The 10 Things You Should Know About the Creation vs. Evolution Debate (18 page)

An intelligent design of the universe does not preclude the
existence of evil in it. An important beginning point in disarming this objection is to note that evil is simply a perversion of
something good that already exists. Evil is not something that
has an existence all its own; rather, it is a corruption of that which
already exists. Evil is the absence or privation of something good.
Rot, for example, can only exist as long as the tree exists. Tooth
decay can only exist as long as the tooth exists. Rust on a car
and a decaying carcass illustrate the same point. Evil exists as a
corruption of something good; it is a privation and does not have
essence by itself." Christian philosopher Norman Geisler tells
us, "Evil is like a wound in an arm or moth-holes in a garment.
It exists only in another but not in itself"" Rotting trees, rusting cars, tooth decay, brain cancer-all these are examples of
how evil is a corruption of something good.

Understanding evil is one thing. Understanding how such
evil can exist in a world created by God is entirely different.
The conundrum is a conflict involving three concepts: God's
power, God's goodness, and the presence of evil in the world. Common sense seems to tell us that all three cannot be true at
the same time." Solutions to the problem of evil typically involve
modifying one or more of these three concepts: Limit God's
power, limit God's goodness, or modify the existence of evil (such
as calling it an illusion)."

Certainly if God made no claims to being good, then the existence of evil would be easier to explain. But God does claim to
be good. If God were limited in power so that He were not strong
enough to withstand evil, then the existence of evil would be
easier to explain. But God does claim to be all-powerful. If evil
were just an illusion that had no reality, then the problem would
not exist in the first place. But evil is not an illusion. It is real.'

Creationists believe the original creation was "very good"
(Genesis 1:31). Sin, evil, pain, and death did not exist. Yet today,
the world is permeated with sin, evil, pain, and death. What
brought it about? Scripture indicates that the turn downward
came the moment Adam and Eve used their God-given free wills
to choose to disobey God (Genesis 3).

Some people wonder why God didn't create humans in such
a way that we would never sin, thus avoiding evil altogether.
Wouldn't that be a better design? But such a scenario would
mean that we are no longer truly human. We would no longer
have the capacity to make choices and to freely love. This
scenario would require that God create robots who act only in
programmed ways-like one of those chatty dolls with a string
in its back that says, "I love you."22 Christian apologist Paul Little
notes that with such a doll "there would never be any hot words,
never any conflict, never anything said or done that would make
you sad! But who would want that? There would never be any
love, either. Love is voluntary. God could have made us like
robots, but we would have ceased to be men. God apparently
thought it worth the risk of creating us as we are."23

Love cannot be programmed; it must be freely expressed.
God wanted Adam and all humanity to show love by freely choosing obedience. That is why God gave Adam and all other
humans a free will. Geisler is correct in saying that "forced love
is rape; and God is not a divine rapist. He will not do anything
to coerce their decision."24 A free choice, however, leaves the
possibility of a wrong choice. As J. B. Phillips put it, "Evil is
inherent in the risky gift of free will."25

In view of the scriptural facts, we may conclude that God's
plan had the potential for evil when He bestowed upon humans
the freedom of choice, but the actual origin of evil came as a result
of a man who directed his will away from God and toward his
own selfish desires.26 "Whereas God created the fact of freedom,
humans perform the acts of freedom. God made evil possible;
creatures make it actual."27 Ever since Adam and Eve made evil
actual on that first occasion in the Garden of Eden, a sin nature
has been passed on to every man and woman (Romans 5:12; 1
Corinthians 15:22), and with our sin nature we continue to use
our free wills to make evil actual (Mark 7:20-23).

The fact that humans used God-given free choice to disobey
God did not take God by surprise. C.S. Lewis suggests that God
in His omniscience "saw that from a world of free creatures,
even though they fell, he could work out... a deeper happiness
and a fuller splendor than any world of automata would
admit."" The theist does not have to claim that our present
world is the best of all possible worlds, but it is the best way to
the best possible world. One Christian scholar writes:

If God is to both preserve freedom and defeat evil,
then this is the best way to do it. Freedom is preserved
in that each person makes his own free choice to determine his destiny. Evil is overcome in that, once those
who reject God are separated from the others, the decisions of all are made permanent. Those who choose
God will be confirmed in it, and sin will cease. Those
who reject God are in eternal quarantine and cannot upset the perfect world that has come about. The ultimate goal of a perfect world with free creatures will
have been achieved, but the way to get there requires
that those who abuse their freedom be cast out.29

We must remember that God is not finished yet. Too often
people fall into the trap of thinking that because God has not
dealt with evil yet, He is not dealing with it at all. My former
colleague Walter Martin used to say, "I've read the last chapter
in the book, and we win!" Evil will one day be done away with.
Just because evil is not destroyed right now does not mean it
never will be.

