Hope, help and purpose in life have a name: Jesus – Newsbug.info

Last month we began considering the proposal, What if evolution were true? Perhaps there truly was only a Big Bang, but no Almighty God.

Maybe it was just random chance operating over billions of years which spontaneously produced life. Perchance the biblical idea of a Creator God is ancient myth and ignorant superstition.

If evolution were true, were left with the conclusion that theres no unseen Director of creation, just time and chance doing their haphazard, undirected thing.

What are the ramifications of teaching only evolutionary theory? Could some of the evil behaviors in our country be linked partially to the fact that our society is awash in teaching evolution in both public schools, higher education, and the news media? Lets consider what might logically follow if evolution were true.

Previously, we discussed that if evolution were true, then were an accident and we have no purpose. What else flows from this teaching? Life has no intrinsic, God-given value; abortion, euthanasia, and suicide have no theological meaning.

Consider that, if life isnt God-given, if its derived from fluke, random chance operating over billions of years, then in the grand scheme of things, life is meaningless. When viewed through an evolutionary lens, abortion, euthanasia and suicide are perfectly acceptable and make sense in some cases.

If life is accidental and people have no God-given purpose or worth, then why not control populations using abortion as birth control? What difference does it make and why should anyone care? A fetus is just a cosmic accident, a blob of cells with no soul, because according to evolutionary theory, theres no such thing as a soul (thats a God thing). The spiritual doesnt exist.

Did you know that 75 percent of Down Syndrome babies conceived in the U.S. are now aborted in utero? Or, that over 600,000 abortions are performed in the U.S. annually? Some might recoil at hearing these statistics.

However, if evolution were true, these neednt be looked at as babies but as biological clumps of unwanted tissue and products of conception.

Whats the problem with harvesting fetal tissue, organ donation for medical research, or providing needed health care services for women? Why be squeamish about the brutality of partial birth abortions? Evolutionary theory tells us its an unborn fetus, not a precious baby made in the image of God.

If evolution were true, why should anyone have qualms about euthanasia? Taken to its logical conclusion, Darwins theory causes some folks to conclude that sick, diseased and handicapped folks add nothing to the gene pool but defective genes.

Enfeebled old folks what good are they? If theres no God, no eternity and humanity is a cosmic accident, arent all these kinds of people using up (for no utilitarian reason) precious resources that the rest of us need?

Maybe the 1973 movie Soylent Green truly tapped into the right way to handle overpopulation, pollution and global warming.

If evolution were true, wouldnt suicide be the preferable way to go when lives go hopelessly wrong? Why suffer if were going nowhere for no reason and theres nothing beyond the grave? What good could any suffering bring? Why not assist nature and end a purposeless, pain-filled life?

Is it only a coincidence that, since the theory of evolution is foundational teaching in most primary and secondary public schools, and summarily dismissed by higher education, the news media, and cultural elites, the rate of suicide in the U.S. especially among young people has skyrocketed?

Or, maybe theres a link. Perhaps people especially young people are listening, learning and absorbing all too well what theyre being taught. Is it unreasonable to posit that evolutionary theory might lead to hopelessness, helplessness and despair?

John Lennon dreamed of a world without religion. Imagine there is no heaven; its easy if you try. No hell below us; above us only sky. Imagine all the people living for today. What Lennon imagined would be utopia turns out to be a nightmare in reality.

Or, we can look to the beauty of the night sky, see the complexity of even the most basic cell, or hold a newborn baby and conclude, There IS a Creator. Christ said, Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me (John 14:1).

Hope, help and purpose in life have a name: Jesus.

Gregg Nydegger is the evangelist at Christs Church at Monticello.

Originally posted here:

Hope, help and purpose in life have a name: Jesus - Newsbug.info