On Seeing the Hand of God

   I have absolutely zero math skill. Watching me attempt to do the simplest of addition in my head has caused pain to many. It is this pitfall that forced me to sign up for the only lab my college offered that did not have some sort of ridiculous math prerequisite, a class called “Bones, Stones, and Human Evolution.” I had little reservation about taking the class, something that many of my peers, knowledgeable of my worldview, had a hard time understanding.
   Being a three hour class, we were allowed a ten minute break and it was during this break that I engaged the boy who had been sitting in front of me in a conversation. When he asked me why I was taking the class I explained my math “issue” and added that I do not believe in evolution. “So why are you taking the class?” he asked again.
   It seems simple to me. I know what I believe and why I believe it. What I believe demands of me that I be “salt and light.” Knowing what to expect when attempting to light up the darkness seems like such an obvious conclusion. I told him that it is important to me to know what the opponents of God’s Word are saying. He seemed to accept my explanation, as well as being a little put-off by it. After a few moments spent in thought he said, “Well, we’ll see if you change your mind by the end of the semester.”
   I mention this brief conversation only because this man’s question to me over a large table in the library shared by many of our other classmates who were all sharing notes shortly before the final several months later stunned me almost as much as I had stunned him several months earlier. It was such a disappointing class to me; none of the explanations we were given in class for the origin of life were satisfactory; not once was it demonstrated how one species leads into another, although variation within species was covered exhaustively; seven times the professor’s answer to some of my more difficult questions was “It just did.” Do not even get me started on the fact that college students are still being fed the English Pepper Moth Fable, despite the fact that it was a complete fraud, discovered years ago, and even acknowledged by The New York Times in 2005 as such! What a sad day it is when the Times is reporting the truth on a subject that our schools and textbooks refuse to acknowledge.
   With all of this in mind, and my faith only having been reinforced over and over again throughout the passing months the more I became familiar with the elitists explanation for the world around us, I stuttered for a few moments when my classmate asked me, “So, do you still believe in God after all of this?”
   His question had diverted my attention from an article in National Geographic we had been asked to read. It was an article about bipedalism (the ability to walk on two legs) and how it is bipedalism, combined with our large brains, that makes us the dominant species. As a Christian, and a person who believes that we are made in His image, the article was more than offensive and just below nauseating. However, God was in every page of that article. Several times throughout, the authors had no other choice but to employ the word “design” to describe the mechanisms by which we walk upright, and they made sure the offensive word was in quotes. The complexity of our bodies and what must be in place in order for us to do something as simple as walk upright, give birth, and use our limbs was striking. As much as it was clear the authors attempted to avoid the nasty talk of “design,” it was more than inevitable: it was all they could do.
   His question stopped everyone at the table from what they were doing. My impatience flared for a moment. How many times throughout the semester had I engaged he and several others in conversations in which they could only walk away? Had I not demonstrated that the more I learned about evolution, the more I saw God’s design?
   A large picture of a monkey walking on a treadmill stared up at me and a bible passage that Mike Porter had me memorize so many years ago went through my head: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through that which has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Romans 1: 20-21.
   I kept my answer to my peers short and sweet. God used that class to help me see His almighty hand everywhere.
   In the minds of many, the issue of whether or not Neo-Darwinian Evolution is the explanation for the origin of life is settled, whether or not many of their strong points (such as the English Pepper Moth, the Piltdown Man, and Haeckel’s embryo drawings) are complete and utter frauds.
   My encouragement to Christians, and especially those of you who are college students and who will most certainly face ridicule for going against “academia,” is that there are much worse things in the world that can happen to you than being ridiculed, but there is nothing better in the world that can happen to you than being used as a tool to the glory of God.
   Light up the darkness.