How the French Revolution, the Enlightenment, and the two Charles’ dismantled the foundations of biblical creation
By Barry Coker | Apologetics Series – Bible-Alive.com
1. The French Revolution: A Political and Spiritual Rebellion
The French Revolution (1789–1799) was not merely a political revolt—it was an intentional and violent rejection of the church, the Bible, and divine authority. The revolutionaries replaced worship with reason, de-Christianized the calendar, and even held a mock “Festival of Reason” in Notre-Dame Cathedral. This radical secularism laid the groundwork for a worldview that no longer needed God to explain life or truth.
In this vacuum, naturalistic science began to flourish. Thinkers like Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed early evolutionary ideas in this climate of anti-supernatural rationalism. With the church silenced and Scripture mocked, a new story of origins—one without God—was being written in Europe.
2. The Enlightenment: Reason Over Revelation
The Age of Enlightenment (late 1600s–1700s) championed human reason as the final authority on all matters of truth. Philosophers like Voltaire, Rousseau, Locke, and Hume sowed widespread doubt in divine revelation, miracles, and biblical authority. In the name of progress, science became divorced from Scripture, and truth became subject to human interpretation.
This shift opened the door for naturalism—the belief that only natural causes can be considered in scientific explanations. By the early 1800s, this worldview was taking root across European universities, laying the philosophical foundation that would support Darwin’s theory of evolution.
3. The Two Charles’: Lyell’s Foundation, Darwin’s Framework
While Charles Darwin is the most recognized name behind evolutionary theory, his ideas could not have gained traction without the geological work of his mentor and friend, Charles Lyell.
Lyell, often referred to as the father of modern geology, published Principles of Geology in the 1830s. His goal was explicitly stated: to “free the science from Moses.” Lyell promoted the theory of uniformitarianism—the idea that present-day geological processes, acting slowly over immense time, explain all the features of the earth. He rejected the catastrophic model of Noah’s flood in favor of deep time.
Darwin adopted Lyell’s timeline and applied it to biology. Without Lyell’s millions of years, Darwin’s slow, step-by-step evolution would be impossible. Lyell removed the flood; Darwin removed the Creator. The two Charles’ together became the architects of a world without Genesis—without God.
4. How Enlightenment Thought Reached America
Though America’s early settlers were devoutly Christian, Enlightenment ideas eventually made their way across the Atlantic through:
- Printed works from European philosophers
- American thinkers like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin
- Educational institutions, which gradually shifted from biblical to secular foundations
By the 1800s, the seeds of secularism had taken root in American intellectual circles. Though early schools like Harvard and Yale began with strong biblical convictions, they increasingly embraced rationalism, liberal theology, and later, evolutionary science.
5. The First Settlers Believed the Bible—Literally
The earliest American settlers—the Pilgrims, Puritans, Quakers, and Baptists—believed:
- God created the heavens and the earth in six literal days
- Man was made in the image of God, not evolved from animals
- The flood of Noah was a global, historical event
Their schools used the Bible as the primary textbook. The New England Primer taught children to read with the phrase: “In Adam’s fall, we sinned all.” Their worldview was thoroughly biblical—and deeply creation-based.
But as Enlightenment thought spread, these truths were gradually replaced. By the mid-1800s, even many seminaries and churches were teaching theistic evolution and denying the global flood.
6. From Revolution to Revision: A New Origin Story
The French Revolution silenced the church. The Enlightenment elevated reason. Lyell buried the flood. Darwin replaced the Creator. The result was a full-scale cultural shift—from divine origin to cosmic accident.
Romans 1:22–25 (KJV)
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools… Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator…”
Today, this secular origin story is taught in virtually every public school and university—protected by law, promoted by textbooks, and presumed to be fact. But it rests not on objective science, but on an intentional rejection of God’s Word.
7. Rebuilding the Foundations
The Bible is not a science book—it’s something far better. It is the revealed, historical, inerrant Word of God. And when it speaks of creation, the flood, and the origin of man, it speaks with absolute authority and accuracy.
As Christians, we must boldly reclaim the truth that:
- Creation was purposeful, not accidental
- The flood was global, not local
- Man is created, not evolved
- Truth comes from God, not man
Psalm 11:3 (KJV)
“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
Let us be those who rebuild the foundations, one stone of truth at a time.
