If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. – Romans 14:15

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 11, 2015): Romans 14

I struggle with the Creation vs. Evolution debate. Basically, I feel like we are trying to make the Bible say something that it doesn’t really say. The Creation vs. Evolution debate is over the mechanics of Creation – the how’s of creation. And believe it or not, both argue that we are formed out of the dust of the earth. One implies that we moulded out of the dust by the hands of God, the other says that we developed out of invisible molecules in the dust through the process of natural selection – but both say that we were created out of the dust.

But there are two major problems. The first is that the two models deal with very different realities. On a base level, the Theory of Evolution deals with the mechanics of creation – it deals with how creation was accomplished. While evolution tries to argue that creation is possible without God, the main thrust of evolution is not the “who” of creation; it is the “how.” Biblical Creation Theory on the other hand, majors on the question of “who,” and gives a very cursory explanation of the “how.” So we set up an argument between a theory which describes “how” and compare it to a theory that describes “who” and in the end wonder why no one is satisfied.

I am convinced that God did it. I think that the Big Bang Theory describes the creation of something from nothing, or the exploding of a cosmic filament, but it is at a loss to answer the questions of “who” and “why.” I am convinced that God is the “who” and the “why.” I am less convinced at the “how.” But beyond that, we have another problem. We have a situation where people are giving up on God because they believe in the Theory of Evolution. They are being told that this is critical to our faith, and that ultimately the answer to the question “how” is somehow connected with the answer “who.” I remain unconvinced. I support every person who strongly believes in Biblical Creation Theory, but we must be careful not to overplay our hand. I am a Christian for one reason only, I believe that Jesus died on a cross for my sin. I believe that Jesus really lived, really died and really rose from the dead. None of this has anything to do with what I believe about creation.

And I believe that this is the kind of debate that Paul is talking about in this passage. Specifically Paul is speaking about dietary restrictions. But his argument is that there were people on both sides of the dietary law argument in the first century. But Paul understands that what someone believes with regard to dietary law should not be a stumbling block for the faith. Paul argues that can’t destroy someone for whom Christ died over a dietary argument. And the reality was that the dietary argument was volatile on both sides of the debate. Both sides believed that they were right. But neither side were arguing a salvation issue. Those for whom Christ died should not be destroyed over a question of what is for supper.

I believe that Paul would also argue that those for whom Christ died should not be destroyed over an argument of Creation theory. If Darwin was right, it changes nothing with regard to our salvation. Once again it is maybe time for us to echo the words of Paul to the Corinthian Church. “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Romans 15