15 Julian Huxley, in Issues of Evolution, ed. Sol Tax (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1960), p. 45.
16 Mattell, “Three Cheers for the Creationists”, p. 17.
17 Holmes Rolston, III. “Does Nature Need to be Redeemed?” Zygon, vol. 29 (June 1994), p. 205.
18 Ibid. The journal Zygon is devoted to studies of problems at the interface between science and religion.
19 Rolston, “Does Nature Need to be Redeemed?” p. 206.
20 Charles Darwin, Origin of Species, (1859), last paragraph.
21 Don Stoner, A New Look at an Old Earth (Paramount, CA: Schroeder Publishing, 1985), p. 47.
22 Hugh Ross, Creation and Time (Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress, 1994), p. 62–63.
23 Stephen Jay Gould, “The Power of this View of Life,” Natural History (June 1994), p. 6.
24 David Hull, “God of the Galapagos,” p. 486.
25 Stephen Jay Gould, “Darwin and Paley Meet the Invisible Hand,” Natural History (November 1990), p. 14.
26 Irving Stone, “The Death of Darwin,” chap. 22, in Darwin Up to Date, ed. Jeremy Cherfas, (London: New Scientist Guide, IPC Magazines, Ltd., 1982), p. 69. Stone is author of the best-selling biography of Darwin entitled: The Origin: A Biographical Novel of Charles Darwin.
27 Ibid.
28 Ibid., p. 69–70. Although there is certainly no firm evidence of Darwin’s reputed conversion, there are some possible intimations. See L. R. Croft, The Life and Death of Charles Darwin (Lancashire, England: Elmwood Books, 1989), also James Moore, The Darwin Legend (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1994).
29 L. R. Croft, How Life Began (Durham, England: Evangelical Press, 1988), p. 20.
30 Ibid., p. 20. Croft has been a diligent researcher into the life and death of Charles Darwin, examining his papers and interviewing the inhabitants of his home community at great length. See also his book The Life and Death of Charles Darwin.
31 E. O. Wilson, “Toward a Humanistic Biology,” The Humanist (September/October 1982), p. 40.
32 Henry M. Morris, History of Modern Creationism (El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research, 1993), second edition.
Chapter 8
The Importance of Creation
One of the common misconceptions among evangelical Christians is the notion that the doctrine of creation is only a peripheral doctrine, important to scientists and philosophers perhaps, but not to ordinary lay Christians. Winning people to Christ and building them up in the Christian life, they think, are much more important. Furthermore, creationism is so controversial and generates such heated opposition whenever it is advocated that it is best just to ignore it. As long as one believes in God and that He created things, it really doesn’t matter how He did it, or when.
But that is the traditional attitude of the head-in-the-sand ostrich. Creation is not a peripheral doctrine. In fact, biblical creationism is the most important of all biblical teachings, because it is the very foundation of everything else in the Bible. That is why God put it as the very first revelation in His written Word.
Similarly, the Book of Genesis is the most important book in the Bible, for it is the foundation of every other book of the Bible, without which the whole structure of God’s revelation would collapse. Then, further, the very first verse of Genesis is the most important verse in the Bible. If a person really believes Genesis 1:1 (“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”), he should have no difficulty believing all the rest. On the other hand, if he does not believe that verse, he might as well discard the whole Bible, for it becomes no different from any other religious tome or sacred book in value or meaning.
As we shall see in this chapter, creation is the foundation of all the basic doctrines of the Christian faith, and even of true science, as well as of our American nation.
Creation, the Foundation
In a very real sense, the creationist world view is the foundation of all that is good and true in this world and in the world to come. Evolutionism, on the other hand, is the root cause of all that is false and harmful. At this point, however, we wish only to survey the foundational importance of creation to biblical Christianity (the effects of evolution are explored in some depth in Volume 3 of this Trilogy).
1. Foundation of True Religion
The true religion must necessarily be based on worship of the world’s true Creator. Other religions may deify great men, or man-made systems, or the world itself, but these are all merely variant forms of humanism, as men “worshiped and served the creature, rather than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25). It is highly significant that all such religions and religious books begin with the creation, rather than the Creator, except the Bible! That is, they all start with the universe already in existence, and then try to delineate how the primeval space/matter/time universe somehow developed into its present array of complex systems. This supposed sequence characterizes both ancient paganism and modern humanism; these and all other atheistic, pantheistic, or polytheistic religions are merely various forms of evolutionism. Only in Genesis 1:1 (the foundation of all foundations!) is there a statement of the creation of the universe itself. Without this foundation, true religion is impossible.
Now although creation is the foundation, it is, of course, not the complete structure. Orthodox Judaism and Islam, like Christianity, believe in one eternal Creator, as revealed in Genesis 1:1, but they have rejected Him as Savior. In addition to the general revelation seen in the creation, God has explicitly revealed himself through both His Word and His Son. Those who reject either or both, even though they believe in one God as primeval Creator and, like Christianity, are monotheistic, cannot know God in His fullness. He must be known in His human incarnation as gracious Redeemer as well as omnipotent, but offended, Creator. Therefore, biblical Christianity is the only truly creationist religion.
2. Foundation of Christology
Similarly, neither can one know Christ as He really is if one knows Him only as Redeemer. Faint-hearted Christians often justify their lukewarm attitude toward creation by saying that it is more important merely to “preach Christ.” They forget that we are preaching “another Jesus” (2 Cor. 11:4) if we do not preach Him as He really is, consistent with His