Feedback on Presuppositions: The Evidence Doesn’t Speak For Itself
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, February 2, 2026 (Donate)
Letter, unedited:
Evolution does not
PRESUPPOSE no God. It merely attempts to discern the mechanisms of God’s
universe. What you are saying is that you find it believable that God created a
universe filled with evidence to teach us about how the world works. But that
evidence shouldn’t be believed. Instead, we should believe a book written by
primitive people with one foot still in a cave dwelling, rather than everything
our God-given human abilities can see in God’s universe around us every day.
First of all,
evolution is simply a collection of observations. If you prefer, you can see
the hand of God in action within evolution. I do. I don’t see your problem.
S., USA
Response (in point-by-point style):
It is nice to hear from you and I’m glad that you are
willing to make conversation about presuppositions and evolutionary thoughts.
My comments below are said with sincerity and kindness.
Evolution does not
PRESUPPOSE no God.
First of all, evolution doesn’t “think”, “presuppose”, or
otherwise have human qualities—that is called the fallacy of reification. It is
a worldview based on human thought. It would be better to say “evolutionists do not…”
Strangely, Darwin, the father of the modern evolutionary
models, disagrees with you in his book The Descent of Man. He makes it
clear that man invented the concept of a God/spiritual realm. He even said:
“The same high mental faculties
which first led man to believe in unseen spiritual agencies, then in fetishism,
polytheism, and ultimately in monotheism, would infallibly lead him, as long as
his reasoning powers remained poorly developed, to various strange
superstitions and customs.”[1]
Also saying:
“The idea of a universal and
beneficent Creator does not seem to arise in the mind of man, until he has been
elevated by long-continued culture.”[2]
Claiming that man invented God makes this a godless
philosophy from the start and clarifies what Darwin’s position was. It was
essentially a rehash of Epicureanism
[which was a Greek mythology that was evolutionary by nature with no God(s)] or
the more recent version of Lamarckian
evolution.
It merely attempts to
discern the mechanisms of God’s universe.
Actually, that is what experimental
science does (as opposed to historical science). Most fields of
experimental science were developed by Bible-believing
Christians, like us, to understand the laws
of science God created.[3]
What you are saying
is that you find it believable that God created a universe filled with evidence
to teach us about how the world works. But that evidence shouldn’t be believed.
Not so. We believe the evidence. We all have the same
evidence but it doesn’t speak for itself.[4] All
evidence must be interpreted based on a belief system. As a Christian, I use
the Bible to explain
the evidence.
It would be illogical to think that God, who
is perfect and who eye witnessed His creation, wouldn’t know how to explain
it and that imperfect men who weren’t there would know more than God.
So when it comes to evidence, one’s faith needs to be in a
perfect God or errantly in imperfect men to interpret it. I simply don’t have
the “faith” in fallible men that some do.
Instead, we should
believe a book written by primitive people
Primitive? I don’t accept your presupposition that man was
originally primitive. The Bible is the proper presupposition, and it makes Adam
out to be very intelligent. Adam had perfect DNA (“very good” in Genesis
1:31) and God programmed him with perfect knowledge (not infinite
knowledge) so as to communicate with him right from the start. For more on
Adam’s characteristics please see
here.[5]
Even looking into the past, there is evidence to confirm the
biblical account that man has always been intelligent, not primitive, having
ancient batteries, incredible ship building technology, and let’s not forget
the pyramids![6]
with one foot still
in a cave dwelling,
Again, I don’t accept your presupposition that man was
primitive but as you probably know there are still people today living in caves
and that doesn’t make them primitive—some have wifi and cable TV!
rather than
everything our God-given human abilities can see in God’s universe around us
every day.
I agree with the observations.
In fact, Romans 1:20 makes it clear that God’s attributes can be seen in
what is made so we are without excuse.
For since the creation of the world
His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been
clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are
without excuse (Romans 1:20, NASB).
In essence, it is enough to condemn, but not enough to save.
We all still need Jesus
Christ.
First of all,
evolution is simply a collection of observations.
Then why haven’t we observed these:
- No one
has been able to make life from nonlife (matter giving rise to life which
is foundational to pond scum-to-people evolution).
- No one
has been able to change a single-celled life-form like an ameba into a cow
or goat, etc.
- No one
has been able to observe and repeat the big bang (which is foundational to
pond scum-to-people evolution).
- We
haven’t observed the billions of information-gaining mutations required to
build the DNA strand to give rise to new kinds of life-forms.
- Matter
has never been observed to give rise to new information.
