QUESTION 9

Should I Believe in Evolution?

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WHY IT MATTERS

If evolution is true, life has no lasting purpose. If creation is true, we can find satisfying answers to questions about life and the future.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Imagine this scenario: Alex is confused. He has always believed in God and in creation. But today his biology teacher forcefully claimed that evolution is a fact, that it is based on credible scientific research. Alex doesn’t want to appear foolish. ‘After all,’ he says to himself, ‘if scientists have proved evolution to be true, who am I to question them?’

If you were Alex, would you accept evolution just because the textbooks present it as fact?

STOP AND THINK!

People on both sides of the debate are often quick to state what they believe without really knowing why they believe it.

Some people believe in creation simply because that’s what they’ve been taught at church.
Some people believe in evolution simply because that’s what they’ve been taught at school.

SIX QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

The Bible says: “Every house is constructed by someone, but the one who constructed all things is God.” (Hebrews 3:4) Is that reasonable to believe?

Claiming that life did not have a Creator is as absurd as claiming that this house did not have a builder

CLAIM: Everything in the universe came as a result of a random big bang.

1. Who or what caused the big bang?

2. Which makes more sense—that everything came from nothing or that everything came from someone?

CLAIM: Humans evolved from animals.

3. If humans evolved from animals—from apes, for example—why is there such a huge gap between the intellectual abilities of humans and those of apes?

4. Why are even the most “basic” forms of life so incredibly complex?

CLAIM: Evolution is a proven fact.

5. Has the person making this claim investigated the evidence for himself?

6. How many people believe in evolution simply because they have been told that all intelligent people believe in it?

“If you were walking through the forest and discovered a beautiful house, would you think: ‘How fascinating! The trees must have fallen in just the right way to make this house.’ Of course not! It’s just not reasonable. So why should we believe that everything in the universe just happened to come about?”—Julia.

“Imagine that someone told you that there was an explosion at a printing plant and that the ink spattered onto the walls and ceilings and formed the text of an unabridged dictionary. Would you believe it?”—Gwen.

WHY BELIEVE IN GOD?

The Bible encourages you to use your “power of reason.” (Romans 12:1) That means your belief in God should not be based merely on

EMOTION (I just feel that there must be a higher power)
THE INFLUENCE OF OTHERS (I live in a religious community)
PRESSURE (My parents raised me to believe in God—I had no choice)

Instead, you should have sound reasons for your belief.

“When I’m in class listening to the teacher explain how our bodies function, there’s no doubt in my mind that God exists. Each part of the body has its own function, down to the smallest detail, and these functions are often carried out without our awareness. The human body truly is mind-boggling!”—Teresa.

“When I see a skyscraper, a cruise ship, or a car, I ask myself, ‘Who built this?’ It takes intelligent people to build a car, for example, because so many small components have to work just right for the whole thing to function. And if cars have to be designed by someone, then so do we humans.”—Richard.

“The more I studied science, the less credible evolution seemed. . . . To me, it takes more ‘faith’ to believe in evolution than to believe in a Creator.”—Anthony.

TO THINK ABOUT

Despite decades of research, scientists have yet to come up with an explanation for evolution that they can all agree on. If scientists can’t agree on evolution—and they are supposed to be the experts—are you wrong to question the theory?