"Holding onto a Lie"
Did you know that Charles Darwin, the recognized father of the theory of evolution, attended Cambridge for three years in preparation for the ministry? Sadly though, on page 277, Volume 1, Life and Letters, Darwin wrote concerning his beliefs about God: "For myself I do not believe that there ever was a revelation from God. As for a future life, every one must judge for himself between conflicting vague probabilities. Then arises the doubt, can the mind of man which has, as I fully believe, been developed from the mind of the lowest animal, be trusted when it draws such grand conclusions?"
In 1830, Darwin, after studying the animal, bird, and marine life of the Galapagos Islands, continued on to the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific. In the Fiji Islands Darwin observed a wild, savage race of natives given to cannibalism. Thinking perhaps that the Fiji Islanders were still in a state of evolutionary development, young Darwin observed that these people were "hopelessly lost to civilization". Subsequently, missionaries from England brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the islands and established mission stations and churches. In 1870, Darwin visited the Fiji Islands again, and reported: "The march of improvement consequent upon the introduction of Christianity throughout the South Sea Islands probably stands by itself in the records of history. Within twenty years, human sacrifices, the power of an idolatrous priesthood, profligacy unparalleled in any other part of the world, infanticide, and bloody wars not sparing women and children, all these have been abolished; and dishonesty, intemperance and licentiousness have been greatly reduced." Yet this isn't the only acknowledgement by Darwin of the power of Christianity. There have been many reports of Darwin renouncing his "theory of evolution" before he died in 1882, and again embracing salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. I for one tend to believe these reports of his conversion especially in light of his story of what Christ did on the Fiji Islands.
We know what Darwin did when he taught evolution was a terrible mistake, but I can't help comparing it to the religious crowd of today. The King James Bible is the very Word of God. Yet this religious crowd is still convincing many people that the KJV is known only for its beauty, but if you want accuracy they say you go to the New American Standard (NAS). Now they say that the New International Version (NIV) is an improvement over the NAS, especially the Old Testament. Yet Frank Logston, the cofounder of the NAS, renounced his ties to it, apologized to God and man, and said that it is of the devil. Both of these mistakes have been corrected by those responsible for them, but "intelligent" men will not let them die. It is like a child who knows more than his parents, or a froward woman who knows more than God, or as our Lord said, "a servant who knows more than his master".
Don Settle - Faith Baptist Church, Laurens, SC