Counsel #5 — Biological Evolution

Picture: Counsel #5 — Biological EvolutionCSe 92.1

The theory of macroevolution posits that life has evolved over billions of years, a theory known as “deep time.” Special creationists reject the idea of common ancestry and instead propose that different kinds of organisms were created separately. Genetic variation within created kinds can explain the diversity of life, a process sometimes known as “microevolution.”CSe 92.2

Today, natural selection—a process driven by competition and survival—can lead to changes in gene frequencies within populations and even the emergence of new species within the same organisms. However, the first two chapters of Genesis depict a world devoid of natural selection, a world where God's love reigns supreme. Natural selection involves predation, suffering, and death. It is a consequence of sin, an unwelcome intruder into God's original plan.^{[92]https://adventistreview.org/magazine-article/2105-28/}CSe 92.3

Yet even today the natural world can show evidence of cooperation, empathy, and altruism—qualities that reflect God's original design. Ecosystems thrive due to the interdependence of various organisms, and social animals sometimes exhibit behaviors that show the underlying goodness and love that God instilled in creation, even in the face of sin and its consequences.CSe 92.4

“God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.” Genesis 1:31 NKJVCSe 92.5

“The Bible is not to be tested by men's ideas of science, but science is to be brought to the test of the unerring standard.” Ellen White in Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, p. 425CSe 92.6

Reflect: How does the great controversy between Christ and His angels and Satan and his angels help explain the entrance of death and predation into God's perfect world?CSe 92.7