Pastor Ethan Hansen Makes Science The Whipping Boy For Religion

“the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus are very powerful. His sacrificial death frees the believer from his sins. Jesus offers salvation.”

This is a powerful declaration about the Truth – the saving power of Christ.

Pastor Ethan Hansen said it in a recent article in last Wednesday’s Frontiersman titled “FAITH: Darwinian Naturalism Is The Religion Of America”. His article was about science, particularly evolution, and the ways that it can distract us from the Truth. Unfortunately, Pastor Hansen did what many accuse scientists of doing – he made up some facts to suit his own opinions.

In a word, Pastor Hansen lied.

Who knows why Pastor Hansen did this? But he’s not alone - it’s not a new thing. The church, in one form or another, has been making science its whipping boy for hundreds of years. Remember Galileo? And it’s still common today, which is why we need to call it for what it is.

Pastor Hansen simply makes things up. He is upset about science and evolution. He thinks it creates a worldview that excludes God. So he sets up science as the whipping boy, but his statements aren’t facts, they’re just his opinions passed off as fact. Worse, they’re unsubstantiated opinions about people, not based on any science.

Pastor Hansen describes a worldview called “Darwinian Naturalism”. Naturalism has been around for centuries, from well before the time of Christ. But Pastor Hansen has a bee in his bonnet about science and evolution, so it’s a simple trick to update it with a reference to Darwin. Then he cites “six basic tenets” as if summarising them from a text book. Pity that they are a figment of his imagination!

“Matter is all that exists and it has existed eternally”. Says who? Here the Pastor doubles down – first he misquotes Carl Sagan, and then he takes Sagan’s quote out of context.

“The cosmos is a closed system. They believe there is no God. God has never intervened in history.” This is sheer nonsense. Belief in God has nothing to do with whether or not the cosmos is a “closed system”. As a commenter, rainmac, pointed out “Atheists believe there is no God, not Darwinian Naturalists”.

“human beings are complex machines. Human beings are nothing more than a product of physical and chemical processes. We are not made in the image of God.” Is the pastor really suggesting we aren’t complex machines, that we aren’t the product of physical and chemical processes - of course not. He needs that foolishness so that he can deliver his knockout punch about being made in God’s image. Unfortunately, the Pastor ignores the many Christian faiths that accept both the Bible and evolution. His knockout punch was “a swing and a miss”.

“death is the end of all personality and individuality. There is no life after death. When a person dies, it is over.” Again, the Pastor just makes it up. Neither evolution nor any branch of science make any claims about life after death.

“morality is determined solely by the individual and circumstances. There is no transcendent revelation. God has not spoken.” Again, the Pastor is confusing atheists with Darwinian Naturalists.

“History is a linear series of events linked by cause and effect. There is no overarching purpose to history. There is no big idea. History is random.” The less said about this gibberish, the better. “Cause and effect” or “random”? The Pastor can’t make up his mind so he has an each-way bet. It’s all to no avail because it’s completely meaningless and self-serving.

Pastor Hansen claims that Darwinian Naturalism is the primary religion in America today. Here the Pastor speaks the truth, almost. His concern is about religion, not science, not evolution, not Darwin, but religion. His job is to defend the Truth but ironically he chooses do so by speaking in lies, misrepresentations, and errors of fact.

Pastor Hansen’s message is important, but not at any cost. To defend the Truth, one must speak the truth.