Does Evolution Change Our Theology?

One of the issues with Evolution that seems to go unnoticed by many is its potential effect on the traditional understanding of our theology.  The claim put forth usually makes it seem like nothing really changes.  We simply need to approach Genesis differently so that its message and what is claimed by evoutionary theory agree.  Thus what began as narrative history now becomes symbolic.  Yet it doesn't end there.  A whole host of doctrines ultimately need to be reexamined.  Genesis 1 - 3 sets the stage for all that comes after this.  Adherence to Evolution of necessity brings into question the doctrine of sin, how we understand death, and salvation.  These doctrines are morphed, it appears to me, into this kind of thinking:
  • If Adam and Eve do not represent real, historical figures, then their recorded actions are merely symbolic and not related to any particular action.  Thus, their disobedience and the consequence of that disobedience, having no anchor in reality, floats free and becomes detached from any discussion of sin.  For sin is the act of disobeying the clear commands of God.  Actual sin morphs into a sense of general sinfulness which vaguely morphs into whatever we end up defining it as. We see this happening already as certain social behaviors are re-explained as no longer sinful because they are too widely accepted by people.  Sin becomes our unwillingness to accept people for what or who they are, for intollerance. 
  • If living things, including the evolutionary ancestors of man, were dying long before homo sapiens came on the scene hundreds of thousands of years ago, how are we do understand the reason for death and how it fits in which the general plan of God?  When Paul writes that the "wages of sin is death," death is then reinterpreted as "spiritual death" to make it fit with the evolutionary picture.  Death is even reimaged as somehow "good" since those who suffer from disease, disability and pain are relieved of these burdens by death.  There are real issues here that need to be noticed.  The Easter miracle so central to the Christian faith is that Jesus physically rose from the dead, the first fruits of all who would rise. If death is not the curse it is pictured in the traditional reading of Genesis, then how do we reinterpret the resurrection of Christ and its implications for the life and future of all who believe?  Why would His 'physical' resurrection be so important if spiritual death was the ultimate culprit and physical death simply incidental?  
These are but a few thoughts on the implications Evolution has for our theology.  

Comments

Jeff said…
Just reading in Ezekiel this morning, "the soul that sins, it shall die". Do you ever read the For Heaven's Sake" cartoon? The current one is about change, with the implication being that the older believers are too bent out of shape to be flexible. If a church or a denomination are going to change, there are only two directions. Either they move closer to Christ or further away from Christ. I submit that a vast majority of the changes are in the wrong direction.
The Good Tale said…
A gift of truth for you,
This world began with a battle of wits between a woman and the devil
and by the justice of God this world will end with a battle of wits
between the devil and a woman Rev 12:13-17, it is done!
*Matt 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world
for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come".
Because Satan has deceived the whole world Rev 12:9 the world has been
breaking the first commandment 1 Cor 10:2-14 by believing the lies of the god of hate, murder and
revenge, Satan.
Satan's murderous claim and the world's belief is John 8:44 that God our creator
will throw some of his children into a hell fire as a second death for
disobedience when NO ONE can come to know God until he draws them to
know John 6:44. None are righteous Rom 3:10. If you break one law of God you are guilty of them all!!
Believing in the lake of fire for any child of God makes YOU a
murderer John 8:44. God will not allow anyone with a mind of hate to
enter through those pearly gates into his eternal holy city in his
coming world Rev 21. There is no second death in a hell fire for any child of God, no matter what their sins!
There is no church on this earth preaching HIS true Gospel of God
unless they are preaching the one on "The Good Tale" weblog..
*Acts 3:23 "And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet,
shall be destroyed from among the people".
His true Gospel turns the hearts of the Father's to the children of
God Luke 1:17 it proves that not one child of God given the breath of
life will perish in God's world whether they repent or not in this life.
His true Gospel prepares a people in the knowledge of God's Holy days
that will be taught during the millennium Zech 14:16-19.
Repent and believe the Gospel! His true Gospel sets you free!

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