Your Big Question

 

Can you be a Christian?

Before tackling the whole question, the first thing that needs to be asked here is: “Can you be a Christian?” or maybe more specifically: “What makes you a Christian?”

 

An instructive example is that of the first ever Christian. The thief on the cross (Lk 23) had not attended Bible School. He had never had a “warm fuzzy feeling” about his religion. He never gave money to the poor. Indeed, he managed none of the things that generally seem to be required of “real Christians.” And yet he was the first ever Christian into heaven. What made him a Christian? He simply believed that Jesus’ death sentence – “This is the King of the Jews” – really was true. Critical to this thief was not what he knew, but whom he knew. This is not a one-off event, but a general biblical truth, for this is why Paul writes: “I know whom [not what] I have believed.” (2 Tim 1:12). Jesus himself explicitly states: “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (Jn 17:3).

 

This may come as a surprise, (there is a comments box below if you think it’s heresy) but “knowing stuff” is really not that foundational to Christianity. It most probably never crossed Paul’s mind that he should write: “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, him crucified, and the correct interpretation of variability within the genome.” (Not 1 Cor 2:2). Christianity is very different from understanding and being able to agree with – or disagree with – a certain scientific theory. This truth flows simply from what it means to be a Christian.

 

Now let us think through this, because this is huge. I have friends who firmly believe that God created the world in exactly 6 days, and on the sixth day, he created a man called Adam, and then a woman called Eve from his rib. I have other friends who firmly hold that a really powerful God would never need 6 days if he could make the universe in 10^-43 seconds, and then that man turned up about 14 billion years later. Now at least one of these friends is factually in error. The question is: can they both be Christians?

 

Well, by the definition given above, Yes, they can.

 

Life when you are wrong

But if one friend is in error, should I then spend my life correcting one or the other for his factual inaccuracy? I suggest (maybe quite boldly) that in the modern West, Paul’s instruction to “accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters” (Rom 14:1) applies to exactly such a topic. (If you have a moment, read through Rom 14, and think on it in such a context.) To clarify, I am not recommending that we can adopt an “anything goes” type of Christianity (for Paul also adds the closing caution that “Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.” (Rom 14:22)). Rather, I am saying that we should not get so uptight in defending our own pet theory, which we hold so dearly – be it creationism, 6-day evolution, or eating meat and cheese – that we forget that we “must not look down on him who does not, for God has accepted him” (Rom 14:3). My brother’s salvation does not lie in his correct understanding of certain facts. And if he is wrong in certain disputable matters, it is “to his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Rom 14:4).

 

Principle and practice

So far I have suggested that it is in principle possible to be a Christian and believe in evolution; there is no a priori theological reason why people cannot hold a certain view on the mechanisms of creation, and none the less “receive Him, believe in His name, and have the right to become children of God” (Jn 1:12). Moreover, I say that you do not have to agree with his view of the creative mechanism; you can both be Christians and love one another.

 

It may be helpful, now, to go one step further and point out that it is not only possible in principle, but that in practice there are many eminent biologists who are Christians, and who accept evolution. Francis Collins, for example, is the scientist who headed up the Human Genome Project. He recently wrote a book entitled “The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief” in which he clearly outlines the interplay between his day job and his Christianity. For further examples, scientists with a wide range of Christian views – many of whom actively address the issues raised by their research into evolutionary biology and their faith – can be contacted through networks such as Christians in Science (cis.org.uk).

 

God’s shoes

A final point that should be raised is to look at an ambiguity in the related and often-asked question: “How could God create the universe in 6 days?”

 

The first question that needs to be asked here is: “Does the person asking believe in God?” If not, then the second half of the question could be anything: “How could God really love me?”, “How could God perform miracles”, “How could God tie his shoelaces?” If I answer this question by talking about shoelaces, I have missed the point: A God that does not exist cannot tie His shoelaces, because a God that does not exist cannot do anything. Before I can talk about shoelaces, I must therefore talk about God. Only once the existence of God is accepted does the second half of the question become interesting. There are times – a very few times – when concerns over the minutiae of creation theory are a genuine stumbling block to people. But often it can be more instructive to know “Do you know whom you have believed?” Lift your eyes from the creation to the creator, who is worthy to receive glory and honour and power. Only then, once you know the only true God, is it interesting to discuss disputable matters.

 

 Written by Michael Brownnutt