Keeping Christ in His Creation
Evolution determines ancestry by reference to a phylogenetic tree. Phylogenetic trees are built based on homologous traits. Homology refers to similarity in the traits. Therefore, in the evolutionary view, gross overall similarity, in either genetics or morphology, is determining ancestry. This idea matters for our discussion because speciation, in an ultimate sense, is a question of ancestry. Many species concepts appeal in some sense or another to a most recent common ancestor.
Unfortunately, we have a culture in Christianity where daring to question anyone in authority is forbidden. If you dare speak up, you are immediately labeled as divisive. It does not matter if the authority is wrong, or if they have completely misrepresented/ignored the Biblical text. All that matters is that they are an authority
The argument presented by Joubert is fairly straightforward. He argues that the original kinds possessed what he called an “essential nature”. This nature is built into the original kinds, and was the force that held the various characteristics of the kind together into a coherent whole. He further argues that, since the nature was built into the kinds from the beginning, it has not changed. Therefore, we should be able to determine kinds by looking at their essential natures.
Imagine, for a moment, that a group of Christian’s wrote a letter to Nature suggesting that we needed to follow Christian principles and stop using evolutionary dogma to try to defeat cancer. Would such a letter be published? Of course not!
In His Image 