As we observe the perplexing and sometimes frightening events taking place in our world today it is not difficult to conclude Jesus is coming soon.
One of the "signs" we sometimes forget is found in the words of the apostle Peter who describes those living in the last days as those who "deliberately forget God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth up from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the world with a mighty flood." II Peter 3:3–6.
Our very name, Seventh-day Adventist, shows a unique calling tied directly to the Creator God and creation cycle of Scripture. It is imperative we remain committed by faith to the biblical account of origins even though we are part of a culture that has adopted the evolutionary theory as absolute truth. We can appreciate the amazing research scientific exploration provides without making it the basis for our belief in the God of science.
At least some scientists understand the implications of accepting "naturalistic evolution" as fact. In a 1998 Darwin Day keynote address, William B. Provine, Cornell University professor of biological sciences, said the clear consequences of naturalistic evolution include: "1. No gods worth having exist; 2. No life after death exists; 3. No ultimate foundation for ethics exists; 4. No ultimate meaning in life exists; and 5. Human free will is nonexistent"1 — not to mention the problems introduced regarding the observance of Sabbath.
One wonders why Professor Provine and thousands of his colleagues feel so confident of a theory Darwin himself said amounted to "... a mere rag of an hypothesis with as many flaw[s] and holes as sound parts" and that his "... speculations run beyond the bounds of true science." He worried that he may "... have devoted my life to a phantasy (sic)." Michael Denton says, "Ultimately, the Darwinian theory of evolution is no more nor less than the great cosmogenic myth of the twentieth century." Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (Bethesda, Maryland: Adler and Adler, 1986, 358.)
In the following segment, Jan Paulsen, General Conference president, highlights several important positions for our church with which I heartily concur.
We have been entrusted with a unique mission to prepare the world for the soon return of Jesus. Those Three Angels' messages include a call to "Worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is." Revelation 14:7. May we remain faithful to that message and to that mission.
1 Abstract of Prof. William B. Provine's 1998 "Darwin Day address, 'Darwin Day" Web site.
Max Torkelsen II
