The Bible says God created humans directly and uniquely. We are not products of an evolutionary process that began with simpler life forms.
However, God apparently used intelligent evolution to propagate species within the plant and animal kinds. DNA supports this view.
Kind Creations
The Bible states that God created plant and animal kinds, such as conifers, ferns, felines, and equines, by commanding them into existence. It does not address the creation of species.
Before the Big Flood, Noah loaded two of every air-breathing animal kind into the ark, not two of each species.
These kinds proliferated into an array of species both after their initial creation and after the Big Flood.
The Bible does not explain how this propagation occurred, but we can speculate based on our understanding of genetics and the principles of knowledge transfer.
These things indicate that God generated plant and animal species within their kinds through an intelligent form of evolution that employed mutations.
Not the mindlessly random mutations that Darwin theorized, but rather thoughtfully prescribed variations.
Genetics And Knowledge Transfer
Species evolve when cells undergo successful mutations. Cells mutate in response to instructions encoded in DNA.
DNA tells cells how to behave through a coherent message written in a prescribed language that uses a unique genetic alphabet.
Nature does not intentionally create distinct alphabets as a prelude to crafting intelligent messages.
Instead, it haphazardly produces random patterns with no inherent meaning, such as snowflakes, zebra stripes, fern fractals, cloud formations, and coral reefs.
Alphabets and messages originate in the mind of a rational composer who seeks to convey specific information to designated recipients for a specific purpose.
It follows that the instructions in DNA were conceived by an author who intended to convey essential information to individual cells to achieve desired outcomes.
God is the logical author of these directives. He is the only being who could have conceived, transcribed, and embedded the messages in DNA.
We can therefore infer that an intelligent version of evolution was integral to God’s plan for creation.
He intentionally scripted a vast array of successful mutations in plant and animal DNA, enabling the kinds to give rise to new species.
Natural Selection
The Bible is unclear about when natural selection, i.e., the survival of the fittest, became part of the evolutionary process.
God created humans to live forever. We became subject to death only after Adam and Eve sinned.
We do not know whether God designed other organisms with the same longevity in mind.
If nothing died until Adam and Eve sinned, the plant and animal kinds God initially created would have given rise to new species, free of maladaptations, environmental mismatches, and evolutionary dead ends, until evil entered the picture. Likewise, individual organisms would have reproduced continuously and without fail.
This generative productivity would account for the exponential proliferation, countless permutations, and geographic spread of new species and breeds worldwide, whether the earth is old or young.
Big Unknowns
Scientists have yet to fully decipher DNA, so we still have much to learn about the evolutionary capabilities God built into it.
We do not know whether he originally hard-coded DNA with specific instructions to produce all the mutations he envisioned at scheduled times.
Or whether he actively edited DNA after the initial creation events to generate new species when the physical world was ready to support them.
Or whether he encoded DNA at creation with general mutation instructions that were sufficiently comprehensive and dynamic to allow organisms to adapt to environmental changes and evolve without his subsequent input.
God originally programmed DNA to produce perfect results. He never scripted it to produce congenital disorders and abnormalities.
We know this because on the sixth day of creation, God declared that everything he had made was very good.
After Adam and Eve sinned, evil corrupted nearly every aspect of creation, including DNA. It accounts for the genetic disorders and malformations we observe in living things today.
We do not know whether this blight also impaired the evolutionary adaptability of plants and animals, leading to the extinction of particular species in the past, or whether it prevented the introduction of new species within certain kinds.
Nonetheless, God’s intelligent version of evolution is an elegant explanation for the diversity and sophistication of plant and animal life on earth.
Our Uniqueness
The Bible says Adam and Eve, the first humans, were the pinnacle of God’s creation.
He formed them, male and female, as adults, not infants, through two distinct acts after commanding the plant and animal kinds to exist.
God created Adam and Eve in his image on a soulful level and gave them dominion over the earth so they could manage it as they saw fit.
He intended for them to recognize the order, discover the science, harness the resources, and find inspiration in the majesty he had designed into nature.
He planned for them to capitalize on this knowledge, be enlightened by his ingenuity, and use their imaginations to create their own handiwork.
He also wanted them to build a blissful community of offspring who would be inspired by the grandeur of the earth and the creativity of those who came before them.
Accordingly, God equipped Adam and Eve with enhanced versions of the features he had bestowed on the animal kinds, plus a few additional ones befitting their elevated status.
These include:
- The ability to communicate with him.
- Free will so that they could love him and each other, and to make choices as they exercised the authority he delegated to them.
- A conscience that would enable them to recognize his sovereignty, discern right from wrong, and be fair, gracious, and merciful toward others.
- Social awareness so they could subordinate their native instincts to the greater good and build civil, just, and free societies.
- Curiosity that would motivate them to explore the earth and discover new worlds.
- The intelligence to comprehend nature’s magnificence at every level and to understand how it works.
- Imagination, so they could apply their knowledge to conceive new things.
- A desire to self-actualize that would lead them to create art, architecture, literature, music, and humor, thereby establishing cultures.
Adam and Eve’s singular formation, divine likeness, esteemed position, exceptional attributes, and managerial responsibilities set them apart from the other kinds of animal life God created.
These distinctions indicate they were unique creations, not products of an evolutionary process that began with lower life forms.
Several Bible passages beyond the Genesis creation account support this idea.
Read How God Relates To Other Scientific Creation Theories
God’s active participation is implicit in the Big Bang. The Bible indicates that the earth could be very old or relatively young. DNA affirms that God is the source of life. The Bible and science are harmonious.
