FIRST REASON THIS IMPORTANT
Christians and non-Christians have been arguing about Charles Darwin ever since The Origin of Species was published in 1859.
One could say that for 150 years, we've agreed to disagree. So what? Why should anyone but particularly committed, evangelical Christians care about this? Given all the other issues facing the church and society, why should attention be focused on this one? Beyond a largely academic debate, does it matter to the average person? Christians have always argued they were not in the business of winning a popularity contest. The New Testament cites numerous examples of how early Christians were persecuted by society for adhering to the Christian view. In that sense, for Christians to go against the grain is not necessarily bad and standing up for what one believes is quite admirable. Many see this rejection of science because of its perceived inconsistency with what the Bible appears to reveal as just another challenge for committed Christians to meet. Further, just as first-century Christians didn't compromise their positions to gain acceptance by the non-Christian majority, so should Christians today reject the "evidence" of science because it is seen to be inconsistent with the Bible and therefore wrong.
This is especially the case in the minds of many who perceive that the Darwinian theory is in effect just a convenient creation story for atheists. For many, this is reason enough to stand firm in spite of mounting scientific evidence to the contrary and reject concepts such as Darwin and the big bang theory.
I believe there are three solid reasons Christians, especially committed evangelical ones, ought to care deeply about this. Ultimately, these three reasons are the point of all of this. There may be additional ones, but these are three very important ones. In this post we'll talk about the first reason for caring about the issue.
It probably is no surprise that many Christians are leaving the church. Overall, that's true, but the evangelical side of Christianity seems to have avoided this problem. In fact, many evangelicals have trumpeted this, using it as a justification for holding firm to traditional doctrines, avoiding what they perceive as a failure on the part of the traditional, mainline Protestant denominations to stand up. But a funny thing is happening. There's increasing evidence that younger people are leaving the church, even in the evangelical branches. The Barna Group, the foremost experts in surveying churches, has found this to be a key issue. According to Barna, One of the reasons young adults feel disconnected from church or from faith is the tension they feel between Christianity and science. The most common of the perceptions in this arena is "Christians are too confident they know all the answers" (35%). Three out of ten young adults with a Christian background feel that "churches are out of step with the scientific world we live in" (29%). Another one-quarter embrace the perception that "Christianity is anti-science" (25%). And nearly the same proportion (23%) said they have "been turned off by the creation-versus-evolution debate.." Furthermore, the research shows that many science-minded young Christians are struggling to find ways of staying faithful to their beliefs and to their professional calling in science-related industries.
Barna has found this as one of the top three reasons that nearly 60 percent of young people disconnect from their churches after age fifteen.
Conservative and evangelical Christians are confronted with the following unappealing scenario of increasing numbers of Christians, particularly young people, are leaving the church because they can't reconcile their faith with science.
Now many people will counter, saying that it is common for young people to become somewhat dis-connected from the church as they mature, by they tend to come back once they're ready to settle down. Yes, that is an old and familiar story, but the story appears to be changing this time. Increasingly, the evidence suggests they will leave the church and not come back.
At the same time, the church is also seeking to evangelize the un-churched. After all, we Christians are offered The Great Commandment in the 28th chapter of Matthew. But what is the likelihood of success if the church is perceived to be anti-science, and the Bible as inconsistent with observed science? Those who are scientifically inclined, and otherwise well educated, simply aren't open to hearing the message. Evangelicals can wax forth all day that these people are short sighted and foolish, but the fact remains, because they perceive Christians to be anti-science, and they perceive the Bible to be inconsistent with observable scientific reality, they aren't open to hearing anything else.
I'm not suggesting that Christians change their beliefs simply to appeal to unbelievers. Nothing of the sort! It's much more complicated than that, but there is clearly a giant stumbling block that needs to be overcome in order to deal with the twin problems described here. All I'm saying is that there is a significant problem here that Christians need to confront. The traditional response – if non-Christians would just be more open-minded, read the Bible, and listen to what is saying to them – just isn't going to happen.
I think we should set that discussion aside, however, at least for the time being. There are at least two other key reasons Christians should be concerned about this issue. In the next post, we'll discuss the second reason.
