Are Genesis and Evolution Compatible?

In his book, The Source, John Clayton, promoter of the “Does God Exist?” program, wrote:

“Ever since the first ideas about evolution appeared around 900 B.C., men have viewed the subject as an adamantly opposed concept to the concept of a supreme being. . . If we look carefully at the issues about which we are talking, however, we can find that evolution and the Bible show amazing agreement on almost all issues and that one is not mutually exclusive of the other. . . Let us search together without prejudice and without taking an ax along to grind to see if we can see the convergence of these concepts” (1976, p. 130; emp. added).

Is it correct to say that the Bible and evolution show “amazing agreement” on “almost all issues”? Are the two compatible? Is this what the youth of today need to be taught?

The Bible teaches that matter is not eternal; rather, it was created by God (Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 11:3). Evolution, on the other hand, asserts that matter is eternal, and that it is absurd to suggest that it was created ex nihilo (out of nothing).

The Genesis account affirms that the Earth was created on the first day of that initial week (Genesis 1:1), and that the Sun and stars were created later — on the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19). Evolution asserts that the Sun and stars existed billions of years before our Earth came into being.

Moses stated that the “waters” existed before any land appeared (Genesis 1:2,6,9). Evolution, however, alleges that the Earth’s waters gradually seeped out of its interior to form vast oceans.

The Genesis narrative states that light existed before the Sun was created (Genesis 1:3,16), while evolution contends that the Sun was the Earth’s first light.

The Bible specifically states that there were “waters above,” separated by an expanse [ASVfn] from the waters upon the Earth [which doubtless condensed at the time of the Flood]. Evolution claims that there was continuous atmosphere above the early Earth.

The Scriptures teach that the first biological forms of life upon the Earth were the plants (Genesis 1:11), whereas the theory of evolution argues that the initial life forms were marine organisms.

The Bible teaches that fruit-bearing trees existed before fish were created (Genesis 1:11,20), but evolution contends that fish evolved long before fruit-bearing trees.

The Genesis record declares that birds were created on the fifth day (Genesis 1:20-23), and that insects [creeping things] were created afterward on the sixth day (Genesis 1:24-31). Evolutionists contend that insects were in existence eons before birds.

Moses wrote that plants were made before the Sun was brought into being (Genesis 1:11,14ff.), while, as everyone knows, evolution affirms that the Sun was burning billions of years prior to the first plant.

Genesis instructs us that birds came first (Genesis 1:21), and that creeping things (which included reptiles) came later (Genesis 1:24). Evolution, of course, asserts that birds evolved from reptiles.

The Mosaic narrative reveals that living creatures were created according to individual groups, and that thereafter, each reproduced after its own “kind” (Genesis 1:11-12,21,24-25). According to the evolutionary myth, all living organisms derive from a common primitive source.

The Bible teaches that man was fashioned from the dust of the Earth (Genesis 2:7; 3:19; 1 Corinthians 15:47; 2 Corinthians 5:1), but evolution suggests that humanity emerged out of the seas.

The Bible teaches that Adam, the first man (1 Corinthians 15:45), came into being as a result of a miracle, hence, never was born. Evolution claims that all men have arrived as a result of the biological reproductive process.

The Scriptures declare that man was ordained to exercise dominion over “every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28), but evolution alleges that multiplied billions of creatures already had lived and become extinct millions of years before man set foot upon the planet, hence, before he had opportunity to have dominion over them.

The Genesis record claims that man existed upon the Earth before it had rained (Genesis 2:5), but evolution believes that rain watered our planet many millennia before man crawled from his slimy womb.

The biblical document proclaims that the Earth and all created beings were brought into existence within a span of six literal days — days of the same type as the Hebrew Sabbath (Exodus 20:11; 31:16-17). Evolution claims that the origin of the Earth and its inhabitants required some five billion years.

The Scriptures teach that mankind has existed “from the beginning of the creation” (Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6; Romans 1:20), thus, virtually “from the foundation of the world” (Luke 11:50-51). Evolution contends that humanity’s age is but a tiny fraction of the Earth’s, thus, man is a “relative newcomer” to the planet.

Moses affirmed that God’s work of “creation” was “finished” with the completion of the sixth day (Genesis 2:1-2). Evolution, however, requires that some sort of “creative” process has continued to hammer out new forms of living organisms across the on-going eras of history.

The Bible announces that God made man in His own image (Genesis 1:26; 1 Corinthians 11:7). Evolution scoffs at such, and suggests that man, because of his fears of natural forces that he could not understand, created God in his own image.

Each of the Bible spokesmen treated the Genesis record of origins as literal history — i.e., a true account of what actually happened in the beginning (cf. Matthew 19:4ff; Romans 5:12ff; 1 Corinthians 11:7-8; 15:45ff; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:13). Evolution laughs at the inspired documents, repudiating them as literal history.

In view of these solid points of contrast, how could anyone possibly say that the two concepts “show amazing agreement” on almost “all issues”? That is an absolutely absurd conclusion. It is little wonder that “theistic evolutionists” (those who attempt to perform a “marriage” between the Scriptures and Darwinism) have the respect of neither devotees of the Bible nor the disciples of Darwin.

Our young people need to be told forthrightly that the Bible and evolution do not agree. The theory of evolution is not only anti-biblical, but also is contrary to sound scientific principles in many areas. It should be resolutely rejected.