Quick Challenge Answer: Has Evolution Buried God?

Evolution can be a bit of a messy topic to bring up. Many of the heated “Science Vs. Faith” debates of the last century stem from a controversy of evolution vs creation. But many skeptics take it a step further than, “evolution is true, and creation is just myth.” They will argue that because we now have the theory of evolution, we don’t need God. Has evolution buried God? How do we respond to this challenge?

1. Evolution Needs Better Evidence

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this point, but suffice it to say Darwinian Evolution has some serious problems. When we say evolution, we need to distinguish between micro-evolution and macro-evolution. Micro-evolution simply refers to adaptation within a species like different dog breeds or birds with different beaks. Micro-evolution is easily observable and not at all controversial. Macro-evolution would be the change from one species to another, such as a single celled organism eventually giving us birds, fish, or humans. This idea is much less supported. Nearly all the evidence supporting macro-evolution is either extrapolating way too much from micro-evolution, or data that can just as easily be interpreted as supporting creationism as evolution.

2. Evolution Can’t Do Everything

Say for a moment that we could know with absolute certainty that macro-evolution was real. Somehow we found definitive proof that were all descended from simpler beings over millions of years. Would that be enough for us to give up and say evolution has buried God? I don’t think so. We might need to rethink a few historical and theological components in Genesis. If God does not exist there are simply too many questions that cannot be answered. Evolution has no explanation for where the universe came from, how life originally began, not just adapted, why there seems to be objective morality, how consciousness works, where real meaning and purpose comes from, etc. Some of the most important questions of existence are just left with a shrug and a blank stare. If you can’t provide a good explanation for these questions, you have not buried God.

Why do they Think That?

Darwin changed the world. Evolution gave atheists something to rally behind and develop a new theory of the world. But it has been turned into a “theory of everything,” where every aspect of human existence must have an explanation through evolution. They’ve put all their eggs into this one basket, because it’s all they have. If they are not willing to consider God or the supernatural, evolution is really the only option on the table. Raise some questions like, “If God existed and Christianity was true, would you believe and become a Christian?” Has evolution buried God? Evolution has not and cannot bury God. But discussing evolution does give us an opportunity to reveal the skeptic’s bias and just how open or closed minded they are.

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