What do you think?
Rate this book
The Face That Demonstrates the Farce of Evolution
Looking into the face of our alleged ape ancestor, popular Christian apologist Hank Hanegraaff dissects and debunks the astonishingly weak arguments for the evolutionary theory, revealing it as nothing more than a "fairy tale for grown-ups." The author uses his own Memory Dynamics to make it easy for Christians to speak intelligently about evolution and speak persuasively about the Creator.
200 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1998
13 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
Hank Hanegraaff
105 books132 followersHendrik "Hank" Hanegraaff, also known as the "Bible Answer Man", is an American Christian author and radio talk-show host. Formerly an evangelical Protestant, he joined the Eastern Orthodox Church in 2017. He is an outspoken figure within the Christian countercult movement, where he has established a reputation for his critiques of non-Christian religions, new religious movements, and cults, as well as heresy in Christianity. He is also an apologist on doctrinal and cultural issues.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 30, 2015
Hank Hanegraaff: The Face that Demonstrates the Farce of Evolution. Word Publishing, 1998.
It’s appropriate that the word “farce” is used in the title of this book, although the term should be applied to the book itself rather than to the Theory of Evolution that Hanegraaff is directing it toward. Previous to this, I had considered Icons of Evolution to be the worst book ever written on the topic. Icons has now been dethroned.
Most of what you need to know about this book can be found in a quotation on page 103 in my copy. Here it is: “G. Richard Bozarth was right: ‘Christianity is—must be—totally committed to special creation as described in Genesis, and Christianity must fight with its full might, fair or foul, against the theory of evolution.’”
“Fair or foul!” In other words, Hanegraaff admits that such tactics as lying and cheating are perfectly OK if your goal is to defeat the theory of evolution. Anything goes in that war. Up until that point in the book, I had given Hanegraaff the benefit of the doubt and imagined that he was just willfully ignorant of the actual concepts of evolution. After that I began to wonder. Was he actually as woefully uneducated on the actual facts of the theory as he seemed, or was he deliberately distorting and lying to make his case against evolution. Was there anything in the book that Hanegraaff himself considered to be true?
It would take another book to describe all of the mistakes in this one and I don’t have time at present. Let me mention just a few particularly egregious errors.
1. He repeatedly equates evolution through natural selection with randomness. Selection, by definition, is not random.
2. He pretends that he refutes the concept of Ontogeny recapitulates Phylogeny, and makes a big deal out of it. This concept was refuted in its original form well over a hundred years ago. By scientists.
3. His examples are almost all chosen from well before the modern age of scientific thinking. He holds up Leonardo da Vinci as an example of a creationist. Well, duh.
4. He argues that the concept of entropy rules out evolution because entropy demands that everything eventually decay. But then he admits that life can self-organize. Well, so can non-life or else we’d never have a hurricane. Here, I think, we catch him in a lie, because he clearly understands that life “produces a temporary increase in complexity and growth,” but he still tries to say that entropy makes evolution impossible. Evolution through natural selection is precisely life producing a temporary increase in complexity and growth.
There are many, many other examples. This review only scratches the surface. Some people may wonder why I so strongly condemn this book. Well, here’s why I think it is important to call out this kind of nonsense. It does a disservice to science, but it causes far more harm to Christianity.
My family is overwhelmingly Christian. The vast majority of Christians I know are good people who want only the best for their families. The kind of hubris and arrogance that Hanegraaff expresses in this book could destroy Christianity from the inside. Hanegraaff argues that Christians must fight with everything they have against the science of evolution. He is wrong. Christians must strive to emulate Christ. They must seek that which is true. They must be humble in the presence of God’s creation, which means that they must admit they don’t fully understand every aspect of that creation. If evolution through natural selection is true, and there is overwhelming evidence that it is, then a Christian must accept the truth that God’s creation is telling him or her. To do otherwise, to willfully ignore the evidence that God has so readily provided humanity with, is to deny God. To put it in terms that Hanegraaff would understand. That is a sin.
Certainly in Christianity, sin can be forgiven. A worse sin, though, is trying to pull others into sin as well, and Hanegraaff uses every trick in his verbal repertoire to do just that. I just cannot let that go unchallenged.
It’s appropriate that the word “farce” is used in the title of this book, although the term should be applied to the book itself rather than to the Theory of Evolution that Hanegraaff is directing it toward. Previous to this, I had considered Icons of Evolution to be the worst book ever written on the topic. Icons has now been dethroned.
Most of what you need to know about this book can be found in a quotation on page 103 in my copy. Here it is: “G. Richard Bozarth was right: ‘Christianity is—must be—totally committed to special creation as described in Genesis, and Christianity must fight with its full might, fair or foul, against the theory of evolution.’”
“Fair or foul!” In other words, Hanegraaff admits that such tactics as lying and cheating are perfectly OK if your goal is to defeat the theory of evolution. Anything goes in that war. Up until that point in the book, I had given Hanegraaff the benefit of the doubt and imagined that he was just willfully ignorant of the actual concepts of evolution. After that I began to wonder. Was he actually as woefully uneducated on the actual facts of the theory as he seemed, or was he deliberately distorting and lying to make his case against evolution. Was there anything in the book that Hanegraaff himself considered to be true?
