Perhaps you have heard the story of a Chinese paleontologist who has been traveling in this country recently. He lectures around the world saying that recent fossil finds in his country are inconsistent with the Darwinian theory of evolution. Major animal groups appear abruptly in the rocks over a relatively short period of time rather than evolving gradually as Darwin proposed. When this conclusion upsets American scientists he says: "In China we can criticize Darwin but not the government. In America, you can criticize the government but not Darwin."
Sometimes it appears we have deified Darwin. Evolution has become a surrogate religion to replace Christianity. In public scientists will say that a belief in God and belief in evolution are not incompatible. But in private, these same scientists ridicule Christian faith and challenge any belief in a supernatural God. Just consider these quotes from prominent evolutionists.
Carl Sagan expressed contempt for anyone who did not believe that all species "arose by blind physical and chemical forces over eons." Richard Dawkins praises Darwin who "made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist." Richard Lewontin writes that scientists must maintain a philosophic commitment to naturalism because "we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door." And Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould will grudingly allow people of faith to express their opinions about morals, but only as long as they don't challenge the facts of science.
What is at stake is more than a scientific theory. Evolution provides the intellectual foundation for naturalism. The leading evolutionists really don't believe that God used evolution to create life. They believe that evolution is a blind process of chance. In essence, they believe that evolution proves that God does not exist.
I'm Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that's my opinion.