Benjamin B. Warfield - An Assessment of Evolution

[John Bauer]

The strength of the theory [of evolution] lies in its simplicity, and its apparent appeal to nothing but recognized facts.

B. B. Warfield, review of Darwinism Today: A Discussion of Present-Day Scientific Criticism of the Darwinian Selection Theories, Together with a Brief Account of the Principal and Other Proposed Auxiliary and Alternative Theories of Species-Forming, by Vernon L. Kellogg, Princeton Theological Review 6, no. 4 (October 1908): 642.

Many of the objections which have been urged against [the theory of evolution] seem to us, to be sure, to be little justified. These are largely directed against its consistency or completeness as a logical construction. From this point of view, however, as it seems to us, the theory is unassailable.

Ibid., 643.

 

[makesends]

And....?

 

[atpollard]

And....?

... And John Bauer firmly believes in evolution, so he offers an "appeal to Authority" quote from B. B. Warfield.

Yet SCRIPTURE speaks of Adam and Eve as real people created by God (contrary to Darwinism):

• Luke 3:38 [NASB20] the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
• Romans 5:14 [NASB20] Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the violation [committed] by Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
• 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45 [NASB20] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. ... So also it is written: "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING PERSON." The last Adam [was] a life-giving spirit.
• 1 Timothy 2:13-14 [NASB20] For [it was] Adam [who] was first created, [and] then Eve. And [it was] not Adam [who] was deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a wrongdoer.
• Jude 1:14 [NASB20] [It was] also about these people [that] Enoch, [in the] seventh [generation] from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord has come with many thousands of His holy ones,

 

[makesends]

... And John Bauer firmly believes in evolution, so he offers an "appeal to Authority" quote from B. B. Warfield.

Yet SCRIPTURE speaks of Adam and Eve as real people created by God (contrary to Darwinism):

• Luke 3:38 [NASB20] the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
• Romans 5:14 [NASB20] Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the violation [committed] by Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
• 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45 [NASB20] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. ... So also it is written: "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING PERSON." The last Adam [was] a life-giving spirit.
• 1 Timothy 2:13-14 [NASB20] For [it was] Adam [who] was first created, [and] then Eve. And [it was] not Adam [who] was deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a wrongdoer.
• Jude 1:14 [NASB20] [It was] also about these people [that] Enoch, [in the] seventh [generation] from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord has come with many thousands of His holy ones,

FWIW he may be using Warfield as articulating what he agrees with. I often need to do that, since I am not very good at articulating what what I want to say. Not sure I'd take that as an appeal to authority.

 

[atpollard]

FWIW he may be using Warfield as articulating what he agrees with. I often need to do that, since I am not very good at articulating what what I want to say. Not sure I'd take that as an appeal to authority.

Fair enough.
John just didn't strike me as someone who struggled to articulate what he wanted to say [having been on the receiving end of contrary "articulation".]

 

[JesusFan]

... And John Bauer firmly believes in evolution, so he offers an "appeal to Authority" quote from B. B. Warfield.

Yet SCRIPTURE speaks of Adam and Eve as real people created by God (contrary to Darwinism):

• Luke 3:38 [NASB20] the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
• Romans 5:14 [NASB20] Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the violation [committed] by Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
• 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45 [NASB20] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. ... So also it is written: "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING PERSON." The last Adam [was] a life-giving spirit.
• 1 Timothy 2:13-14 [NASB20] For [it was] Adam [who] was first created, [and] then Eve. And [it was] not Adam [who] was deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a wrongdoer.
• Jude 1:14 [NASB20] [It was] also about these people [that] Enoch, [in the] seventh [generation] from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord has come with many thousands of His holy ones,

Holding to evolution would make the entire Genesis account of the fall and creation of man to be either a Myth or a metaphor

 

[atpollard]

Holding to evolution would make the entire Genesis account of the fall and creation of man to be either a Myth or a metaphor

I have a similar problem ... however, to be fair, John has thought about it and disagrees. He has another perspective that is more complex than our binary "true/false".

[I can sympathize since I do not see Genesis 1 as being ABOUT 6 literal days, but being about something more important ... WHO created, not HOW God created ... so we would know HIM rather than ABOUT Him. We can learn about God from studying NATURE, but Genesis 1 reveals information about WHO GOD IS that nature never could.]

I am just not prepared to reject clear statements about God creating the first man and woman, for theories about "other people existing alongside Adam" or "Adam as a mythological typology".

 

[John Bauer]

John Bauer firmly believes in evolution, so he offers an "appeal to Authority" quote from B. B. Warfield.

Wrong on both counts.

I do not firmly believe in evolution. My acceptance of evolution as a biological theory is tentative and provisional, which is my posture toward most scientific theories. I am prepared to abandon it the moment I am made aware of evidence that rules it out, just as I am for other theories. For example, I suspect that our understanding of gravity is almost entirely wrong. But, like evolution, I accept it—tentatively and provisionally—because for now it is the best scientific explanation we have.

I did not offer an appeal to authority. We are not in the middle of an argument, nor was the quote from Warfield offered in support of anything. It was a quote that I found interesting (in something I was reading at the time) and I shared it in the Quotes forum, as I tend to do. The reason why I share quotes like this, especially from theologians normally esteemed in Reformed circles, is because Christians who believe Answers in Genesis uncritically or reject evolution too quickly could benefit from learning that it was not just liberal theologians who accepted evolution; many conservative Christians have supported or adopted evolution, including those who fought hardest against liberalism—like Warfield. That is arguably interesting and worth noting.

Yet Scripture speaks of Adam and Eve as real people created by God (contrary to Darwinism):

“Darwinism” is a term fraught with ambiguity; it means so many different things to so many different people. Whether something is contrary to Darwinism will depend entirely on what Darwinism is supposed to mean.

But a historical Adam and Eve is not contrary to the biological theory of evolution, as capably argued by many authors over the decades. I am currently reading Perspectives on the Historical Adam and Eve: Four Views (2024), edited by Kenneth D. Keathley, and the chapter authored by Andrew Loke (“The Genealogical Adam and Eve Model”) makes that abundantly clear. See also: Andrew Loke, “Reconciling Evolution and Biblical Literalism: A Proposed Research Program,” Theology and Science 14, no. 2 (2016): 160–174, in which he addresses eight specific challenges leveled by Wayne Grudem in Norman C. Nevin, ed., Should Christians Embrace Evolution? Biblical and Scientific Responses (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2011).

A historical Adam and Eve would challenge evolution if, and only if, they were the first Homo sapiens to ever exist—and that is not established in any of the texts you provided, nor does any essential Christian doctrine depend on them being the first.

 

[John Bauer]

FWIW he may be using Warfield as articulating what he agrees with. I often need to do that, since I am not very good at articulating what what I want to say. Not sure I'd take that as an appeal to authority.

My stance on evolution is almost exactly the same as Warfield’s, just slightly more developed (because I have the benefit of evidence and insight that did not exist in his day).

But that is not why I shared the quote. As our friend here indicated, I do not struggle with articulating my view. I shared the quote because (a) it was something I found interesting, and (b) a lot of Christians don’t know that esteemed men of God like Warfield accept evolution.. Something potentially interesting that a lot of people don’t know is worth sharing, in my opinion.

 

[John Bauer]

Holding to evolution would make the entire Genesis account of the fall and creation of man to be either a Myth or a metaphor

There are so many reasons why that does not follow.