Evolution is clearly a worldview and more specifically it is
a subset of the religion of Secular
Humanism, in the same way creation is a subset of Christianity.
If you prefer, you
can see the hand of God in action within evolution. I do.
You are confusing natural
selection with evolution. Natural selection is good, observable
science. In fact, natural selection was developed by Ed
Blyth, a creationist, about 25 years before Darwin and is an excellent
confirmation of God’s created
kinds in Genesis.
Natural selection clearly shows dogs making dogs, cats
making cats, weasels making weasels, etc. This is biblical. However, we don’t
observe dogs giving rise to horses or mice giving rise to cats. Natural
selection is not goo-to-you evolution.
I don’t see your
problem.
Steve
USA
The issue is simple—you can either trust
God’s Word or trust man’s ideas about the past. In whom will your faith be
placed. God says:
And
without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6, NASB).
It
is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man. (Psalm 118:8 NASB).
Our goal here isn’t to win or lose an argument, but to get
people thinking, point people in the direction of Christ and His salvation and
then disciple them as Jesus commanded in Matthew 28. I’m sure you’ve
heard the “good
news” of Jesus Christ before, but I’m not sure if you understand what this
means.
The “good news” of being saved goes back to the “bad news”
in Genesis. God originally created a perfect world (Genesis 1:31); there
was no
death and suffering (Genesis 1:29–30). Then man sinned against a
perfect and holy God (Genesis 3).
God cursed the animals and the ground because of man and
sentenced them to die (Genesis 3). It is due to man’s actions that sin and
death entered the world. Now we are all sinners as a result and in need of a
Savior (Romans 5:12).
When man sinned, God sacrificed animals (Genesis 3:21—coats
of skins) to cover their sin because God commanded that sin is punishable by
death (Genesis 2:17). This covering could only cover, not forgive and
take away sins (Hebrews 9:22).
But God loved us enough to take that punishment
upon Himself. He stepped into His creation as a perfect man (remaining fully
God), Jesus Christ, to live and suffer and die a painful death—to be the final
sacrifice to cover our sins for good and offer forgiveness (John 3:16).
For those who receive Jesus Christ, there will be salvation
and a new heaven and new earth (Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:1).
They will one day see a perfect world again with no pain and sorrow (Revelation
21:4)—the curse will be removed (Revelation 22:3). When you remove
the reason for the gospel and replace it with goo-to-you evolution, it
undermines the reason for Christ.
I want to encourage you to consider this. Kind regards in
Christ,
Bodie
A sinner saved by greace
Bodie Hodge, Ken
Ham's son in law, has been an apologist since 1998 helping out in various
churches and running an apologetics website. He spent 21 years working at Answers
in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding
news anchor for Answers News. He was also head of the Oversight
Council.
Bodie
launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal
website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken
on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and
universities. He is married with four children.
Mr. Hodge earned a
Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from Southern Illinois University at
Carbondale (SIUC). Then he taught at SIUC for a couple of years as a
Visiting Instructor teaching all levels of undergraduate engineering and
running a materials lab and a CAD lab. He did research on advanced ceramic
materials to develop a new method of production of titanium diboride with a
grant from Lockheed Martin. He worked as a Test Engineer for Caterpillar,
Inc., prior to entering full-time ministry.
His love of science was coupled with a love of history, philosophy, and theology. For about one year of his life, Bodie was editing and updating a theological, historical, and scientific dictionary/encyclopedia for AI use and training. Mr. Hodge has over 25 years of experience in writing, speaking and researching in these fields. Originally at Answers in Genesis; Edited; Republished by permission.
[1]
Darwin, C., The Descent of Man, Chapter
3, www.literature.org/authors/darwin-charles/the-descent-of-man/chapter-03.html
[2]
Darwin, C., The Descent of Man, Chapter
21, www.literature.org/authors/darwin-charles/the-descent-of-man/chapter-21.html
[3]
Which scientists of the past believed in a Creator? Answers in Genesis website, http://www.answersingenesis.org/Home/Area/bios/default.asp#pastsci.
[4]
Creation: Where’s the “proof?”, Ken Ham, December 1, 1999, Answers in Genesis website, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v22/n1/creation-proof.
[5]
See also: http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v13/n4/adam and is by Ken
Ham.
[6]
See: Ancient Civilizations and Modern Man, David Criswell, March 1, 1995, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v17/n2/ancient-civilizations,
The large ships of antiquity, Larry Pierce,
Answers in Genesis website, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v22/n3/ships,
The Pyramids of Ancient Egypt, David Down, September 1, 2004, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v26/n4/pyramids-of-ancient-egypt.
