Where did the “Theory of Evolution” truly come from? After reading a book by the late Dr. Henry Morris, I gained a valuable new insight regarding the answer to that question. The truth is, that it is NOT as new as many people, including myself, are often led to believe.
Charles Darwin is widely credited with popularizing the Theory of Evolution in his famous work “The Origin of Species” published in 1859. His theory was that all living species have descended over time from common species in the past through a process called natural selection (or survival of the fittest). He also argued that some species were more evolved than others, this included his racist contention that among the human race, whites were more evolved and thus superior to non-whites. Although modern Science completely ignores the racist aspects of Darwin’s work, they nonetheless have come to otherwise accept his Theory as THE foundational “doctrine” in modern science.
However, as evident by the term “popularized”, the Theory of Evolution is built on concepts that pre-date Darwin. In fact, he was widely criticized in his field for crediting next to no one in his book — citing sources is a big deal in academia. In reality, much of Darwin’s work was previously expressed in some form or another before his famous book. But all these forebears to Darwin, and his contemporaries, still date to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. That much I already knew. In other words, in the grand scheme of human history the “Theory of Evolution” was very much a new phenomenon, or so it appeared to seem.
In fact, what many modern evolutionists tell us, is that the world was plagued by absurd myths, superstitions and religious dogmas for thousands of years before the enlightenment of modern science. One example, no one need still subscribe to the Bible – especially the Book of Genesis – and its account of God’s Creation. After all, God did NOT create mankind, but man evolved from lesser species through Natural Selection as “proved” by Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Now there are many flaws with this contention, ALL addressed in countless books by Creationists, and YES, even numerous Scientists. Nevertheless, I still always believed that the Theory of Evolution itself was only a few centuries old. But as it turns out, that way of thinking is very much wrong.
Incredibly, what I learned is that the ideas behind the “Theory of Evolution” are built on much earlier ideas that can in fact be traced back to very ancient times. It was called “The Great Chain of Being”. Although some tried to put a Christian spin on it during the middle-ages, much like some Christians do today for evolution, it is not a Christian doctrine. The Great Chain of Being (TGCB) was a philosophy that argued the Universe was a constant that began in a state of chaos, but within the universe was some kind of Divine Essence. This “essence” developed into a hierarchy of “beings”. First came the divine beings, or “gods”, whom help bring order to the chaotic universe, then came human beings – with the “superior races” developing first – then lower beings such as apes and the other animals, all the way down to insects and the lowest forms of life.
In fact, this concept of TGCB can be traced back through Aristotle, Plantinus, Plato and Socrates to sometime before 400BC in Greece. Therefore, all the “Theory of Evolution” truly is, is an inversion of this much earlier and very old concept. Specifically, in recent centuries the “Fathers” of evolution replaced the idea of a “divine essence” from the universe, and then flipped the order of the Great Chain of Being.
Most evolutionists still believe that the universe started in Chaos, as popularized by Georges Lemaître’s “Big Bang Theory”. But instead of the “divine essence”, it was now through “Naturalism” that we see “beings” or “species” come into existence. And instead of a Higher to Lower formation of beings, it was now a Lower to Higher formation of beings. Essentially, single celled organisms “evolved” into more complex species, giving rise to insects, fish, reptiles, mammals, including apes, that would eventually evolve into the highest form of humans (of which there are countless missing links).
Note, Naturalism is the belief that only scientific laws govern the universe, of which Darwin’s Theory and “Natural Selection” are MAJOR tenets of Faith (I mean Natural Laws) for Evolutionists. Also, there are many problems with the “Big Bang Theory” origin. See my earlier post (Does God Exist?).
All that was needed now was to develop a time-scale for how long this “evolution” process of “species” was needed and wah-lah … the modern scientific dogma for the “Theory of Evolution” was born.
But wait … there is more!
As we have seen, the “Theory of Evolution” is NOT a modern idea at all, but simply a repackaging of much earlier ideas from a very old philosophy. But where did the ancient Greeks get their ideas from?
