Confronting the Assumptions of Evolution: Uniqueness of Life

Missing the Wondrous

As an important part of Christian Evidences, the refutation of the Theory of Evolution (and its legion of variations) is a large area of study. There are many avenues of criticism, both through Biblical evidences and scientific evidences. However, some of its greatest weaknesses do not lie with its conclusions, but instead with the assumptions necessarily made to arrive at such conclusions. In this article we will examine the limitation of life.

Mere Animals

Evolution requires a necessary limitation of the nature of being and the existence of life itself to only biological and natural processes. This is required as, for evolutionary theory to make any kind of sense its process cannot include anything of a spiritual element, either in the act of creation, or in the being of man. Put simply, evolution must assume that man is simply a biological creature, at most a “reasoning animal”.

Biblical Description

The Bible is very plain in describing the creation event that the material world was formed by the active mind of God, and that the living things created were not the by-product of time and base elements, but the very genesis which can only come from existing life (e.g. God Himself). Beyond this, with the creation of man and woman, something unique was involved being of God’s own “likeness” (Gen. 1:26), and also the life of His very own “breath” (Gen. 2:7).

Such descriptions were not meant to add “color” to the “creation narrative”, but to describe in limited physical ways an important spiritual truth about man’s nature and existence: man was created with a unique eternal and spiritual nature. This was manifest immediately in man’s cognition, ability to communicate, and ability to make moral choice.

What Can the Evolutionist Use?

The evolutionist cannot have such things, for what evolutionary process exists for a soul? Of course, most objections begin with a polemic against ideas such as the “soul” as being old fashioned or mystical. Such challenges can be made, but the evidence as to the uniqueness of man is all around us. It is a part of our very being.

What is truly tragic is how a theory which describes man as nothing truly unique is then commonly used to worship man as the pinnacle of that which exists. How can human beings attempt to use their own reasoning in order to conclude that their ability to reason is itself unimportant?