So we see that the existence of evil in the world is compatible with the existence of an all-good and all-powerful God. We
can summarize the facts this way:

1. If God is all-good, He will defeat evil.

2. If God is all-powerful, He can defeat evil.

3. Evil is not yet defeated.

4. Therefore, God can and will one day defeat evil."

In view of this, the existence of evil in the world does not
constitute a proof that the world was not intelligently designed.
I can know this just as surely as I can know my house was intelligently designed despite the fact that one of its pipes sprang a
leak. Remember that evil always involves the perversion of something that is good. The divine Designer's creation was entirely
good. Simply because free will creatures brought evil into that
good creation does not negate the creation's design.

The Objection. A final objection that often comes up is that
scientific theories cannot admit the possibility of miracles. Charles Darwin once said, "I will give absolutely nothing for
the theory of natural selection if it requires miraculous additions at any one stage of descent."" Darwin's feelings have been
echoed by multiple evolutionists and scientists since his time.

Answering the Objection. Earlier in this book, I addressed the
issue of naturalism. You will recall that the philosophy of naturalism asserts that the universe operates according to uniform
natural causes and that no force outside the universe can intervene in the cosmos. This is where naturalism goes so far astray.
In my chapter on naturalism, I provided arguments in favor of
the possibility of miracles. Without repeating all that material,
allow me to summarize a few critical points.

Creationists do not argue against the idea that a general
uniformity exists in the present cosmos. Regularity and order
are in the universe because God created it that way. What
creationists take exception to is the notion that the universe is
a self-contained closed system with absolute laws that are inviolable. Such a position would rule out any involvement of God
in the world He created.

Creationists believe the laws of nature are observations of
uniformity or constancy in nature. They are not forces which
initiate action. They simply describe the way nature behaves
when its course is not affected by a superior power. But God
is not prohibited from taking action in the world if He so desires.

When a miracle occurs, the laws of nature are not violated
but are rather superseded by a higher (supernatural) manifestation of the will of God. The forces of nature are not obliterated or suspended but are only counteracted at a particular point
by a superior force. In other words, miracles do not go against
the regular laws of cause and effect; they simply have a cause
that transcends nature.32

Do miracles disrupt any possibility of doing real science by
undermining uniformity in the world? As I noted previously,
uniformity is in the world because God created the world that way. Miracles are unusual events that involve only a brief superseding of the natural laws. By definition, they are out of the norm.
And unless a norm existed to begin with, miracles would not
be possible. Miracles are unusual, not commonplace events. A
miracle is a unique event that stands out against the background
of ordinary and regular occurrences. The possibility of miracles
does not disrupt the possibility of doing real science.

Some young-earth creationists have pointed out that while
some Bible-believing Christians are in the intelligent design
movement, other Christians in the movement have a much lower
view of the Bible, and some in the movement are not even
Christians at all.33 For this reason, some young-earth creationists have a friendly but somewhat cautious attitude in associating too closely with them.

Young-earth creationists also point out that the intelligent
design movement as a whole declines from explicitly identifying the intelligent Designer as God.34 One design theorist says
"that is not part of the argument.... Who or what is a different
topic. The identity of the designer is a different question."35
Young-earth creationists believe intelligent design theorists are
evading the obvious. John Morris, a young-earth creationist who
heads up the Institute for Creation Research, says: "We support
the intelligent design people fully, but we just feel they don't go
far enough. The evidence for design is obvious, but we know
who the Designer is. "36

Defining the identity of the intelligent Designer seems an
issue of obvious importance in the light of the many competing and conflicting religious viewpoints on how our universe
was designed. New Age enthusiasts often argue that benevolent
Space Brothers (aliens) from a distant galaxy planted life on earth
and enhanced conditions on our planet for the continued existence of life. Scientology-a new religion founded by fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard-argues that the universe was mentally
emanated into existence by powerful thetans (godlike beings).
Specifically identifying the divine Designer could go a long way
in preventing the spread of deviant viewpoints.

To be fair to intelligent design theorists, their agenda has
never been religious in nature. Their goal has been to use scientific methodology to empirically detect design in the universe
and to scientifically demonstrate that evolution is a notion without foundation in fact. Further, a nonreligious approach (not
explicitly identifying the Designer) stands a better chance of
being heard in the social and legislative arena. The fact that there
are some non-Christians involved in the movement may help
deflect charges of religious bias.37

In any event, I think that creationist Helen Fryman adds a
very nice perspective regarding how we can look at all this. She
notes that by showing that evolution is scientifically and mathematically impossible, intelligent design theorists are blasting
away at the mountain. Creationists must now build a road over
the mountain. Intelligent design theorists have prepared the turf;
creationists now need to build on that prepared turf. And in
doing so, they need to pave a road that takes people straight to
the true divine Creator-God, manifest in human flesh in the
person of Jesus Christ."

All in all, I rejoice in the evidences that intelligent design
theorists are bringing to the table. While I may personally wish
they would go further and explicitly identify the Designer as
God, creationists can "take the ball and run with it."

In view of the massive evidence for an intelligent Designer
of the universe, and in view of the fact that objections to intelligent design are inconsequential, I have a new appreciation for
the words of Psalm 19:1-4:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.