In ancient mythologies, whether Greek or Roman, Egyptian or Norse, there is almost always a pantheon of gods. To be specific, they were ALL polytheist (later called pagans) that believed in many gods. However, most also believed the “gods” were part of a living universe. Pantheism identifies the collection of gods (the pantheon) as manifestations of the living universe, e.g. the God of Lightning, God of Thunder, God of Fire, Mother Nature, Mother Earth, etc.
In other words, there is very little distinction between polytheism and pantheism, as pantheism is just a form of polytheism. Now to the point, as pantheism holds that the “pantheon” or “gods” were manifestations of the Living Universe, it was thus “Pantheism” that formed the bases for the ancient philosophy that came to be known as “The Great Chain of Beings”, that in turn formed the bases and foundation for the much later “Theory of Evolution”.
But that is as far back as we can historically trace the origins for the Theory of Evolution. Which is NOT at all the modern scientific theory and “fact” void of mythology that its proponents would have us all believe. Therefore, to go back even further and learn more on this subject one now needs to turn to the Bible. Evolutionists would prefer nobody turn to the Bible for information. Of course, as believers, we know that is actually where the BEST source of information resides. With that in mind, lets now explore this topic further.
In Genesis, after the Great Flood, man was again instructed to:
“Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1).
However, instead the Bible tells us that Babel became the center of the world. Babel was founded by Nimrod, Noah’s great grandson. It was originally called the “Land of Shinar”, meaning land between two rivers. The name “Babel” (confusion) from which “Babylon” is derived, is what it came to be known as. People were still living for centuries in those times, so by the time of Nimrod the Earth had no doubt built back up a sizable population. Nimrod had founded many great cities, starting with Shinar (Babel). Sometime later, the people there began to build a Great Tower (The Tower of Babel), but NOT to honor or glorify the One True God, but to bring glory and honor to themselves. Essentially, they wanted to be like God.
Seeing this, that mankind had once again turned away from him, God came down and confused their languages. Hence, it forever became known by the name “Babel”. This resulted in the mass of people becoming isolated from others as they could no longer communicate with one another. Therefore, mankind was forced to scatter across the Earth … just as God had originally directed after the Great Flood. When these numerous groups disbursed, some later developed into great nations (e.g. Egypt), while others continued on as more primitive societies, and yet others as nomadic peoples. However, although the now scattered tribes from Babel could no longer speak the same language, ALL (to varying degrees) still carried the same “religion” with them everywhere.
In fact, there is overwhelmingly strong anthropological evidence for the Great Flood and Tower of Babel. In case one does not know, anthropologists are scholars that study ancient cultures and societies. What numerous anthropologists who study these various cultures scattered throughout the globe have learned is quite fascinating. In their studies they have found that one legend is common to virtually every ancient civilization throughout the world – that is the story of a catastrophic flood. You can read more on that here (click link).
Again, these legends have been reported from all across the globe —from Egypt, Syria, Persia, India, Norway, Africa and even precolonial America (Native Americans). For instance, Aztecs told of a global flood where two people survived (a man and his wife) by floating in a boat that came to rest on a mountain. Then soon after, giants constructed a great pyramid in efforts to reach the clouds – an endeavor that ultimately angered the “gods” who sent them scattering.
Does this not remind one of Noah’s Flood and the subsequent Tower of Babel? To that point. Note only does the vast number of such legends surprise and amaze anthropologists, but the similarity in content between them leaves many equally amazed. Therefore, although humanity was now scattered and separated by language, some remanent of these prior events survived in the stories that were passed down. But with one notable exception, which brings us back to the topic of this post.
The “religion” that survived from Ancient Babel in its many forms tell us there was a great flood that destroyed most of mankind. But what about before the flood? Most of these stories speak of a universe in chaos, filled with water. Once more, that out of a watery chaos the “gods” appeared, and from them came order and everything else came into being. They of course gave different names for these “gods” due to their different languages and emerging cultures. But take notice how none of these stories (outside the Bible) tell us where the creation (universe) actually came from. They all start with the Creation/Universe in a state of chaos, usually involving a watery chaos. Moreover, in many of these myths the “gods” worshiped were said to have overthrown some predecessor(s) from the beginning.
Is any of this starting to sound familiar? From the chaotic universe, the “gods” (pantheon) emerge. From a chaotic universe, beings (species) were formed (evolve). That was more or less the “religion” from Babel carried around the world (albeit some elements of the true religion/history were also taken forward such as the great flood). With that in mind, let’s now examine what the Bible teaches about creation.
“In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” (Gen 1:1)
Genesis tells us that initially water was everywhere in God’s Perfect Creation. But this was NOT chaos, it WAS perfect at that stage of Creation. It also informs us that God created the Heavens & The Earth. The angels of Heaven were most certainly created at that time; but one was created as the highest of all the Angels (Ezekiel 28:13). Everything was Good after God’s creation, but Satan, being first among the angels, began to believe he was of the same order of God (Isaiah 14:13-14); and God finding iniquity in him, cast him out of Heaven and unto the Earth. There on Earth, Satan tempted the first humans (Adam & Eve) created by God in His Image in the Garden of Eden with the same prospect that tempted himself (and later the people of Babel) … saying they could be like God.
But where did Satan get this idea from?
When he first came into existence, this angel knew that he was the highest among the angels of Heaven, and the Earth was still covered in water, which he later twistedly recast as a state of “chaos”. Witnessing God’s completion of ALL creation in six days, he began to envy and covet the position of God. So perhaps the envious Satan in his pride once truly convinced himself that he was the same as God, having simply arrived a little latter, and that it would only be a matter of time before he could replace God, or at least become His equal. Hence his rebellion. But he was foolish and thus swiftly cast out from Heaven – for there is ONLY one God!
Although Satan is a long-ago defeated foe, he continuously persists in this futile struggle, not unlike many politicians that refuse to concede an election and insist they actually won, when in fact they really lost. Nevertheless, if Satan is going to absurdly insist that God is not truly the Creator, then he must come up with an alternative explanation. Hence, Satan is the great deceiver (devil) and true source of all chaos in God’s perfect creation.
Do you see how all these creation myths fit together now? Satan’s narrative is that the Universe has always existed in some form, but it was in chaos, and from the chaos, beings (species) started to emerge. In essence, Satan, the Father of Lies, who is the Devil, and deceives the whole world, including himself most of all, is the true author of the “Theory of Evolution” and ALL its many forms and predecessors.
From the “religion” taken from Babel, to Pantheism, to The Great Chain of Beings, to the Theory of Evolution. Satan must continue to use the same LIE with which he deceives himself. That the universe and everything in it is NOT God’s Creation, but instead the ultimate reality that emerged from chaos, and that it continuously “evolves” with NO Creator. Moreover, he seeks to deceive others with this perpetual LIE. To lead others away from God.
In conclusion, the Theory of Evolution is a “sacrament” for the belief system of modern Evolutionists, which includes most atheists and agnostics. And no matter how much they denounce “religious dogma”, they cling to it with every bit the religious fervor as any Christian fundamentalist holds to the Bible. But as we have seen, Darwin’s theory is NOT very scientific, but instead based on ideas of racism, and ancient Greek philosophies rooted in Pagan pantheism. But perhaps the most important take away of all, is that it is simply another LIE in a long string of LIES authored by the Prince of Lies.
Sadly, there are far too many Christians today that profess to believe the Bible is God’s Word, but who are nonetheless really quick to abandon the Genesis account of Creation in favor of modern scientific theories, such as Evolution. Needless to say, this is MOST unwise. As Christian author James MacArthur wrote in his book titled “The Battle for the Beginning”:
“Everything in Scripture that teaches about sin and redemption assumes the literal truth of the first three chapters of Genesis. If we wobble to any degree on the truth of this passage, we undermine the very foundations of our faith.”
I implore Christians to stand firm in their Faith, and in the Word of God, and to resist this urge to compromise their faith and conform to these modern attacks on God’s Creation, which as we have seen, is simply a repackaging of some very old LIES from the adversary of God and mankind. That is the true origin that lays behind the theory of evolution.
Thank you for reading, I hope some may have found this post insightful.
JDN
The JDN Blog 