By Roger Oakland
Evolution` not only robs God of His glory in creating life, it also destroys God’s purpose of death and God’s plan to overcome it through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) and “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Contrary to the abrupt formation of each species as stated in the Bible’s creation story, evolution teaches that through the cycle of death came higher forms of life. Through endless cycles of death in one-celled organisms came simple life. From the death of simple life came the formation of more complex life. Finally, through the death of apes came man. Evolution proposes that death combined with the survival of the fittest of a species is the mechanism which produces new and greater forms of life.
This philosophy is cousin to the concept of reincarnation, which is rooted in the pagan religions of the East. Reincarnation states that death and life are intrinsically joined together. They link arms with another cousin, suffering (known as “karma” in India), which is seen as the result of negative acts performed in this or other lifetimes. Such a concept is in contradiction to the view of abrupt appearance or creation by God, and ultimately of resurrection.
In Genesis 3:21, God clothed Adam and Eve with “coats of skin.” These served as a covering for their sin, just as Jesus shed His blood on the Cross as a covering for sin unto salvation. In Scripture, death came about as a result of sin and is not a means of an evolutionary mechanism by which simple life is transformed into more complex forms or man is reincarnated into successive lives. To believe such a premise destroys the very heart of biblical Christianity. To cancel out and nullify the purpose of death and the atonement through the shedding of blood utterly contradicts God’s plan and purpose. The Bible tells us, “it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). How frightful to think that many go into eternity without knowing Christ as Savior because they would rather believe in a spiritual form of evolution than the Word of God.
Genesis develops the theme of atonement. The Jews were told continually to offer animal sacrifices to God with thanksgiving. Noah carried extra animals on the Ark to thank God for saving them. When the angel of death passed over the Egyptians’ homes and killed the firstborn sons in judgment for Pharaoh’s rebellion against God, those Jews who had the blood of an unblemished lamb painted on their front portals were bypassed. Their lives were spared that the Jews might later inhabit the Promised Land. The sacrifice of an unblemished lamb illustrates the purpose and necessity of God’s Messiah, Jesus described as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) and is a prophetic fulfillment of Isaiah 53.
Like the Jews who were bypassed by the angel of death, sinners today can be spared the ramifications of death only if they are covered by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Our relationship with God is broken due to sin, and we are lost in our sins. But when we turn to Christ and receive Him as our Savior by faith, He puts a new life within us and gives us right standing with God. By faith, we have received eternal life, and we begin a life of living for God. All of this is the result of Jesus’ death on the Cross where He shed His blood for our transgressions (Romans 5:1).
What does all this have to do with evolution? Here’s what G. Richard Bozarth, atheist and outspoken opponent of creationism, has said:
Christianity has fought, still fights, and will fight science to the desperate end over evolution, because evolution destroys utterly and finally the very reason Jesus’ earthly life was supposedly made necessary. Destroy Adam and Eve and the original sin, and in the rubble you will find the sorry remains of the son of god. Take away the meaning of his death. If Jesus was not the redeemer who died for our sins, and this is what evolution means, then Christianity is nothing!1
Bozarth’s statement makes it apparent that atheism’s agenda is to advance evolution and destroy the very foundational principles of biblical Christianity. It is sad to think that it takes an atheist to have the insight that evolution undermines and destroys the meaning of the Cross while many Christians would blindly go and embrace it.
Endnote:
- Richard Bozarth, “The Meaning of Evolution” (The American Atheist, September 1978), p. 28.
Thank you VERY much, Iva, John J and Nope. The information is very helpful. Iron sharpens iron! 🙂
Karma =/= consequences
You’ve probably heard these words used interchangeably by your friends, but the consequences God sometimes allows for our behavior do not equal karma. We have to remember also the reality expressed in ps 73– the prosperity of the wicked. “Karma” is just another way the enemy is trying to discredit God and say there is not the God of the Bible, but only a force at work in the universe in our temporal lives.
The truth is that often the wicked prosper and the righteous are persecuted, but after death we each face judgment before Jesus Christ, and our lives are eternal. We’ll either suffer eternal damnation, or know God as we are known in eternal relationship with our Bridegroom.
I would first ask your friends in what sense they think karma is biblical – in the Hinduism sense, regarding reincarnation, or in the general sense of temporal consequences for good or bad behavior. Once they answer, I would then address their deceit with the appropriate verses
.
Dear Roger,
Thank you so much for this short and precise defense of Creationism, the Bible and redemption through Jesus Christ. It is a gem and I will be using it to defend God’s Word and the truth of the biblical account of all of creation.
Hi, Cindy. “Karma” has become a buzzword, and I think that 99% of people have no idea it’s a Hindu/Buddhist term, and maybe that’s a good place to start. Put the word into its context, as you have alluded. It has everything to do with the afterlife, reincarnation, punishment in a next, physical life whereas true Christianity does not teach that because it’s not the truth. We die once and then judgment (Hebrews 9:27). There’s no coming back and fixing our bad deeds, or our good deeds outweighing our bad ones…and the winner determines our eternal destiny. Also Matthew 25:46 puts karma in its place.
The Bible is full of examples that we will reap what we sow; cast your bread on the waters and it will come back to you, especially Proverbs 11:27; Proverbs 26:27; Psalms 7:16 (but this is not karma; these are life lessons and ways of conduct; truisms, not laws, either spiritual or natural). Galatians 6:7 is a karma favorite, but it teaches simply that God will punish sin. Karma, according to those who believe in it, is something that one cannot escape from. Jesus, as savior, made it possible for us to escape his wrath and by becoming born-again, we become part of his family and there is no more condemnation for him/her who is in Christ (Roman 8:1).
Today’s usage of the word “karma” is used wrongly to top it all. There are these Instant” karma jokes; there are a million and one karma memes and stuff on the Internet. As I’ve said, it’s a buzzword with deep, unbiblical roots. It’s a fashion and people run after a fashion.
Be gentle when you explain that it’s either karma or Jesus Christ and the freedom that comes with Him; being reconciled with God forever when born-again.
So, someone takes your parking spot at the mall and then ten minutes later someone bumps into his car. “Karma!” people shout. Nope, bad luck, coincidence, everyday life.
Cindy, if karma were true (and it has to be 100% true to be true, like the law of gravity), then this world would have zero people. We’d all be dead because of our “wrongdoings.”
Using karma to compare it with what happens to a born-again Christian should convince your friends. Yeah, it’s a buzzword; let’s hope the next buzzword blows it away.
I hope it helped a bit. I hope others weigh in too.
Cindy, you are correct, karma is not biblical and no Christian should think it is biblical since it is a concept in the Buddhist and Hindu religions, as you know…Hebrews 9:27 says that we are destined to die once and after that we face judgment(this does away with the idea of reincarnation). John 3:36 tells us what to do for everlasting life… Galatians 6:7 says: don’t be deceived; God is not mocked: for what we sow, we will reap. A Christian using the word, ‘karma’, in my opinion is a form of mocking God, intentionally or not. I’m not sure if this answers your question but I hope it helps.
May I use this forum to ask a question? I have many Christian friends who continually talk about karma. They think it is Biblical. I can tell them where the term karma came from (and tell them it is not Biblical), but I don’t know what scripture(s) to share with them specifically so they will understand. Thank you!