For a long time, the Andy Griffith show was one of my favorite shows, although I do not catch it much now. But I remember having a question about something. The sheriff is the chief law enforcement official for the county, and is elected. And the mayor is the chief executive for the city, and is also elected. So why was Sheriff Taylor reporting to the mayor of Mayberry?

While looking at various YouTube videos, I found an interesting one that said that Andy Griffith had the same issue with the show.¹ Discussing this with my mother, I learned that she never even thought about it. She just watched the show and accepted things as they were presented. Right there is the heart of what I consider the biggest challenge in the biblical creation/Darwinian evolution debate – peoples’ brains work differently. People think about different things. What somebody takes note of; other people do not think anything about. This creates a road block in getting our message out – our message that people can believe the Bible. How?

When it comes to the biblical creation/Darwinian evolution debate, people fall into one of two categories. The first category is people that do not even think about how what they read in the Bible conflicts with the message of Darwinian evolution that society is inundated with. They just accept the Bible; and ignore, dismiss, or do not even see all of the Darwinism that is out there. I think this is generally more the older generation than younger generations.

The second category is people that see the conflict between biblical creation and Darwinian evolution. These people then fall into one of two subcategories. The first subcategory is people that try to make the Bible fit the “science.” They are theistic evolutionists who believe that “God used evolution” to evolve a “simple” single celled organism to all of life on this planet. I believe that old earth creationists also fall into this subcategory. I was one.

The second subcategory is people that are honest enough with themselves to acknowledge that the Bible and Darwinian evolution just do not go together. Since they have never been taught why they can believe the Bible, they do the natural and logical thing and become atheists, walking away from the church entirely.

So what does all of this mean? It means that the people that are left running the church – to include priests, ministers, deacons, elders, and board members – are people that either do not see this debate as an issue because it is not an issue for them; or people that have compromised the Bible. That means that they do not have any use for a third subcategory – people that see how Darwinism conflicts with the Bible; but actually believe the Bible (like me). So I have something to say to each group.

To the people who just accept the Bible and do not see this as an issue – this is an issue! The reason we have had 60 million abortions in this country, people are shacking up together, and people think that a marriage can be between two dudes is that people do not believe the Bible – even professing Christians. Without people being taught in church that they can believe the Bible, the Bible is not foundational to their thinking. Without really thinking about it, they have accepted post-modernistic philosophy – there is no truth, or you cannot know what the truth is. The next thing you know, people will believe that a person can choose their own sex! Oh, that has already happened.

So I would ask you to be open to biblical creationists who come to you with this message that people can believe the Bible and want to share it. This may not be your primary calling; but help people that have this calling. If you are a church leader, give them a platform in the church. Give them the opportunity to do presentations or have classes. If you do not want to give them Sunday morning worship service, give them time on Sunday or Wednesday nights; although I do not think it would hurt to give some time to this subject on Sunday mornings. Realize that there are a lot of people out there that do need to hear this message, including your kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews. They are growing up in a different world than you grew up in. You can even help by passing on information and articles on this topic (e.g. this article) using Facebook, your own e-mail groups, or other platforms. Be a part of the solution.

Now if you are a theistic evolutionist, or even and old earth creationist, I understand. I was an old earth creationist and bordered on being a theistic evolutionist myself. I intuitively knew that it was totally implausible that a “simple” single celled organism would evolve into all of life on this planet, in all of its integrated complexity. But since like most people I just kept hearing this one side, and the church was not countering it, or in some cases agreeing with it, I started thinking it must be true.

The only way Darwinian evolution could happen would be if God guided the process. So this is very important for you to hear. The whole point of Darwinian evolution (and the big bang) is to try to explain things without God! The atheists understand this (although they may not be candid enough to admit it).  That is why if you go to the Humanists’ websites, you can see for yourself how much they celebrate Charles Darwin.² And this is what Charles Darwin himself attested to, as posted on the Humanists UK website.³

So I am truly sorry that the church failed to teach you that you really can believe the Bible as is. But there are answers out there for you if you will just open yourself to this.

And for the people that have rejected the Bible entirely and walked away from the church, again, I understand. You were actually just being logical and honest with yourself. And the church is at fault for failing to teach you why you can believe the Bible. I am truly sorry.  But I am going to challenge you.  When you listen to the biblical creation arguments, and you go to sites like Answers in Genesis and Creation Ministries International, really consider what they are saying instead of just wanting to refute what they are saying so you can “win” an argument. Be as scrutinizing of Darwinian evolution as you are of the Bible. What have you got to lose?

“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” – James 1:8 KJV.

Terry Read

1. Andy Griffith Revealed the One Mayberry Character He HATED – YouTube
2. Humanists Applaud Darwin Day Resolutions Introduced in Congress – American Humanist Association

3.  Charles Darwin » Humanists UK (humanism.org.uk)