This was written to the Administrator (note I use biblical role descriptions, not worldly job titles) of a Christian mission organisation:
Dear sir,
I was surprised by a number of statements in the most recent Prayer News in relation to faith and belief. The juxtapositions that you created were in many ways remarkable.
Take your use of the word ‘faith’. You seem to use it in two completely different senses without really distinguishing them.
You write “...this newfound (sic) knowledge is actually a great boost to their faith”. And rightly so. Biblical faith is our response to knowledge of who God is and what he has done in history. Then you go on to say that “...evolutionists, by faith, have to believe...”. But this is not biblical faith, but some other type of faith: a completely different species of faith; one that is not rooted in fact, but that finds its only ground in the vague postulations of a particular ‘research hypothesis’.
The conversation about ‘fact’ in evolutionary speculation is a very short one. So this faith is nothing like biblical faith. It is more like the ‘faith’ that a person might have in a shaman or an 'Applied Kinesiologist' [the fake 'science' of 'muscle testing'], to put it in modern western terms. It is misplaced trust in something that has no basis in this world.
But, you undo this when you write that “Evolution is a propositional belief system couched in rationalism and evidentialism.” I detect the arid apologetic strategy of Van Til here, a strategy which is famous in Christian circles, but which has any effect only in those circles! Evolution is indeed a propositional belief system, but it is grounded in fiction. There is nothing truly rational or evidential about it at all. Indeed, there is NO evidence for it. If there were, then this would suggest that evolution is a true explanation of the world: not only in relation to biogenesis, but that extends to every corner of our being and understanding, our relationships and behaviour. However, it offers nothing in these areas either.
Oddly, the whole mission of your organisation is about evidence and its rational use, and this is right in terms of the doctrine of creation. God has given us the ability to undertake stewardship of his creation, and this requires knowledge, wisdom and understanding. We are called to examine, think and test, applying what we thus discover. That’s being good stewards. God also points to his credentials in history as the basis for belief. The Holy Spirit clearly is not a follower of Van Til.
