EVOLVING. From those who deny the theory of evolution you will often hear the contention

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1 EVOLVING Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Rom. 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11 From those who deny the theory of evolution you will often hear the contention that the theory is flawed because the so-called missing link between apes, from whom humans are said to have evolved, and humans cannot be found. This is false. The fact is that hundreds of fossil remains belonging to hundreds of intermediate human ancestors have been discovered since Darwin s time (F. Ayala, Darwin and Intelligent Design, p. 43) These fossils are called hominids. The oldest known hominids are approximately 6-7 million years old. These ancestors walked upright on two feet when on the ground but had very small brains. Their fossils were found in Africa. Over the next several million years these hominids evolved, the principal sign of which was the increase in the size of their cranial capacity, indicating the development of larger and larger brains. About 1.8 million years ago hominids generally designated as Homo erectus began to travel, spreading from Africa to Europe and Asia. The transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens, which is the species to which modern humans belong, began about 400,000 years ago. Fossils of modern humans appeared about 100,000 to 120,000 years ago and modern humans spread throughout the world, replacing the pre-existing populations of hominids. The appearance of modern humans in Europe occurred only about 35,000 years ago and in the Americas only about 15,000 years ago.

2 The two most conspicuous features of human anatomy are erect posture and a large brain. Homo sapiens, our fair species, has a brain that is about three times the size of early hominids. Although it is true that chimpanzees and modern human beings are, from a DNA perspective, 99 percent identical, the differences between ourselves and our closest living non-human relatives are very great, and not least of all when it comes to the size and complexity of our brains. The theory of evolution is probably the most tested theory in all of science, and it can no longer be said that there are gaps of knowledge in the evolutionary history of living organisms. The evidence for the theory is overwhelming. And yet there are those who deny the theory and the evidence. The lesson from Genesis that was read to us a few minutes ago is part of the story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. It is one of two creation stories in the first three chapters of Genesis, and it is the older of the two. The other story of creation in six days comes first in Genesis in chapter 1, but it is the second of the two stories in the order of its composition. The presence of these two very different creation stories in Genesis should, in and of itself, raise questions about the trustworthiness of these stories as accounts of how the world of life came to be. As accounts of how the world of life came to be, these stories can be said and should be said to be false, scientifically and historically. If, however, we look at these stories as myths, we may with good reason say that they are true. Myths are pre-scientific stories that take place in no time and in no place and which attempt to say something about the nature of reality beyond appearances. The two creation myths in Genesis tell us that we are creatures who have a Creator and that our good, our well-being, is to be found in being rightly-related to our Creator.

3 These stories tell us nothing about how our Creator creates. Science advances theories about the natural world including theories about how the world develops to become as it is. Such theories can be tested and proved by sufficient evidence. Scientific theories are never complete in that they can never be proved so well that they could not be proved further. But if we are looking for how human beings came to be, there is no better account than the one we have from the scientific theory of evolution, first promulgated by Charles Darwin. If, on the other hand, you want to know about the nature and destiny of human life, what these lives of ours are for, the creation myths in Genesis are a good place to begin this exploration. When St. Paul writes his Letter to the Romans, it seems that he believes that the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was not a myth but rather an actual historical event that resulted in the entry of sin into the world. He pays no attention to Eve but says, just as one man s trespass ([meaning Adam s] led to condemnation for all, so one man s act of righteousness [meaning Jesus] leads to justification and life for all. Paul is here thinking like an accountant. Adam s disobedience to God creates a deficit which has to be made up, justified, in order for accounts to be set straight. Jesus is the one who pays off the debt and justifies the account before God, the supreme Auditor. This is Paul s myth of salvation, his way of taking up the question of the nature and destiny of human life that is posed in the Book of Genesis. What does this myth of Paul s mean? Try this. At some point we become aware that our lives are flawed, that we go after the wrong things, that we seek our happiness in the wrong places, that we are often selfish and pursue as good what we discover is not really good or at least not good enough.

4 What is to be done? Where are we to go to find a way of living that will give integrity to our lives, or to put this in more specifically theological terms, which will put us in rightrelation to God, our Creator? The Christian answer is given in the life and teachings of Jesus, which show us a way to a godly life, including the assurance that what has been wrong in our lives will not be held against us, that we are forgiven and can make a new start. Nothing needs to be paid back to justify our lives before God. We are responsible for what we have done and left undone, but we cannot undo the mistakes that we have made. The best we can do is accept responsibility for our actions and inactions, receive the forgiveness of God for what has been wrong in us and make a new start, following the pattern of Christ Jesus. This is the Christian faith. The theory of evolution is a religious problem for those who believe that the Bible is literally true and inerrant (meaning can t be wrong ) in all that it says. There is no reason to believe this, and there is good reason not to believe this, including the fact that most Christian authorities throughout history have not believed this to be true. Drop the belief in the Bible s literal and inerrant truth, and evolution is no longer a problem. There is no reason in the world why a Christian cannot believe at one and the same time that God is Creator of the heavens and the earth and that the means by which the creation of life takes place is well-described by the theory of evolution by natural selection. The devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the great house of science and natural history and said to him, Do you see all these bones, all these fossils, do you see all this data including data from carbon dating tests, and all of this evidence from DNA which supports the theory of evolution? See this great edifice that science has built, countless hours of observation and experimentation and analysis, countless people striving to

5 understand better the workings of this beautiful and mysterious world of which we are a part. The devil continued, This is all a great distraction that stands over and against the Word of God in the Bible, which includes nothing of what you find here, none of this science or natural history. This is nothing but falsehood and human pridefulness, the work of people who want to make themselves gods. If you, Jesus, are a true child of God, you will pay no attention to any of this. You will throw yourself off this towering height of learning, defy the law of gravity, and trust God to bear you up and protect you from all harm. Do this, Jesus, as a sign to your followers that you are true to God s Word and true to God s Word alone! Jesus looked at the devil, smiled, shook his head and said: You d have to be a damned fool to do that! I will not be tempted by ignorance. No one should be. Good science can teach us something of the mind of God the Creator and help us to be the most faithful members of Homo sapiens we can be. Good religion can teach us something of what good use to make of our scientific learning and help us to be the most faithful members of Homo sapiens we can be. You, Satan, are the enemy of both good science and good religion who would drag us all down with you into the dust. I will have none of it. And with that, the devil left him. Amen. The First Sunday in Lent, February 10, 2008 Emanuel Lutheran Church