Theistic evolution

Theistic evolution, less commonly known as evolutionary creationism, is the general opinion that some or all classical religious teachings about God and creation are compatible with some or all of the modern scientific understanding about biological evolution. Theistic evolution is not a theory in the scientific sense, but a particular view about how the science of evolution relates to some religious interpretations. In this way, theistic evolution supporters can be seen as one of the groups who deny the conflict thesis regarding the relationship between religion and science; that is, they hold that religious teachings about creation and scientific theories of evolution need not be contradictory.

The term was used by Eugenie Scott to refer to the part of the overall spectrum of beliefs about creation and evolution holding the theological view that God creates through evolution. It covers a wide range of beliefs about the extent of any intervention by God, with some approaching deism in rejecting continued intervention. Others see intervention at critical intervals in history in a way consistent with scientific explanations of speciation, but with similarities to the ideas of Progressive Creationism that God created "kinds" of animals sequentially.

This view is accepted (or at least not rejected) by major Christian churches, including Catholicism and some mainline Protestant denominations; some Jewish denominations; and other religious groups that lack a literalist stance concerning holy scriptures. Various biblical literalists have accepted or noted openness to this stance, including theologian B.B. Warfield and evangelist Billy Graham.

With this approach toward evolution, scriptural creation stories are typically interpreted as being allegorical in nature. Both Jews and Christians have considered the idea of the creation history as an allegory (instead of a historical description) long before the development of Darwin's theory. Two notable examples are the writings of Philo of Alexandria (1st century) and St. Augustine (4th century).

Theistic evolutionists argue that it is inappropriate to use Genesis as a scientific text, since it was written in a pre-scientific age and originally intended for religious instruction; as such, seemingly chronological aspects of the creation accounts should be thought of in terms of a literary framework.

The term evolutionary creationism is used in particular for beliefs in which God transcends normal time and space, with nature having no existence independent of His will. It allows interpretations consistent with both a literal Genesis and objective science, in which, for example, the events of creation occurred outside time as we know it.

Definition

....creationism has come to mean some fundamentalistic, literal, scientific interpretation of Genesis. Judaic-Christian faith is radically creationist, but in a totally different sense. It is rooted in a belief that everything depends upon God, or better, all is a gift from God.

— Fr George Coyne, Director, Vatican Observatory, 1978-2006

Theistic evolution holds that the theist's acceptance of evolutionary biology is not fundamentally different from the acceptance of other sciences, such as astronomy or meteorology. The latter two are also based on a methodological assumption of naturalism to study and explain the natural world, without assuming the existence or nonexistence of the supernatural. In this view, it is held both religiously and scientifically correct to reinterpret ancient religious texts in line with modern-day scientific findings about evolution.

This synthesis of the teleology underlying faith and religious teachings with science can still be described as creationism in holding that divine intervention brought about the origin of life or that divine Laws govern formation of species, but in the creation-evolution controversy its proponents generally take the "evolutionist" side. For this reason, some on both sides prefer to use the term "theistic evolution" over "evolutionary creationism" to describe this belief.

Spectrum of viewpoints

Evolutionary creationism describes an approach to the biological world that accepts the scientific concepts of microevolution and macroevolution while retaining the theistic belief that the world is ultimately the result of divine creation, of which evolution is held to be a mechanism.

As cited below, several religious organizations accept evolutionary theory, though their related theological interpretations vary. Additionally, individuals or movements within such organizations may not accept evolution, and stances on evolution may have adapted (or evolved) throughout history.

See also sections of Abrahamic creationism on "The Christian Critique of Creationism" and "The western world outside the United States".

Deism

See also: Deism

Deism is belief in a God or first cause based on reason, rather than on faith or revelation. Most deists believe that God does not interfere with the world or create miracles. Some deists believe that a Divine Creator initiated a universe in which evolution occurred, by designing the system and the natural laws, although many deists believe that God also created life itself, before allowing it to be subject to evolution. They find it to be undignified and unwieldy for a deity to make constant adjustments rather than letting evolution elegantly adapt organisms to changing environments. Other deists take the stronger position that God ceased to exist after setting in motion the laws of the universe.

One recently-converted deist is philosopher and professor Antony Flew, who became a deist in December 2004. Professor Flew, a former atheist, now argues that recent research into the origins of life supports the theory that some form of intelligence was involved. Whilst accepting subsequent Darwinian evolution, Flew argues that this cannot explain the complexities of the origins of life. He also stated that the investigation of DNA "has shown, by the almost unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to produce [life], that intelligence must have been involved", though he subsequently retracted this statement in an interview with Joan Bakewell for BBC Radio 4 in March 2005.

Christianity

The creation history

See also: Allegorical interpretations of Genesis and Framework interpretation (Genesis)

Evolution contradicts a literalistic interpretation of Genesis; however, according to Roman Catholicism and most contemporary Protestant Churches, biblical literalism is not mandatory. Christians have considered allegorical interpretations of Genesis since long before the development of Darwin's theory of evolution, or Hutton's principle of uniformitarianism. A notable example is St. Augustine (4th century), who, on theological grounds, argued that everything in the universe was created by God in the same instant, and not in six days as a plain reading of Genesis would require. Modern theologians such as Meredith G. Kline and Henri Blocher have advocated what has become known as the literary framework interpretation of the days of Genesis.

Contemporary Christian denominations

Many denominations of Christianity support or accept theistic evolution. For example, on 12 February 2006 the 197th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth was commemorated by "Evolution Sunday" where the message that followers of Christ do not have to choose between biblical stories of creation and evolution was taught in classes and sermons at Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Unitarian, Congregationalist, United Church of Christ, Baptist and community churches.

Additionally, the National Council of Churches USA has issued a teaching resource to "assist people of faith who experience no conflict between science and their faith and who embrace science as one way of appreciating the beauty and complexity of God’s creation." This resource cites the Episcopal Church, according to whom the stories of creation in Genesis "should not be understood as historical and scientific accounts of origins but as proclamations of basic theological truths about creation."

The positions of particular denominations are discussed below.

Anglicanism

Although Anglicans (including the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the Church of England and others) believe that the Bible "contains all things necessary to salvation," nonetheless "science and Christian theology can complement one another in the quest for truth and understanding." Specifically on the subject of creation/evolution, Anglicans view "Big Bang cosmology" as being "in tune with both the concepts of creation out of nothing and continuous creation." Their position is clearly set out in the Catechism of Creation Part II: Creation and Science. In an interview, the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams expressed his thought that "creationism is, in a sense, a kind of category mistake, as if the Bible were a theory like other theories. Whatever the biblical account of creation is, it's not a theory alongside theories... My worry is creationism can end up reducing the doctrine of creation rather than enhancing it." His view is that creationism should not be taught in schools.

Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States, holds a Ph. D. in oceanography, having written her dissertation on the evolution of a variety of squid.

Roman Catholic Church

Main article: Evolution and the Roman Catholic Church

The position of the Roman Catholic Church on the theory of evolution has changed over the last two centuries from a large period of no official mention, to a statement of neutrality in the 1950s, to limited guarded acceptance in recent years, rejecting the materialistic and reductionist philosophies behind it, and insisting that the human soul was immediately infused by God, and the reality of a single ancestor (commonly called monogenism) for the human race. The Church does not argue with scientists on matters such as the age of the earth and the authenticity of the fossil record, seeing such matters as outside its area of expertise. Papal pronouncements, along with commentaries by cardinals, indicate that the Church is aware of the general findings of scientists on the gradual appearance of life. The Church's stance is that the temporal appearance of life has been guided in some way by God, but the Church has thus far declined to define in what way that may be. Commentators tend to interpret the Church's position in the way most favorable to their own arguments.

The official Church's position remains a focus of controversy and is fairly non-specific, stating only that faith and the origin of man's material body "from pre-existing living matter" are not in conflict, and that the existence of God is required to explain the spiritual component of man's origin.

Catholic schools do not teach theistic evolution as part of their science curriculum. They teach the facts of evolution and the scientific theory of its mechanisms. This is essentially the same biological curriculum taught in public schools and secular universities.

Church of the Nazarene

The Church of the Nazarene, an evangelical Christian denomination, sees "knowledge acquired by science and human inquiry equal to that acquired by divine revelation," and, while the church "'believes in the Biblical account of creation' and holds that God is the sole creator, it allows latitude 'regarding the "how" of creation.'" While Richard G. Colling, author of Random Designer and professor at Olivet Nazarene University, received criticism from elements within the denomination in 2007 for his book (published in 2004), Darrel R. Falk of Point Loma Nazarene published a similar book in 2004, and Karl Giberson of Eastern Nazarene, the first Nazarene scholar to publish with Oxford University Press, has published three books since 1993 on the tensions between science and religion, and is under contract for a fourth book titled Saving Darwin. The Nazarene Manual, a document crafted to provide Biblical guidance and denominational expression for Church members, states: "The Church of the Nazarene believes in the biblical account of creation (“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth . . .”—Genesis 1:1). We oppose any godless interpretation of the origin of the universe and of humankind. However, the church accepts as valid all scientifically verifiable discoveries in geology and other natural phenomena, for we firmly believe that God is the Creator. (Articles I.1., V. 5.1, VII.) (2005)

Islam

See also: Islamic creationism

Some Muslims believe in evolutionary creationism, especially among the Liberal movements within Islam. The Ahmadiyya movement for example, accepts Adam as the first prophet, but denies that he was the first man on earth. More literalist Muslims, including followers of Wahhabism, reject origin of species from a common ancestor by evolution as incompatible with the Qur'an. However, even amongst Muslims who accept evolution, many believe that humanity was a special creation by God. For example, Shaikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller, an American Muslim and specialist in Islamic law has argued in Islam and Evolution that a belief in macroevolution is not incompatible with Islam, as long as it is accepted that "Allah is the Creator of everything" (Qur'an 13:16) and that Allah specifically created humanity (in the person of Adam; Qur'an 38:71-76). Shaikh Keller clearly states in his conclusion however:

"As for claim that man has evolved from a non-human species, this is unbelief (kufr) no matter if we ascribe the process to Allah or to "nature," because it negates the truth of Adam's special creation that Allah has revealed in the Qur'an. Man is of special origin, attested to not only by revelation, but also by the divine secret within him, the capacity for ma'rifa or knowledge of the Divine that he alone of all things possesses. By his God-given nature, man stands before a door opening onto infinitude that no other creature in the universe can aspire to. Man is something else."

Judaism

See also: Judaism and evolution

In general, three of the four major denominations of Judaism (Reconstructionist, Reform, and Conservative) accept theistic evolution. Within Orthodoxy, there is much debate about the issue. Most Modern Orthodox groups accept theistic evolution and most Ultra-Orthodox groups do not. This disagreement was most vociferous in the Natan Slifkin controversy which arose when a number of prominent Ultra-Orthodox Rabbis banned books written by Rabbi Natan Slifkin which explored the idea of theistic evolution within Jewish tradition. These Rabbis forming part of Jewish opposition to evolution considered that his books were heresy as they indicated that the Talmud is not necessarly correct about scientific matters such as the age of the Earth.

The general approach of advocates of theistic evolution within Judaism comes in two tacts. Either the creation account in the Torah is not to be taken as a literal text, but rather as a symbolic work, or, alternatively, that the 'days' do not refer to 24-hour periods (justified by how the first day in the biblical account actually precedes the creation of the sun and earth by which 24 hour days are reckoned). In the latter view, Jewish scholars point out how the order of creation in Genesis corresponds to the actual development of life on Earth--the sun, then earth, then oceans, then oceanic plant life, fish preceding land-based life, with mammals and finally humans last--and in no way specifies the method of creation in a manner prohibitive of evolution.

Proponents

Evolutionary biologists who were also theists

Although evolutionary biologists have often been agnostics (most notably Thomas Huxley and Charles Darwin) or atheists (most notably Richard Dawkins), from the outset many have had a belief in some form of theism. These have included Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913), who in a joint paper with Charles Darwin in 1858, proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection. Wallace was effectively a deist who believed that "the unseen universe of Spirit" had interceded to create life as well as consciousness in animals and (separately) in humans.

An early example of this kind of approach came from computing pioneer Charles Babbage who published his unofficial Ninth Bridgewater Treatise in 1837, putting forward the thesis that God had the omnipotence and foresight to create as a divine legislator, making laws (or programs) which then produced species at the appropriate times, rather than continually interfering with ad hoc miracles each time a new species was required.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955) was a noted geologist and paleontologist as well as a Jesuit Priest who wrote extensively on the subject of incorporating evolution into a new understanding of Christianity. Initially suppressed by the Roman Catholic Church, his theological work has had considerable influence and is widely taught in Catholic and most mainline Protestant seminaries.

Both Ronald Fisher (1890–1962) and Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900–1975), were Christians and architects of the modern evolutionary synthesis. Dobzhansky, a Russian Orthodox, wrote a famous 1973 essay entitled Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution espousing evolutionary creationism:

"I am a creationist and an evolutionist. Evolution is God's, or Nature's, method of creation. Creation is not an event that happened in 4004 BC; it is a process that began some 10 billion years ago and is still under way... Does the evolutionary doctrine clash with religious faith? It does not. It is a blunder to mistake the Holy Scriptures for elementary textbooks of astronomy, geology, biology, and anthropology. Only if symbols are construed to mean what they are not intended to mean can there arise imaginary, insoluble conflicts... the blunder leads to blasphemy: the Creator is accused of systematic deceitfulness."

The role of Scripture in relation to science is captured by an oft-quoted phrase: "The Bible tell us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go." The phrase is especially heard in discussions of the relation between cosmology and theology. In the realm of biology and theology, the saying coined by Thomas Jay Oord is perhaps more appropriate: "The Bible tells us how to find abundant life, not the details of how life became abundant."

Contemporary advocates of theistic evolution

Contemporary biologists and geologists who are Christians and theistic evolutionists include

• Kenneth R. Miller, professor of biology at Brown University, author of Finding Darwin's God (Cliff Street Books, 1999), in which he states his belief in God and argues that "evolution is the key to understanding God." Dr. Miller has also called himself "an orthodox Catholic and an orthodox Darwinist" (the 2001 PBS special "Evolution").
• Derek Burke, Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Warwick
• R. J. Berry, Professor of Genetics at University College London
• evangelical Christian and geologist Keith B. Miller (no relation to Kenneth) of Kansas State University, who compiled an anthology Perspectives on an Evolving Creation (Eerdmans, 2003)
• biologist Denis Lamoureux of St. Joseph's College, University of Alberta, Canada who has co-authored with evolution critic Phillip E. Johnson Darwinism Defeated? The Johnson-Lamoureux Debate on Biological Origins (Regent College, 1999)
• biologist Darrel Falk of Point Loma Nazarene University, author of Coming to Peace with Science
• biologist Francis Collins, director of the Human Genome Project and author of The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief in which he has suggested the term BioLogos for theistic evolution.
• biologist Joan Roughgarden, teaches at Stanford University; author of various books including Evolution and Christian Faith: Reflections of an Evolutionary Biologist.
• paleontologist Robert T. Bakker
• microbiologist Richard G. Colling of Olivet Nazarene University, author of Random Designer: Created from Chaos to Connect with Creator
• paleobiologist Prof. Simon Conway Morris of Cambridge University, well known for his groundbreaking work on the Burgess Shale fossils and the Cambrian explosion, and author of Life's Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe

Philosophers, theologians, and physical scientists who have supported the evolutionary creationist model include

