Emil Brunner in Christianity and Civilization (1948) wrote: “the popular belief that the idea of evolution and progress was first worked out within natural science, and thence affected the conception of history, is false. The reverse is true: the idea has been transplanted from an evolutionary conception of history into natural science. Lamarck and Darwin are not the pioneers but the heirs of this modern idea. The real pioneers are men like Rousseau, Lessing, Herder, Hegel. The idea of progress and evolution is a child of the optimistic philosophy of the Enlightenment.”
Darwin cannot be toppled without toppling Rousseau/the Romantics, Hegel/Marx/”the Left”, Adam_Smith/Herbert_Spencer/”the Right”, etc. The idea that progress is natural, inevitable, unlimited, etc. is thoroughly embedded in contemporary thought. No one wants to be on “the wrong side of history.” So shooting at Darwin does not get to the foundations of the problem.
The idea of progress is seductive and has enough association with Christianity to make Christians fall for it. After all, there is progressive revelation, Christianity has led to moral progress, knowledge has increased, etc. But true progress requires spiritual and moral development or intervention by God. Progress is not naturalistic.
One thing creationists can do to make a difference is supporting alternatives to naturalistic progress. As an example, the sustainability movement is aware how the myth of progress impedes the ability of Western civilization to continue much longer. While political interests try to co-opt movements such as this, there is the potential for creationists to provide a biblical and scientific foundation for sustainability. To do this would require an enlarged vision about the problem and the solution.
October 2013