A Helpful Question to Raise in the Creation/Evolution Debate

When a Christian tries to witness in today's culture, one option is to quote the Bible as the answer to any and all questions that may be raised about the Christian faith and related topics. While the words of the Bible may have power in them, we live in a culture where many people have called all truth into question. "Even if there may be something called truth, we are not able to discover it," is the general answer to any claims that the believer has the truth that a particular person needs to hear. That comment is often followed by the statement that "Your truth may work for you, but it's irrelevant to me."

There are times when the more helpful procedure may be to raise a question and allow the other person to deal with it. In the area of origins, and the creation versus evolution debate, one such question is attributed to the philosopher Martin Heidegger, who called the question "the most fundamental issue of philosophy." His question was, "Why is there something rather than nothing?"

When I was teaching Bible courses in a Christian high school, I came across something called, "A Few Good Answers." It was a list of basic questions and the possible answers to them. One question was, "Where did the universe come from?" Three possible answers were given: (1) It has always existed. (2) It came about through evolution. (3) It was created.

The late astronomer and scientist, Carl Saga, in his book, Cosmos, wrote that "the cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be." (page 4). One is tempted to ask, "Well, okay, but where did it come from?" Has it always existed? Was there a time when there was nothing and then came the cosmos? Sagan had no way to prove his assertion; it was a statement of "faith."

If we disregard the idea that the cosmos or universe has always existed, we are forced to choose between the other two answers. Was evolution the source of all that there is, or was it created? If evolution was the source, did it all start from nothing, meaning totally nothing (no-thing) or did it begin with some small mass of energy that exploded and eventually became everything that now exists? If that was the process, then where did the mass of energy come from? Years ago, a couple of scientists thought they had proved that something could come from nothing. Their experiment involved a vacuum jar and some other equipment. The result was the appearance of some particle of matter in the apparently empty space of the vacuum jar. A news magazine at the time, and I can't remember which one it was, was prompted to conclude its article on the experiment with the words, "that something can come from nothing is as inevitable as day following night." Of course, the experiment involved something (the vacuum jar, the other equipment, and the overseeing scientists). If that is what we mean by nothing, then certainly we should not be surprised when something appears.

Before Christian believers become too smug thinking that they have the answer by saying that God created everything, they must deal with the question of where God came from, or, more accurately, how it is possible that God has always existed. Carl Sagan stated his belief on the basis of his faith in science (and his rejection of the supernatural). Christian believers state their position on the basis of their faith in God. There is no room for smugness on either side.

I have no easy answers, but rather another question: "Given who you are and how you see yourself and others and what seems to make sense, where do you believe everything came from?" How you answer will determine, to a great extent, how you live.

Source:

Carl Sagan, Cosmos (New York: Random House, 1980)