Evolution or Creation Miracles

C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), popular novelist and Christian apologist, died November 22, 1963, on the day President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas. Lewis is remembered for his brilliant thinking and writing on a variety of topics related to the Christian faith. One subject he tackled was the topic of miracles. He argued that we should settle whether or not miracles can occur in principle, and claims a culture bias exists against the possibility of miracles occurring. Herein is the struggle of naturalism vs. supernaturalism most well-defined. The science profession assumes naturalism within every turn of their investigative process. The Christian, in addition, adds the dimension of supernaturalism. There is, therefore, a natural tension between the dimension of the natural and the supernatural. Likewise, there is a natural tension between the non-miracle and the miracle.

Lewis claimed that interference with nature could occur by actions of a supernatural creator. He said the benevolent creator was likely to intervene in reality after creation. In short, Lewis gave credibility to supernatural miracles. In our modern culture, there is a strong bias against the supernatural, particularly with respect to the national cultural icon, molecules to man evolution. The research on Lewis shows him evolving away from belief in evolution and toward belief in creationism.

Old and New Testament scripture passages contain plentiful accounts of miraculous events. But for every supernatural miracle event described there are many hundreds of natural events taking place. Bible characters lived mostly governed by ordinary, non-miracle events. Most Bible characters did not witness any miraculous events in their lifetime. Cluster miracles, such as those at the time of Moses, some prophets, and at the time of Jesus and the apostles are rare indeed and confirmed some sort of special revelation of God to His people.

Most theistic evolutionists accept miracles such as the Incarnation of Jesus and His Resurrection. The many New Testament miracles of Christ and the miracles performed by the apostles after Jesus ascended, as well as the notable Old Testament miraculous events are generally accepted, albeit with some skepticism by some. Finally, we reference what we regard as ultimate universal miracles (1) bringing forth the matter of the universe from nothing at the Big Bang Creation event, (2) the sudden bio-chemically complex origin of life from non-life on this earth, and finally, (3) the abrupt appearance of over fifty new phyla of living things in a geological blink of an eye.

Moreover, the sudden radiations of major new phyla after extinction events are more characteristic of miraculous creation events than of the classic theoretical evolutionary scenario. Stephen C. Meyer details the transition of Species A to Species B: Such transitions would involve the simultaneous production of new proteins, then new cell types, followed by new tissues, new organs, new body parts, and finally, a new organism. Transitions between major phyla would entail even more startling changes to body plans. The relatively sudden appearances of fish, amphibians, birds, and mammals after extinction events have been carefully detailed. The miracle scenario is far easier to grasp. In terms of a familiar figure of speech, we might say the miracle of creation process may be far easier to “wrap our arms around” than a naturalistic theory involving many complex contingencies.

Evolutionists of any stripe lean toward a naturalistic explanation for the origin of life, the origin of species, and most notably, the origin of man. Miracles such as those described by C. S. Lewis do not satisfy man’s desire to “have it our way” as the hamburger advertisements of decades ago exhorted us. Some feel empowered to have things explained in terms of life’s origins, and particularly, our own human origins, according to the naturalistic plan man has devised to explain it all.

Scriptural language frequently uses the term to “create.” Hebrew “bara” is most often used for “create.” In this sense, we speak of a true miracle. That term connotes the meaning of the direct action of God. It is used in the strongest sense in the first chapter of Genesis, especially for every living creature that moves, and most especially, the miracle of creation of man in God’s image (Genesis 1:21 and Genesis 1:27). In this sense the miracle of creation is most easy to embrace.

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