Evolution is one of the topics that seems always to elicit an
either/or; for/against response. Why? From what I’ve heard or read,
people seem to be divided into two camps: the fundamentalist view that
God created the earth approximately 6,000 years ago, and that the
Genesis account is literally true; or the evolutionary viewpoint: that
the earth and all life evolved over billions of years. In this latter
view, God and creation are not included.
Every time I hear these arguments, I wonder why no one appears to
consider the possibility that evolution is part of God’s method of
creation. In the New Testament, Peter says “…with the Lord one day is as
a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8) Peter
lived 2,000 years ago, long before the discovery of evidence we have
available today. In my opinion, Peter’s “a thousand years” should not be
taken literally; he is trying to explain the spiritual in terms that
would be understood by the people of his time.
It is in this passage that Peter foretells the destruction of this
earth: “…the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be
destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned
up.” (2 Peter 3:10)
“…the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt
with intense heat!” (2 Peter 3:12) ~ New American Standard Bible
Scientists tell us that the sun is expanding, and that one day it
will expand to the point of consuming our present earth. Peter’s
prophecy seems to take this possibility into consideration. We need to
look at both God’s miraculous creation and the evolutionary processes
that continue to occur all around us.
