A LETTER TO A CHRISTIAN EVOLUTIONIST

Thank you for your gracious response. I want to be gracious and to share with you my struggle in hope that you will better understand me.

Please know that I do not enter into these debates on Biologos as a troll or as someone who wants to win an argument or to give others a hard time. My intention, for the sake of Christ, is to influence others away from views that I consider very dangerous to the faith, but how? And how do I best represent our Savior – my constant prayer?

Here are three possibilities:

1. AFFIRMATION OF THE OTHER AND THEIR OPINIONS. This is the easiest and generally makes everyone feel good. However, along with me, you’d probably reject this approach as disingenuous and not faithful to the Gospel.

2. FRIENDSHIP EVANGELISM. This strategy involves first earning a “right to speak” and to be heard. It requires us to first establish a friendship before we can express our real agenda. However, this too represents is a misrepresentation of who we are and our intentions. It is not genuine. Ultimately, it is a surrender of the moral high-ground.

3. A DIRECT AND HONEST PRESENTATION. As you know, this can be jarring, and so I only use it when I feel it is appropriate. Jesus used it when talking to the Scribes and Pharisees. He understood that they had a false hope in their own superiority and righteousness, and that they needed to be shaken loose from it. Therefore, He reserved His harshest language for them.

You will disagree with me here, but I regard Theistic Evolution as one of the greatest threats to the Church. It is particularly dangerous because it comes from largely persuasive and educated Christians who want to evangelize the Church for Darwinism. It also strikes the Christian faith at it foundation – the Bible – causing a virtual reformulation of biblical interpretation.

I have been appalled by its very obvious and deleterious impact upon the faith of Christians. Having undermined the historical context, they have also rejected the necessary interpretative context. Consequently, they are at a loss as to how to interpret the text. In the midst of their interpretative confusion, their views have become almost indistinguishable from the university community, most disturbingly in regards to their contempt for the traditional views of the Church.

Please put yourself in my shoes. If you saw your Christian brethren joining a suicide religion, would you not also resort to strong words in hope of drawing them back? If you can place yourself into these shoes, then you can understand what I am all about.