Response to IEAC Creation Statement/4
by brother Mike Pearson
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by brother Mike Pearson
4: The Uncertain Detail of God’s Creative Process
FROM THE IEAC CREATION STATEMENT:
BASF Clause 1 teaches that God ‘created heaven and earth and all that in them is’. There is no hint or suggestion in the Scriptures of a gradual evolutionary process by which God brought life to the planet. In contrast the Scriptures consistently speak of a miraculous creation of complex and complete life forms – ‘God said ... and it was so’ (Genesis 1:3, 11, 12, 15, 21-23, 24, 26, 27, 30; 2:1-3; Psalm 33:6-9).
Observations:
Again, for context, let’s consider the entire clause:
That the only true God is He Who was revealed to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, by angelic visitation and vision, and to Moses at the flaming bush (unconsumed) and at Sinai, and Who manifested Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ, as the supreme self-existent Deity, the one Father, dwelling in unapproachable light, yet everywhere present by His Spirit, which is a unity with His person in heaven. He hath, out of His own underived energy, created heaven and earth, and all that in them is.
The context of this clause is about positively identifying the characteristics of God, not to detail his creative processes. But what of progressive creative processes?
Consider this example. Bro Roberts (who obviously endorsed BASF Clause 1) introduced a particular article in the Christadelphian magazine by writing, “Brother Simons, of Outram, writes thus excellently on a subject which has perplexed many only because they do not take all the elements of the case into account”. What did Bro Simons write?
“Has Enquirer ever thought of the ages that are past? Surely, he would be humbled by doing so? It is well for us to contemplate the mighty works of God. Geology teaches us much; it speaks of a time and creation on this earth when animal life, if not totally, was nearly unknown, and only the lower order of vegetable life covering its face, and this must have existed many thousands of years; and during the whole of that long period, the earth was undergoing wonderful and necessary changes to fit it for a creation of a higher order, and evidently with the creature man in view. There are evidences to show that when this early period had done its work, it was replaced by a creation of a higher order, when animal and vegetable forms of a far more wonderful structure were brought into existence and most admirably adopted to the atmosphere, climate, and peculiarities of that creation; and this, again, must have lasted for many thousands of years, and in its turn been swept away, and a grander creation built on its ruins. And so on, stage after stage. Geologists show that there has been five separate independent creations on the face of our earth prior to the present, and during the whole of those long periods, the Almighty Architect has been bringing the earth into form and suitability to the creatures His wisdom has made.” [1]
No matter whether or not one agrees with an evolutionary view of creation, that view does not violate BASF Clause 1 any more than Brother Simons’ “excellent writing” which speaks of progressive stages of creation. Furthermore, the verses offered in the IEAC Creation Statement don’t demand an instantaneous creation of Brother Simons’ views, and neither do they demand it of any other view. Psalm 104 says God is still sending forth his spirit to create cattle and make grass grow, yet surely the IEAC would agree these are natural processes, not specific creative acts of God each and every time?
The IEAC would also be well-advised to avoid the logical fallacy contained in the “no hint or suggestion in Scripture” argument. A lot of things are not mentioned in Scripture, but this doesn’t mean these things never happened, or don’t exist. For example, the Scriptures don’t talk about DNA, and yet DNA reveals the most amazing facts about life. Applying the principle asserted in the IEAC Statement would require us to reject belief in DNA as well.
To summarise and conclude this point:
Clause 1 of the BASF discusses the characteristics of God, and this includes God as creator of Heaven and Earth, and all that is therein. We all agree with this point. It is not wise to use this clause to suggest that it precludes progressive creations of any description, when the excerpt quoted above shows Bro Roberts endorsing the writings of a brother who wrote specifically about a progressive process of life on earth through various pre-Adamic creations.