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 PrintableVersion Hodge, Warfield and evolutionInvestigating what the great theologians believedBurning with the charge to defend orthodoxy given him by his predecessor, Archibald Alexander, Charles Hodge became Professor at Princeton Seminary in 1841. Princeton always inculcated a learned defence of the faith so Hodge's picture of theologians studying the Bible as other scientists study nature was not new. It was with well-honed reverence for facts and a deep suspicion of theories paraded as facts that Hodge witnessed the advent of Darwinism in 1859. Far from receiving the new hypothesis enthusiastically as fact, Hodge was ready to denounce (in no uncertain terms) one crucial aspect of Darwinism as Atheism. Hodge's response, in his book, What is Darwinism? begins by portraying the biblical account of God's creating nature as a theory that fits the facts. Other theories of origin are all inadequate, including those which, although theistic because they have God as the first cause, are unscriptural because they rule out secondary causes. Darwinism merits careful examination but it is known, for indeed Darwin himself admits it, that both evolution and natural selection were recognised by others first. Darwin's distinctive contribution is to deny that God's design is needed for the origin of species so Hodge accuses Darwinism of Ateleology: denial of design. Since 'Science' was being restricted to knowledge of nature, Hodge makes an appeal in What is Darwinism? for scientists to respect other areas of knowledge. His views aside and granting the possibility of reconciliation, while evolution remains incredible and unprovable it is wrong to talk about it as established fact. In line with his main thesis Hodge is able to inculpate old evolution's new-found popularity as being due solely to Darwinism's innovatory denial of design. Even with respect to other natural sciences evolutionism seems to ignore the evidence for the fixity of species in paleontology, animal breeding and human psychology. Hodge, seeking to deal with the people as well as with their ideas, starts by establishing that, though his Ateleology is atheistic, Darwin was not. There were, particularly in Germany, advocates of Atheism who embraced Darwinism and Hodge demonstrates that their attitude was due to Darwin's denial of design. Objectors to Darwinism condemned Ateleology and Hodge quotes (to underline his conclusion, 'It is Atheism.') Asa Gray who differed from Darwin solely on this point. Since Atheism is illogical and flies in the face of man's spirituality Hodge can demonstrate that Darwinists (especially Huxley) are inconsistent and in two minds. Warfield's continuationDue to the early death of Hodge's son and successor, Benjamin B. Warfield was called to Princeton to sit in Hodge's chair. Old Princeton's famed continuity is demonstrated by Warfield's attitude to change, continuing always to use Hodge's Systematic Theology when he could have written his own. He was, however, impressed with The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin so as to concentrate on Darwin the man instead of Darwinism the theory. Commenting on material which had not been available to Hodge, Warfield nevertheless confirmed Hodge's thesis, demonstrating the effect of Darwin's denial on his worldview. By exposing the root of Atheism in Darwin's method, as Hodge had its fruit in his theory, Warfield showed that he stood in Hodge's shoes. Believing that the Bible offers more time than Archbishop Ussher's chronology, both men were still scathing about the excessive numbers of years demanded by evolutionists. Warfield, following Hodge in distinguishing evolution per se from Darwinism's Ateleology, recommended treating evolution as 'a working hypothesis which is at present on its probation'. Both men insisted that however God works (providentially through natural laws, by miracle or in creation) it is all according to plan and thus Teleological. Just as Isaac dug again Abraham's wells that had been stopped up, so Warfield was called on to repeat Hodge's work for a new generation. Against the myth that Science is always at war with Theology Warfield asks how 'Science' could be at war with one of its constituent parts. As is always the case with new ideas, younger scholars found evolutionism more credible than those who first encountered it when old and honoured. Warfield neither concedes that evolution could be proved nor argues for the fixity of species, probably because of total disarray about what constitutes a species. Comparable deathsIn a remarkable passage Warfield compares the deaths of Hodge and Darwin, linking the manner of death to the place each gave God in life. As a consummate educator himself, Warfield saw the success of Hodge's treatment of Rationalism and continued to use Hodge's apologetical method against all anti-Christian opposition. He continued to destroy the illusion of scientific uniformity by using the work of one natural scientist to expose inconsistencies in the speculations of another. He persistently called for a new textbook of Natural Theology after seeing how the young Darwin