Why Evolution Is So Important to Atheists

The Conversation is a network of not-for-profit media outlets that publish news stories on the internet that are written by academic experts and researchers. On their website, they explain that their purpose is to provide access to quality explanatory journalism. In some cases, academics merely write articles and post them on The Conversation’s website. In other cases, people write in questions and some academic expert will respond. There is even a series of articles written under the title of “Curious Kids” where kids write in questions and an appropriate academic will answer them. One that caught my attention was just such an article that answered the question of a 13 year old about human evolution. The question was: How did humans evolve, and will they evolve more?

The person who answered this child’s question was Evan Simons – Postdoctoral Research Associate in Anthropology at the University of Buffalo.

In the article, Simons answers the question by explaining how humans in different parts of the world have adapted to their different environments. For instance, he notes how humans have evolved bigger brains capable of innovative thought that other animals don’t have. He also gave an example of how many of the people who live in Pune, India have a genetic mutation that helps them more efficiently process nutrients from a vegetarian diet.

In reading the article, however, it quickly becomes evident that Simons only addresses micro-evolution in his explanation. Micro-evolution (also often referred to as natural selection) relates to the short term changes that happen within a particular population due to changing environmental factors. This kind of evolution does not cause one kind of animal to become a different kind, it only helps a particular group of animals adapt to their local environment. This is the kind of change that happens when animal or plant breeders do their work to create new breeds of cows or dogs or roses. When the change happens, those life forms are still those same life forms.

Macro-evolution, though, is what most people think of when the topic of evolution comes up. This is the process of less complex life forms evolving, over long periods of time, to become some other life form – how life evolved from molecule to man. Macro-evolution is a completely different thing than micro-evolution. While micro-evolution is easily seen in virtually every life form in existence, macro-evolution has not biologically been demonstrated to even be possible. That said, evolutionists, like Simons, see them as one and the same. In fact, many people who believe in naturalistic evolution will even chastize those who try to make the distinction. To them, it is all the same process, with the only difference being the amount of time it takes to occur.

That being the case, what evolutionists are promoting is not science (though they will scream bloody murder if you say that out loud). Naturalistic evolution is a belief without any kind of scientific basis. These folks don’t start with science and go where the data leads. Rather, they start with a belief, based on faith, in naturalistic evolution, then try to come up with some scientific means for proving what they believe. Or put another way, naturalistic evolution is a religious belief.

So if we analyze this belief using a worldview paradigm, what would it look like? How do they answer the three essential worldview questions?

1. What is the nature of ultimate reality?

The natural universe, operating by natural laws, is all that exists. Thus, a completely natural origin of man is all that is even possible. Naturalists believe that there is no God and no objective basis for any particular moral beliefs. They are Atheists. Interestingly, there are people who say they believe in God and also in naturalistic evolution, but in order to come to that conclusion, they have to ignore what science actually shows and adopt certain atheistic beliefs.

2. What is a human being?

Human beings are nothing more than naturally evolved animal creatures that have evolved the most complex brain of all living things.

3. What is the ultimate a person can get from this life?

The ultimate people can get from this life is survival and personal fulfillment. Since they believe this life is all that exists, there is no other possibility.

With that as a starting point, it is easy to see why naturalistic evolution is so important to Atheists – it is the logical conclusion of their most deeply held religious beliefs. For them, there is no other possibility.

The fact that it is not true doesn’t really matter to them. They believe it is true and they will fight you tooth and nail if you question it.

When dealing with people who hold beliefs like that, the only way to get them to change is to share with them the truth and show them how to know a personal relationship with God. It is only a religious conversion that will ultimately be able to crash their soul.

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Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah.

You may also contact Freddy at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.

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