It would take another book to describe all of the mistakes in this one and I don’t have time at present. Let me mention just a few particularly egregious errors.
1. He repeatedly equates evolution through natural selection with randomness. Selection, by definition, is not random.
2. He pretends that he refutes the concept of Ontogeny recapitulates Phylogeny, and makes a big deal out of it. This concept was refuted in its original form well over a hundred years ago. By scientists.
3. His examples are almost all chosen from well before the modern age of scientific thinking. He holds up Leonardo da Vinci as an example of a creationist. Well, duh.
4. He argues that the concept of entropy rules out evolution because entropy demands that everything eventually decay. But then he admits that life can self-organize. Well, so can non-life or else we’d never have a hurricane. Here, I think, we catch him in a lie, because he clearly understands that life “produces a temporary increase in complexity and growth,” but he still tries to say that entropy makes evolution impossible. Evolution through natural selection is precisely life producing a temporary increase in complexity and growth.
There are many, many other examples. This review only scratches the surface. Some people may wonder why I so strongly condemn this book. Well, here’s why I think it is important to call out this kind of nonsense. It does a disservice to science, but it causes far more harm to Christianity.
My family is overwhelmingly Christian. The vast majority of Christians I know are good people who want only the best for their families. The kind of hubris and arrogance that Hanegraaff expresses in this book could destroy Christianity from the inside. Hanegraaff argues that Christians must fight with everything they have against the science of evolution. He is wrong. Christians must strive to emulate Christ. They must seek that which is true. They must be humble in the presence of God’s creation, which means that they must admit they don’t fully understand every aspect of that creation. If evolution through natural selection is true, and there is overwhelming evidence that it is, then a Christian must accept the truth that God’s creation is telling him or her. To do otherwise, to willfully ignore the evidence that God has so readily provided humanity with, is to deny God. To put it in terms that Hanegraaff would understand. That is a sin.
Certainly in Christianity, sin can be forgiven. A worse sin, though, is trying to pull others into sin as well, and Hanegraaff uses every trick in his verbal repertoire to do just that. I just cannot let that go unchallenged.
August 23, 2015
We don't look like our human ancestors, so evolution must be wrong. Oh, and you are all sinful and evil. And evolution causes men to turn gay. And women to get abortions. Belongs on any good humor shelf. Hanegraaff peddles this stuff on the radio as well.
June 25, 2021
I read this book during a phase of my life when I was intellectually (and spiritually) immature. Hopefully, I'm over that phase. I'm now reading Lee Strobel's 'The Case for Faith,' a similar genre that I am reading because it is there, not for pleasure, or to convince myself one way or the other.
March 26, 2023
I bought this book from a bargain bin, but honestly, a better spot for it is the trash (just kidding, I don't condone harm to books no matter how bad they are). Okay, all joking aside, I started writing a lengthy review, but then realized I was putting more thought into it than Hank put into research for this book. I saved myself the time and deleted it. I recommend you save yourself the time and avoid this pile of cognitive bias bullshit.
November 22, 2016
Read this book and challenge your view on evolution and life in general.
Much of what is claimed in science, claimed to be "scientifically proven" is biased and is theory - nothing more and nothing less - theory.
Hanegraaff takes his readers on a journey to look at facts, many uncomfortable because it challenges what is taught as school, claiming it to be fact, while it is merely theory, dogma, tradition, and popular belief. Take the concept of chance for instance - the mathematical aspect thereof - there is little randomness in the micro and macro-cosmos around us. Do the math.
It is easier and more popular to belittle the creationist view.
Read the book and look at the facts.
(Can be read along side such as, In Six Days, edited by John F. Ashton.)
Much of what is claimed in science, claimed to be "scientifically proven" is biased and is theory - nothing more and nothing less - theory.
Hanegraaff takes his readers on a journey to look at facts, many uncomfortable because it challenges what is taught as school, claiming it to be fact, while it is merely theory, dogma, tradition, and popular belief. Take the concept of chance for instance - the mathematical aspect thereof - there is little randomness in the micro and macro-cosmos around us. Do the math.
It is easier and more popular to belittle the creationist view.
Read the book and look at the facts.
(Can be read along side such as, In Six Days, edited by John F. Ashton.)
Read
December 25, 2009This is a great book for showing the common flaws in Darwin's religion. Nothing = something. Wow neat trick. Demonstrable and repeatable? Not yet. 2 zillion jars of peanut butter and not one new life form yet......
December 28, 2022
All of its points make sense but it also seems too easy. It seems like a straw man argument. Evolutionists aren’t that dumb so idk.