had been disastrously misled about design by Paley's Evidences. Warfield's creation doctrineIn 19th-century theological circles, labelling someone a 'creationist' would have meant that they held a particular view of the origin of a person's personhood. Calvin's own concept was that the soul of each individual human being is directly created by God and not received by generation from the parents. By and large, most Reformed theologians have followed Calvin, taking the creationist line, whereas Lutherans, believing in the inheritance of the soul, are called 'traducians'. Warfield's creationism wasn't just an incidental choice of sides in an obscure disputation, linking as it does his doctrines of creation and of the incarnation. Warfield's commitment to the creation of the soul might seem to be compromised by creativity in presenting differing theories of the origin of Adam's body. He suggests that the term 'mediate creation' would be useful to describe development where ability to change is not inherent in the creature. Noting that Calvin did not use 'mediate creation', he suggests Calvin's is a 'very pure evolutionary scheme' of concursus between God's work and natural process. For many, his observation that the idea of Adam's body evolving might be entertained because of the possibility of 'saltation' marks him as an evolutionist. To conclude that Warfield was an evolutionist because of speculations to which he showed no allegiance is to ignore his absolute certainty about immediate creation. He insists that the origin in Adam of every race on earth is merely allowed in evolutionary theory but proved by other branches of science. He holds that no evolutionary scheme (not even Calvin's!) could include the making of Eve, supposing that Calvin would have classified that a miracle. His willingness to discuss speculations about the origin of Adam's body serves to underline his certainty about the created origin of every soul of mankind. Warfield didn't know how God made Adam's body from the dust of the ground and it would be too much to say he didn't care. He was much more certain though about things like life itself which, like the original 'world-stuff', require to be created ex nihilo, out of nothing. His relative disinterest in the uncertainty of the 'how?' of Adam's body is a counterpoint to his passion for the seminal 'why?' of Adam's soul. Again and again, he conjoins the creation of the soul to the advent of the God-man, Jesus Christ, thus triumphantly capping his doctrine of creation. Last word in creationHodge's last word on Ateleology in What is Darwinism? is that denial of design is Atheism and that judgment stands unmoved, unmovable to this day. He ends appropriately with a quotation from the last words of Paul (2 Timothy 1.12, 4.6-8): 'I know whom I have believed and am persuaded....' Before-hand he quotes from the last publication of Darwin's champion, David. F. Strauss, to demonstrate the terminal lack of certainty in even the best-founded Rationalism. In dismissing Ateleology Hodge affirms both that the Christian's last word is 'I believe' and that 'I don't believe' can never be the last word. Ateleology is Atheism whether in the guise of Darwinism, neo-Darwinism, Positivism or any other -ism of man's devising and the antidote is affirmation of design. The term 'Darwinism' never could be used just to mean 'denial of de-sign' as an exact synonym for 'Ateleology' and Hodge never intended it to. 'Darwinism' or 'neo-Darwinism', as a term meaning 'evolution by natural selection', was needed to differentiate from 'Lamarckism' or 'neo-Lamarckism' which is 'evolution by acquired characteristics'. 'Evolution' is now itself a very 'loaded' word and arguments about its use too frequently miss the crucial importance of teleology in disputes over details. InerrancyWhen seeking to make use of the doctrine of biblical inerrancy it's very hard to avoid the contributions of Hodge and Warfield to its formulation. Contemporary creationists, even those who honour their inerrancy work, either castigate the supposed evolutionary and concessionary views of Hodge and Warfield or just ignore them. Unintended misrepresentation by supporters is also a problem when Warfield is presented as an evolutionist to an audience with a negative concept of the term. A possible solution might well be to attempt to read Hodge's and Warfield's writings on creation without a guide. It is arguable that the discontinuity between modern creationists and the likes of Warfield is due to the declining importance of the argument from design. In which case the return of teleological science with Michael Behe's Darwin's Black Box and his concept of 'Intelligent Design' should certainly demand a rethink. Warfield's recommended way of dealing with untested hypotheses is to put them on probation and that might have to be our last resort on evolution. Warfield's stance turns out to be affirmatory; the last word in Creation is the advent of our Last Adam and God's Last Word, Jesus Christ. BibliographyBehe, Michael. Darwin under the Microscope (1997). John Kilpatrick© Evangelicals Now - August 2002 |
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