** This post was not meant to insult, condemn or hurt anyone. The post and my comments are my beliefs solely. I'm not judging anyone for their beliefs or comments. I actually welcome comments. I just don't want anyone to label me a "religious fanatic" and steer clear of the blog. We'll be getting back to cardboard posts very soon, I promise! If anyone was offended by this post or any of my comments then I apologize. **
If you've read my blog for awhile, especially on Sundays then you should know that I'm a Christian. Yup, proud of it and not ashamed to let others know. While I do post a Bible verse every Sunday I don't try to cram or force my beliefs onto others. However I did want to take a moment to comment about the new unannounced set in Allen & Ginter called Ascent of Man.
The card set focuses on the topic of Evolution. It covers several aspects, but what bothers me the most is the whole notion that you and I evolved from an ape. Here are a few points that I'd like to mention when it comes to the whole creation vs. evolution topic:
- Creationism and evolutionism begin from two radically different points. Creation: In the beginning there was God. Evolution: In the beginning there was random chance.
- Darwinian doctrine insists that the evolution of life is a random process—that we are here by a series of pure accidents (e.g., mutations, and molecules in motion, gene recombinations and duplications). This is in direct conflict with the biblical doctrine of election—that life is not merely a series of accidents. According to the Bible, each believer is in some sense individually foreknown and chosen by God from before the foundations of the world. (1 Samuel 16:7-12; Psalm 139:16; Jeremiah 1:5; Matthew 24:31, 25:34; Romans 8:29-30; 1 Corinthians 2:7; Galatians 1:15; Ephesians 1:4-12; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:1-2, 2:9)
- The God of the Bible is more than Creator and Savior. He is also Sustainer. With evolution, life is a self-sustaining process ruled by fate, and God plays no role in the universe or in the ongoing lives of men. This contradicts the biblical doctrine of providence—that all things happen under the authority of God, and that God is still at work sustaining (though not re-creating) His creation. (Genesis 45:7-8, Nehemiah 9:6; Esther 4:14; Psalm 104:30, 145:16, 147:9; Proverbs 16:9,33, Isaiah 45:1,7, 46:10; Matthew 6:26, 10:29-31; John 5:17, 14:16-17, 15:26, 16:13-15; Acts 17:26, 18:9-11; Romans 8:9-11; Colossians 1:17, Hebrews 1:3)
- The Bible says that man was created as a special being—in the image of God, as opposed to the evolutionary view that has man is just another animal in the evolutionary process. (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7)
- The Bible indicates that creation was a completed event in the past, and is not continuing as evolution suggests. (Genesis 2:1-3; Ecclesiastes 3:14; Hebrews 4:3-11) As put by the Concordia Study Bible (annotations page 8), "His creative work was completed—and it was totally effective, absolutely perfect, 'very good.' It did not have to be repeated, repaired or revised, and the Creator rested to commemorate it."
- Given the above, the creation by God of distinct "kinds" as described in Genesis 1 and 1 Corinthians 15:38-39 implies that transmutations between kinds is precluded, or at least superfluous.
- The Bible indicates that there is clear physical evidence of creation. (Psalm 19:1-6; Acts 17:24-29) Evolution denies the evidence for creation. If Darwinism were a reasonable hypothesis, atheists would have a perfectly good excuse, in contradiction to Romans 1:20. On the other hand, creation is a consistent theme throughout the Bible.
- There is no hint of evolution in the Bible. While this is an argument from silence and thus does not necessarily preclude evolution, such an important concept as to origins would surely have been suggested in the Bible due to its theological implications. On the other hand, creation is a consistent theme throughout the Bible. It is mentioned approximately 64 times in 18 books of the Bible.
- Evolution is a philosophy based on naturalism and materialism. Naturalism holds that nature is all there is and that the universe is self-sufficient without a supernatural cause or control of the world. Materialism regards matter as the original cause of all—that matter did its own creating. Materialism denies the existence of the soul. The philosophical assumption of evolution is therefore essentially atheistic or agnostic, thus clearly incompatible with special creation and the other miracles of the Bible. With evolution, if God exists, He is so distant as to be irrelevant.
- The Bible teaches that God created man by fiat, that is, by supernatural power, not by natural processes. (Genesis 2:7; Psalm 33:6,9; Psalm 148:5; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Hebrews 11:3)
- Some 75 passages of Scripture including those by Jesus, refer to the creation narrative of Genesis 1-2, confirming it as actual history. (Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6; Luke 3:38, Revelation 2:7) See In the Beginning elsewhere on our site.
- There is an important reason to interpret from the Bible that Adam was a real person. Unless the concept of original sin through Adam is true, Jesus' coming makes no sense. That is, Christians believe that Christ's atoning sacrifice for our sins was necessary because of man's sin nature inherited in some sense from Adam. The Bible teaches that Jesus was the "second Adam." So if Adam was not real, thus did not bring sin into the world, Christ's redemptive sacrifice was not necessary. (Genesis 3:15-19; Romans 4:22-25, 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:21-23,45-57; 1 Timothy 2:13-14).
I didn't mean to jump off on a tangent as such, but when I found out what this card set was based off I couldn't sit idly by and say nothing. Choose to believe what you may. Feel free to voice your opinion on the subject. I just wanted to share my take on what I believe.
All that said, I'll have several cards from this set that I'll gladly trade away! ( :
