Although
I don’t qualify as a trekkie, I do enjoy the old TV show Star Trek, along with
many of the series that are derived from it. But that enjoyment is tempered by
a line that is periodically recited by some of the characters. “We humans almost
destroyed ourselves, but now we’ve evolved beyond that.”
This
statement is based on a couple of assumptions. One is that mankind, if he tries
hard enough & can change his environment, is perfectible. The other,
related to this, is that evolution explains positive advances in mankind’s ability
to fulfill his sense of what is right.
I
don’t believe either of those things.
Instead
I adhere to a couple of very important themes in Scripture. One is God’s
ability to preserve His creation in spite of our depravity & sinfulness. The
other is that we have a sinful nature & that we do not have the inherent
ability to overcome it.
How
do we explain advances in technology, social issues, & other developments
which have improved conditions in the world? Some have called this prevenient
grace.
Because
God has placed His image in mankind, He has given us the ability to care for
His creation. He has also worked in sovereign, often humanly indiscernible ways,
to maintain His creation & insure its continuance. Of course,
this doesn’t mean that the effects of wrongdoing are erased. We can see these
effects all around us. But, for those who believe the Bible, we know that
without this aspect of God’s working, the world would be in a much worse state.
I
also believe that mankind is a prisoner of his rejection of God as He is revealed
in the Bible. In spite of God’s prevenient grace, there are limitations on what
man can do. He can’t improve or change what he is in his innermost core simply
by changing his environment. That would be like expecting snakes to hatch into
birds by moving their eggs to a bird’s nest.
God’s
answer to this impossible situation is simple. We don’t need to evolve, change
our surroundings, or redeem ourselves. We only need to surrender to Christ, who
is our Redeemer. As we experience His work we are accepted, made clean, & transformed
into His image.
I like Star Trek, but it’s just fantasy. I don’t buy the false view that it
advocates about human nature.
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