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Those who wish to "do God a
favor" by allowing him to create
man (or any other creature) by an
evolutionary process need to realize
such beliefs exclude him from deal–
ing in a direct way in the affairs of
man, nullify the plain words of the
Bible, and, in fact, deny God's
power.
. Why kid ourselves? The real ad–
vocates of the evolutionary theory
understand what the theory leads to
in respect to God. Listen to Sir Ju–
lian Huxley:
The supematural is being swept
• out of the universe .. . .God can
no longer be considered as the
controller of the universe in any
but a Pickwickian sense . . .. Op–
erationally God is beginning to
resemble not a rul er, but
the
last
fading smile of a cosmic Cbeshire
cat
(Religion Without
Re~oelation.
1927,
pp. 58,
62).
And along the same lines, George
G. Simpson adds:
" ... we did not appear all at once
but by an almost incredibly long
and slow progression.
lt
sbows
too tbat tbere was no anticipation
of man's coming. He responds to
no plan and fulfills no superna!
purpose. He stands alone in tbe
universe, a unique product of a
long, unconscious, impersonal,
material process, witb unique un–
derstanding and potent ialities.
These be owes to no one .... He
can and must decide and manage
bis own destiny
(Life of the Past,
1968,
p.
155).
These candid professionals know
that if one logically follows the evo–
lutionary line of thought, God is no–
where in the picture. Those who
wish to join the two opposites of
belief come away with a poor com–
promise.
In the whole process, the deep
and profound meaning of Genesis 1
is lost from view by theistic evolu–
tion. The well-intentioned individ–
ual who joins together the opposites
of creation and evolution will miss
the fundamental significance of "af–
ter its kind." Genesis 1 is the key
which unlocks the meaning of man's
existence
as
well as the key in un–
derstanding the when and how of
God's creative acts.
PLAIN TRUTH June-July 1974
Purpose of life Lost
From View
Verses 11 and 12 of Genesis 1 tell
of God's creative powers used to
bring forth fruit trees, grasses, and
herbs which will continue their kind
according to set 1imits. Verses 20
through 22 repeat simi lar limita–
tions on sea li fe and the bird kinds.
Verses 24 and 25 , speaking of the
beast of the fi eld, cattle, and creep–
ing things, again set definite 1imits
on their variation capacity - each
within its kind.
The crowning physical creation is
mankind itself: "And God said, Le t
us make man in our image, after our
likeness .... So God created
man
in
his own image. in the image of God
created he him; ma te and female
created he them" (verses 26-27).
Man is fashioned after the God
kind . His body and mind are in the
1ikeness of the Creator's. The pur–
pose of creating man physical and
mortal is that he might become di–
vine, boro of God, no Jonger com–
posed of phys ica1, earth1y matter,
but composed of spirit - like God.
Paul of Tarsus understood the
Genesis account and revealed the
deep significance of the early Gen–
esis revelation when he wrote: "The
fi rst man Adam was made a living
soul; the last Adam [Jesus Christ]
was made a quickening [life-giving]
spirit. Howbei t, tha t was not first
which is spiritual .... The first man
is of the earth, earthy; the second
man is the Lord from heaven ....
And as
we
have borne the image of
the earthy,
we
shall also bear the
image of the heavenly" (I Corinthi–
ans 15:45-49).
Genesis 2:7 says that God created
man directly from the dust of the
ground. Man does not possess an
animallineage. Genesis 3:17- 19 also
shows that , a t death, man retums to
the dust
Man was
made
a living soul, or
better rendered, a living
creature.
The word translated "soul" here is
the same word translated "creature"
in Genesis l :20-21. Genesis 2:7 does
not tell us that Adam had a unique
soul, but rather shows how be be–
carne a living creature (fiesh, of the
earth, subject to physical death as is
all physical life). His body was
formed directly from the dust of the
earth, and bis physical life carne
from the breath of Ji fe breathed into
his nostrils by God.
There is no plainer way in which
God could have told us how he cre–
a ted Adam, and, as we shall see.
Eve. This is no mere poetic way lo
express an evolutionary process. To
postulate, as sorne have, that Adam
and Eve are merely symbols for the
first humans who had evolved out of
the animal kingdom is directly con–
trary to bibl ical scholarship. Again,
if one is wi ll ing to admit into his
thinking the existence of a Creator
God, then why should one want to
limit the power of God and make
the scriptures of no effect?
Genesis 2 is also clear concerning
the origin of Eve. Sbe was made out
of a rib from Adam (verse 22). The
apostle Paul in the New Testament
confirmed this understanding of tbe
Genesis account when he wrote:
" For the man is not of the woman ;
but the woman of the man. Neither
was tbe man created for the woman;
but the woman for the man .... For
as the woman is of the man, even so
is the man also by the woman; but
all tbings of God"
(1
Corinthians
11 :8-9, 12).
Paul's statement can only sensibly
be understood in tbe context of a
literal creation of Eve from a rib of
Adam.
God made every living thing to
reproduce only after its own par–
ticular kind of life. God made man
after tbe God kind, first in physical
composition and limited mind abi l–
ity. La ter, in a coming resurrection.
as Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 15,
man will be composed of spirit as
God is spirit, with all the vast poten–
tials of spirit (1 John 3:2). Man will
eventually become a spirit member
of the God kind if he wiU but put
aside his own wrong ways and be–
liefs and be transformed by the
ways and teachings of God as re–
vealed in the Holy Bible.
o
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