April 21, 2015
Listened to this as an audiobook. Hanegraaff obviously has no konwledge of the subject and doesn't even attempt to argue against evolution per se. He just doesn't want it to be true. He states that the most significant consequence of the theory of evolution "is that it undermines the very foundation of Christianity", and that is the basis for his arguing throughout the book. His arguments are based on the notion that God's existence, and the belief that God created the universe, must never be questioned. He also argues that believing in the Bible is comforting because you know where you're going, while if you believe in evolution you don't know where the world is headed. Needless to say, this type of non-arguments are completely unscientific. Science is about what you can prove, not about what you find convenient and comforting to believe.
Hanegraaff obviously has no scientific integrity whatsoever. He has decided that evolution must be wrong, not because he can say anything to disprove it, but simply because it is against the Bible, and he has filled the entire book with this flawed and unscientific rhetoric. No reader - evolutionist or not - with any scientific or intellectual integrity will be able to take this book seriously. It is completely faith based preaching for the choir, not worth wasting time or money on.
Hanegraaff obviously has no scientific integrity whatsoever. He has decided that evolution must be wrong, not because he can say anything to disprove it, but simply because it is against the Bible, and he has filled the entire book with this flawed and unscientific rhetoric. No reader - evolutionist or not - with any scientific or intellectual integrity will be able to take this book seriously. It is completely faith based preaching for the choir, not worth wasting time or money on.
August 16, 2017
The Face That Demonstrates the Farce of Evolution ● by Hank Hanegraaff
Evolution is much more than a theory about man’s origins. It is a comprehensive world view that determines how you live your life. Hank looks into the face of our supposed ancestor and exposes the astonishingly weak arguments that support evolutionary theory.
F A C E
F ossil records are an embarrassment to evolutionists.
A pe-men are fiction, fraud, and fantasy.
C hance renders evolution not just improbable but also impossible.
E mpirical science supports the creation model for origins and militates against the theory of evolution.
Christian Research Institute
Another great book from CRI and clearly points out problems with blind acceptance of evolutionary theory. Chance, for example, can not create anything, but does tell the likelihood or chance that something will happen.
If you're doggedly determined to support all things Darwin you probably won't appreciate Hanegraaff's attempt to point out problems with that world view.
As to orgins, something is true & somethings are not. There's problems with a view that's driven by vitriol and an anti-religious agenda.
Evolution is much more than a theory about man’s origins. It is a comprehensive world view that determines how you live your life. Hank looks into the face of our supposed ancestor and exposes the astonishingly weak arguments that support evolutionary theory.
F A C E
F ossil records are an embarrassment to evolutionists.
A pe-men are fiction, fraud, and fantasy.
C hance renders evolution not just improbable but also impossible.
E mpirical science supports the creation model for origins and militates against the theory of evolution.
Christian Research Institute
Another great book from CRI and clearly points out problems with blind acceptance of evolutionary theory. Chance, for example, can not create anything, but does tell the likelihood or chance that something will happen.
If you're doggedly determined to support all things Darwin you probably won't appreciate Hanegraaff's attempt to point out problems with that world view.
As to orgins, something is true & somethings are not. There's problems with a view that's driven by vitriol and an anti-religious agenda.
January 5, 2015
Great book. Don't be fooled by the title, though. This book doesn't focus too much on science, though it has a couple of sections on it, but instead is mainly devoted to exploring the atrocities that a reliance on evolution has produced such as abortion, racism, etc, and the worldview that evolution provides. The ideas and thoughts in it are very clearly linked. It makes a lot of sense, considering that some of my friends have specifically told me that they think this way and they believe in evolution.
Also, the classic 'eye' argument is revisited. Another funny part was where this guy asked all these experts from Geological History Museums and stuff if they could tell him one thing about evolution that they knew to be true, and all of them came up blank.
My smirkiness just had to put that in there :)
Also, the classic 'eye' argument is revisited. Another funny part was where this guy asked all these experts from Geological History Museums and stuff if they could tell him one thing about evolution that they knew to be true, and all of them came up blank.
My smirkiness just had to put that in there :)
April 5, 2008
This book is an easy read with great understanding into why evolution is not a good, sound theroy. It doesnt just put the issue as a matter of faith. In this book Hank Hanegraaff shows great evidence that goes agaisnt evolution. He utilizes the word face as an acronymn to help learn this. The F stand for fossil record, A is Apeman fact or fantasy, the C is Chance, and E is emperical science.
December 1, 2008
You don't have to be a biology major to understand this short, convincing, memorable refutation of a deadly theory that is swallowed wholesale by a whole lot of supposedly smart people (aka evolution). I love Hanegraaff's query: how in the world could someone in an age of scientific enlightenment believe in such a preposterous idea of our universe evolving by chance?
April 7, 2008
completely void of valid science
June 10, 2015
Has some absolutely fascinating information. Perhaps not wholly persuasive, but definitely an interesting read.
July 15, 2025
This is an excellent refutation of the belief in the theory of evolution. The author provides a helpful acronym to help the reader recall the major arguments presented in the book.
August 7, 2008
I liked his content, his tone somehow bothers me
August 9, 2013
I love the FACE acronym to show the farce of the fairy tale of Evolution.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews