Faith in Fact or Fairy Tale (2)

Emmett L Williams

From Part 1: Is Science Bad? Many Fundamentalists look askance at anyone with a scientific background. Immediately the theory of evolution looms in their minds. Since this anti-Biblical theory has been used to destroy the faith of many, this suspicion may be justified. But should the complete area of science be condemned because of the theory of evolution?

In Part 2, Dr. Williams discusses the difference between Christian Faith and Evolutionary Faith.

Evolutionary Faith

In what does the evolutionist put his trust? Let us facetiously examine the thrust of evolutionary thought. Every evolutionist must start somewhere, usually with a simple form of matter such as hydrogen gas. So, in the beginning, there was hydrogen gas. This gas began to compress until it formed a super-dense fireball. This fireball exploded. (You notice there was someone around to observe all of this.) Out of this explosion evolved galaxies, our solar system, the earth, all of the elements, life on the earth, simple organisms, and finally man at the pinnacle of evolution. As my associate, George Mulfinger, often quips, “Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas which given enough time under the proper conditions will evolve into people.” Your great-great granddaddy wasn’t an ape, he was a hydrogen atom!

An evolutionist can believe this if he wishes; however, I just don’t have that much faith. Processes in nature do not move in the direction the evolutionist says they should. Things tend to degenerate in nature, not evolve to higher forms. The evolutionist has faith in a fairy tale. It is an interestingly thought-out and cunningly devised tale; but nevertheless, it is a fairy tale.

Christian Faith

Creationists believe that all of the order and complexity we see in the universe is the result of creative acts by an intelligent Being. It just didn’t happen by itself with the moving of brute, natural forces. The Christian world view is more reasonable and scientific facts fit into this view. A later article will expand on this subject.

Right now, I will discuss the foundation of the Christian faith, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity stands or falls on this central point. If Jesus Christ is still in a grave, His body turned to dust, we are still.in our sins and are above all men most miserable.

Is it reasonable to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead? What proof is offered for it? The 15th chapter of I Corinthians has the answer. The first four verses are sometimes referred to as the gospel in a nutshell: “… Christ died for our sins … was buried, and … rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” Many pastors stop at these first four verses and wax eloquently on the beauty of the Gospel. The next three extremely critical verses are ignored.

Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, states in verse 4 that our Lord rose from the dead. Now note verses 5-7:

“And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.”

Over five hundred people saw the Lord after He had risen! The resurrection was an observable fact. You don’t have to have faith that Christ rose from the dead. It is an historic fact. The proof for the fact is given in I Corinthians 15:5-7. Over 500 people saw a man alive who had been dead. This is incontrovertible. As Dr. Joseph Henson, head of the Science Department at Bob Jones University has often said, “There is as much historical proof that Jesus Christ rose from the dead as there is that a man named Julius Caesar once lived.”

A skeptic could say that 500 people were deluded by some super· religious experience. However, you cannot fool that many people. Men are normally suspicious; and this number would not fall prey to an illusion. Others could claim that this was a massive religious plot concocted to get men to follow those who devised the lie. This is not likely because the apostles and others “responsible for the lie” paid for their beliefs with their lives. I can’t imagine any man dying for something he knew was a lie!

Thus, Christianity rests in historical fact. Christianity is the most reasonable world view a man can hold. There is definite proof for the claim that Christ rose from the dead. Over 500 people saw Christ alive after He had been buried. His resurrection was verified scientifically. It is now history.

Comparison of Evolutionary and Christian Faith

An evolutionist has faith in something that has never been observed and has never happened. It is an unreasonable faith. The Christian bases his faith on the fact of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. It was verified by human observation. This is a reasonable faith.

Evolution is completely un-scientific, whereas Christianity has a scientific basis. The Gospel should be presented as a reasonable world view. A Christian has a reasonable faith and a scientific basis for his belief. An evolutionist is blinded by the “god of this world” into swallowing a deceptive fairy tale with no factual basis whatsoever.

Christians, let us offer a reasonable Gospel to a lost and dying world. So many times the reasonableness of the Gospel is obscured by the way we live as Christians and the foolish ways we present it to men. All too frequently, Christianity is nothing more than a “super-trip” with “super-Jesus” on “super-Sunday”. The reality of the Gospel is lost in promotional trivia. Let us so live and so present the claims of Christ that the Truth will be seen and heard through each one of us.

---

This article originally appeared in Faith for the Family, May/June 1973 and is used by permission.

The following is the biography originally published with the article:

Dr. Emmett L. Williams, Jr., teaches physics and chemistry at Bob Jones University. Prior to joining the BJU faculty in 1966, he was development specialist in the Chemical Development Department at Y-12 Plant, Union Carbide Nuclear Corporation at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A native of Lynchburg, Va., Dr. Williams received the bachelor of science and the master of science degrees in metallurgical engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg. Clemson University conferred upon him the doctor of philosophy degree in metallurgical engineering. He also has studied at the University of California at Los Angeles. The BJU professor is listed in “American Men of Science” and in “Who’s Who in American Colleges.” He holds memberships in the Creation Research Society; American Association of Physics Teachers; and Gideons, International.