We are grateful this excellent publication has been made available to us and we encourage its reading in conjunction with the Bible in hand. As we embark on another year of reading God’s wholly inspired word, now is the ideal time, while we are taken through the Genesis account, to reflect upon this most important subject.
Preface from the authors..
This book is essentially a reproduction of a series of articles that were first published electronically on various Christadelphian Facebook discussion forums during 2015 and 2016. There have been some edits to aid continuity, and some additional information has been included to reflect feedback that was received, both positive and negative, from various quarters. Two chapters have also been added on the subject of demons, adapted from John Allfree’s booklet, “Demon Possession”1, to address the assertion that is commonly put forward that other parts of the Bible, outside of the book of Genesis, are unscientific, and are based upon the mistaken beliefs of ancient near eastern civilizations.
The articles were initially produced in an attempt to raise a voice of protest against the growing acceptance of the false notion of theistic evolution within the Christadelphian community. Having examined the matter carefully, we remain firmly of the opinion that theistic evolution is not compatible with the first principles of scripture truth. It is not consistent with the teaching of the scriptures regarding the nature and mortality of man, the entry of sin and death into the world, the atonement and the inspiration of holy scripture, and for these reasons, it ought to be vigorously opposed.
It is sad to say that there appears to be a distinct lack of perception within the Christadelphian community that theistic evolution does indeed represent an attack on the fundamentals of the faith, and is not consistent with “the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ”2. Our concern is particularly for the younger members of our community, who will inevitably at some point come into contact with the teachings of theistic evolutionists, and who may be swayed by the perceived plausibility of the arguments, without appreciating that they do in fact undermine a number of basic first principle doctrines.
We believe it is the responsibility of all within the Brotherhood to be on our guard against such things, and to equip ourselves as best we can with sound Biblical arguments, in order to be able to provide wise counsel to those who are troubled with this perversion of the truth. It is our hope and prayer that this book may assist in this regard.
Mark Allfree and Matthew Davies
Nottingham Forest Road Christadelphian Ecclesia March 2017
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