“Evolution & Common Human Decency”

Sunday, August 19, 2018

The fundamental belief of an evolution-based worldview is: nothing can happen outside the realm of natural processes. Whatever phenomena may exist, the belief is that they are explainable purely through chemical and physical means. We call this a naturalistic belief because it insists exclusively on explanations from the natural world and deliberately precludes the possibility of anything that transcends nature’s usual patterns.

The problem with that worldview is that it does not leave any room for common human morality. If a person has any sense of what another person ought to do, he has gone beyond the limits of naturalism. Chemical processes are, by definition, a-moral (neither right nor wrong). If all things come only from physical processes like gravity, electricity, and chemistry, then when asked, “What is wrong with stealing? With premeditated killing? With assault on innocent or defenseless humans?” the naturalist can give no logical answer.

In contrast to that system, one of the fundamental beliefs of the Biblical worldview is this: one supernatural being, a God named YHWH, created and sustains all life. And among all living things, mankind is uniquely made in the image of YHWH. And one of the necessary conclusions of that belief is that some things are categorically right or wrong. There are major moral implications. There is a need for common human decency. And only the Biblical worldview can teach us the most comprehensively good way to live that out.

- Dan Lankford, minister

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