McQuilkin and Copan offer readers four succinct objections to evolutionary ethics.
The strongest of the arguments would be a combination of the final three. The first
argument presents challenges to the traditional attributes of God, namely his
immutability and omniscience as well as the biblical creation account. McQuilken’s
initial assertion is that those who claim an evolutionary view of ethical beliefs fail to
recognize that God could have engineered the process through evolution. Although
this is true, it is not a compatible argument or belief for a Christian to take. The Bible
explains that all men are created in the image of God; therefore, we are all born with
an understanding of objective morality and truth, but not all will recognize this fact.[1]
The prophet Amos makes known that the idolatrous nations were responsible for
their transgressions even though they did not worship or seek God.
i i i i i i i i i i Therefore, McQuilken’s final three assertions that human dignity comes from
our sense of God, from God we can trust this belief, and finally how we should behave,
result in a solution for ethical conduct.[2] Likewise, Paul declares that through Christ,
all things were created through him and for him.[3]
i i i i i i i i i i Atheists often insist the position of evolution is the default state, that Christians
must defend objective morality, while atheists can assume it has evolved. However,
as Copan observes, many prominent atheists, while asserting that morality can be
explained independently of God, do not provide evidence for this assertion. People
can know proper morality without believing in God or the Bible; as noted earlier, we are
made in God’s image, but without the existence of an all-knowing, all-powerful God, all
other explanations are inevitably self-defeating.[4] Concerning morality, Copan
questions “how such rights or values could emerge from valueless matter. Matter has
properties (shape, mass, color, texture, and so on), but moral value isn’t one of
them.”[5] Moreover, the apostle Paul declares, “For when Gentiles, who do not have
the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though
they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts,
while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or
even excuse them” (Romans 2:14-5).[6]
i i i i i i i i i i From our knowledge of God through special and general revelation, we can
understand the truth. Moreover, having been made in the Creator’s image, every life
has intrinsic value[7], a belief that is untenable with naturalism. Without objective
truth, every other philosophy is self-defeating. For the postmodernist, there is no
objective truth; rather, truth is a construct of social conditions and arrangements.[8]
One must wonder the point of arguing or debating with someone who refuses to
believe that two plus two equals four or that an accidental arrangement of matter
cannot produce objective truth or morality without the question of whether that belief
can be trusted. The answer lies in Scripture itself, the Great Commission, Paul’s
declaration of Romans 10:17, or Peter’s pronouncement in 1 Peter 3:15. i Even Van Til,
who gave the admonition that “any attempt to base the truth of Christianity on
reasons or proofs that could be recognized by the non-Christian on his own terms”
would be “wrong headed and doomed to failure,” admitted that a “rational argument
for Christianity was both possible and necessary.”[9]
Word Count: 682 i i i i i i i i i i
[1] Genesis 1:27, Romans 1:18-20.
[2] Robertson McQuilkin, and Paul Copan,
An Introduction to Biblical Ethics: Walking in
the Way of Wisdom
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014), 180-81.
[3] Colossians 1:15-6.
[4] Paul Copan,
True For You, But Not For Me: Overcoming Objections to Christian
Faith
(Grand Rapids, MI: Bethany House Publishers, 2009), 75-6.
[5] Ibid., 75.
[6] Unless otherwise noted, all biblical references are in the English Standard Version
(Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008).
[7] Psalm 139:13-14, Job 33:4, Isaiah 43:7, and 1 John 3:1 for instance.
[8] Douglas Groothuis, “Why Truth Matters Most: An Apologetic for Truth =-Seeking in
Postmodern Times,”
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
no. 47, 3
(September 2004): 441.
[9] James K. Beilby,
Thinking About Christian Apologetics: What It Is and Why We Do It
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2011), 78-9.
