Viewpoint of Mark Cadwallader, Creation Moments Board Chairman
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Hark how the angels sing.
Hosannah in the highest, Hosannah to your King!”
The Bible says that at the consummation of this age, and reconciliation of all its evil, we can look forward to a spectacularly glorious “New Jerusalem” – a new Holy City (Revelation 21:2, Ezekiel 48:35) wondrously illumined by the presence of the Lord Himself “forever and ever” (Revelation 22:5). Jerusalem was once the capital city of King David, six miles up the road from his birthplace in Bethlehem. And it will be transformed into the holy and heavenly capital kingdom city of our Lord Jesus Christ, also born in Bethlehem. Jesus is “Alpha and Omega, the first and the last”, both Creator and Consummator of all things (Revelation 1:11). He is the Living Word, true from beginning to end. And the Bible, the written word, is true from Genesis to Revelation!
But evolution-based thinking has tried to discredit the Bible – in addition to many other consequences of its false suppositions – through so-called “higher criticism”. Higher criticism in theological circles is really just a more sophisticated form of skepticism and unbelief which grew to prominence in the late 19th century after the publishing of Darwin’s hypothesis.
Not only was evolution eagerly made into the framework for biological and other sciences, but it became the framework for social sciences, and for religion. Jewish religion, “monotheism”, was said to have “evolved” from a more primitive “polytheism” and was further evolving on its way eventually to the “God is dead theology” of the 1960s. The “God is dead” idea has continued to this day in globalist humanist circles. All things are evolving; it is the-way-of-things, they say. That is why we should get ready for a change from nationalist to globalist economics, government, and religion.
In his very thorough creationist commentary on Genesis 1-11, The Genesis Account, Jonathan Sarfati describes how the post-Darwin theological chorus of critics conjured up their arguments. Led by Julius Wellhausen, they used the Documentary Hypothesis, also known as the JEDP Hypothesis, among other theorizings to try to undermine biblical revelation and authorship. They used an evolutionary view of history and religion. This concept infiltrated and compromised many denominations and institutions of the Church, continuing to this day.
Famed conservative theologian J.W. Montgomery in The Suicide of Christian Theology (1970) said the following about these developments of the modern church: “Reinforced by what they believed to be the scientifically-established world-view of evolution, they built metaphysical and idealistic systems to replace Christian revelation.… They endeavored to re-do the biblical revelation into the spirit of the times, and where it did not fit, they made it fit – by dismembering the Old Testament texts through documentary criticism so as to demonstrate ‘the evolution of Jewish religion’.”
One argument of so-called “higher criticism” these skeptics tried to make was that there is no archeological evidence for Jerusalem having been the capital city of King David. And that, therefore, King David in the Bible was mostly myth. However, this criticism has been totally debunked today through archeology.
King David’s capital was finally uncovered with certainty within the last 50 years, on the immediate south side of the Temple Mount, just outside the “Old City”. Between it not being in the “Old Jerusalem” of today, which is not nearly ancient enough, and under control of the various powers of Islam through the centuries, it was out of sight to archeologists. But now, under modern day Israel, archeologists have been able to link some previous underground discoveries with current digs in the right locations. They’ve uncovered a host of artifacts and structural findings which validate biblical testimony. And once again, the Bible skeptics have been proven wrong.
Theologians have noted how evil comes in waves, like flood waters. In Scripture, the Euphrates River of the post-Flood world can be thought of metaphorically as a dividing line between the “Kingdom of this World” and the “Kingdom of Christ”. It divides between hostile northern and eastern kingdoms, and the land God promised to the descendants of Abraham (Genesis 15:18). Nineteenth century theologian C.J. Ellicott noted in his New Testament Commentary (on Revelation 16:2) about this metaphorical point: “There is a great interposed boundary of public opinion which restrains evil from breaking forth in its ruder and more violent forms”. When that “boundary” of public opinion disappears, there is opened up a way for more intrusion of shameless evil and unbelief.
And after Charles Darwin published his “On the Origin of Species” in 1859, Ellicott observed in his book of 1878, Modern Unbelief: Its Principles and Characteristics, that the Theory of Evolution was such an event which broke a boundary and freed unbelief from its restraints. He wrote: “Unbelief is now assuming a much more earnest tone. Its effects are much more dangerous, and the change as far as regards its influence against the popular teaching of Christianity, very gravely for the worse. It professes to suggest answers to all deeper questions that lie within the realm of the knowable.”
Ellicott was right. Not only in terms of the subversion wrought by “higher criticism” but, for example, the following century saw fascism, Nazism and communism murder more people than were killed in any other century in history on the basis of “survival of the fittest”. Today we observe all manner of evil “breaking forth in its ruder forms”, which very few would have thought possible a few years ago. Certainly other metaphorical crossings of the Euphrates River have occurred, being emboldened and supported by evolution and other attempts to tear down biblical truth, as we have discussed in these letters over the years.
The Bible posed this rhetorical question long ago: “If the foundations be destroyed what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). Ultimately we must wait on God. As it says in verse 6 of the same Psalm 11, God will bring judgment upon the wicked. And when that day arrives, we will be able to say, “Hello, New Jerusalem!”
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Sing for the night is o’er
Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna forevermore!”
We also know that people matter to God. So here’s what we can “do”: We can serve the Lord and proclaim the truth of Christ, the Living Word, and the Spirit-Infused-Written-Word of God, the Bible – to all people! It is the “foundation” that cannot be destroyed (1 Peter 1:25 and others), the cornerstone of Truth.
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