing in The American Atheist, stated: 

Christianity has fought, still fights, and will fight science 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 [sic]. 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! G. Richard Bozarth, "The Meaning of Evolution," The American Atheist, Vol. 20, No. 2, February 1978, p. 30. 

For a fuller discussion of this profound subject, see Arthur C. Custance, Two Men Called Adam (Brockville, Ontario: Doorway Publications, 1983). At one point (p. 250), Custance summarized the issue as follows: 

The bond between . . . [Adam and Christ] is entirely predicated on a miraculous origin in both cases: the creation of the first man Adam, which was clearly a supernatural event; and the virgin conception of the Last Adam, which was also clearly a supernatural event. 

A body of animal origin acquired by evolutionary processes is an entirely different thing from a body of divine origin acquired by direct creation. As to the former, it is clear that such a body must by nature be subject to death, the ancestral line being through some primate channel where death is natural. As to the latter, such a body becomes subject to death not by nature but only as a penalty. 

The whole Plan of Redemption hinges upon this difference because the Last Adam cannot by nature be subject to death and still make a truly vicarious sacrifice of Himself. He would merely be paying a debt to nature before the expected time. 

This is the basic tenet of Secular Humanism—a belief system that generally dominates our media and tax-supported schools. Most subscribers to this atheistic philosophy are unaware of its evolutionary roots, its definition, or its implications. The U.S. Supreme Court declared that Secular Humanism is a religion. (Tercaso vs. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488, 1961, note 11.) 

Malcolm Bowden, The Rise of the Evolution Fraud (San Diego: Creation-Life Publishers, 1982), p. 167.