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Loren Haarsma maps out the prevailing schools of thought on the origins of humanity and sin.
The past few years haven’t been kind to evangelicalism. Every other month a new scandal or controversy seems to appear. Sexual and spiritual abuse. Patriarchy and toxic masculinity. Critical race theory and racism. The list goes on. Following in the wake of these self-inflicted wounds, deconstruction and exvangelical have become buzzwords in Christian discourse. No one should be surprised.
Given the circumstances, it seems almost quaint to revisit questions of evolution, original sin, and the historical Adam and Eve. How do these decades-old theological controversies bear upon our present predicament? The answer is simple. Despite appearances, the phenomenon of deconstruction isn’t new, and the story researcher David Kinnaman told in his 2011 book, You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church … and Rethinking Faith, still rings true. Younger people have been leaving the faith in increasing numbers for decades, and one of the main reasons is the perceived anti-science mindset of the church.
The anti-mask, anti-vaccine stance of far too many conservative pastors and pundits added fuel to the fire, but the evangelical problem with science ultimately comes down to resistance to “secular” evolutionary science, which is set in opposition to the biblical narrative. Of course, all evangelical Christians feel a duty to be faithful to Scripture, but is it possible leave room for evolution and remain faithful to the inspiration, authority, and inerrancy of God’s Word?
The issues in play
In his book When Did Sin Begin? Human Evolution and the Doctrine of Original Sin, Calvin University physics professor Loren Haarsma outlines various evangelical proposals for harmonizing human evolution and original ...
from Christianity Today Magazine
Umn ministry
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