• theologian-philosopher John Haught of Georgetown University
• theologian Rev. Keith Ward, former Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford, author of God, Chance, and Necessity
• physicist Karl Giberson of Eastern Nazarene College, author of Worlds Apart: The Unholy War between Religion and Science, Species of Origins: America’s Search for a Creation Story, The Oracles of Science: Celebrity Scientists Versus God and Religion, and Saving Darwin.
• physicist and theologian Rev. John Polkinghorne of Cambridge University
• theologian-philosopher Thomas Jay Oord of Northwest Nazarene University (Oord is known in this context for his saying, "The Bible tells us how to find abundant life, not the details of how life became abundant.")
• Fr. George Coyne of the Vatican Observatory
• Eco-theologian Fr. Thomas Berry
• biochemist and theologian Alister McGrath, Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford
• C. S. Lewis, scholar of medieval studies, novelist, and influential Anglican Christian thinker

Criticism

The major criticism of theistic evolution by non-theistic evolutionists focuses on its essential belief in a supernatural creator. By the application of Occam's razor, sufficient explanation of the phenomena of evolution is provided for non-theistic evolutionists by the principle of natural selection, and the intervention or direction of a supernatural entity is not required. As Richard Dawkins says, "the illusion of design in the living world is explained with far greater economy … by Darwinian natural selection". Robert Todd Carroll illustrates the point when he contends that "the universe would appear the same to us whether it was designed by God or not"

Another criticism of some forms of evolutionary creationism (especially those of deists) is that they are simply a belief in a God of the gaps, where anything that cannot currently be explained by science is attributed to God. For example, the physicist Dr Paul Davies has stated: "I flatly reject the argument that the origin of life was some sort of miracle. To be sure, we don't yet know how it happened, but that doesn't mean a cosmic magician is needed to prod atoms around."

Young Earth creationists criticise theistic evolution on theological grounds, regarding it as an unbiblical view of history and a capitulation to "atheistic" naturalism.

Relationship to intelligent design

See also: Intelligent design

Some adherents of theistic evolution hold that the deity both designed the universe and has a continuing part in its development, and feel that a term they favour has been hijacked by the proponents of the viewpoint called "Intelligent design".

See also

• Antilapsarianism
• Biblical cosmology
• Cosmogony
• Cosmological argument
• Existence
• Natural theology
• Arthur Peacocke
• Theism
• Timeline of the Big Bang
• Timeline of the Universe
• Ultimate fate of the universe
• The Challenge of Creation

Books

• Miller, Kenneth R.; (1999) Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution ISBN 0-0609-3049-7
• Miller, Keith B.; (2003) Perspectives on an Evolving Creation ISBN 0-8028-0512-4
• Falk, Darrel; (2004) Coming to Peace with Science: Bridging the Worlds Between Faith and Biology ISBN 0-8308-2742-0
• Collins, Francis; (2006) The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief ISBN 0-7432-8639-1

External links

• About: Agnosticism/Atheism on 'Theistic Evolution & Evolutionary Creationism' by Austin Cline; overview of various viewpoints
• What is Creationism? by Mark Isaak, presents various forms of creationism
• What is Evolution? by Laurence Moran, presents a standard definition for evolution
• Answers In Creation old earth creationism, but open to theistic evolution
• Evolution & Creation: A Theosophic Synthesis Surveys critical problems in Darwinist explanations and common theistic views; explores ancient and modern "excluded middle" alternatives
• US Catholic News - Creationists Hijack Intelligent Design
• The Vatican's View of Evolution: The Story of Two Popes by Doug Linder (2004)
• Nobel Prize winner Charles Townes on evolution and "intelligent design"
• Spectrum of Creation Beliefs From Flat Earthism to Atheistic Evolutionism, including Theistic Evolution

Proponents of theistic evolution

• Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution by Theodosius Dobzhansky (see also: Wikipedia's article)
• Kenneth R Miller's homepage
• God and Evolution — part of the talk.origins Archive
• Message to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences: On Evolution subtitled "Truth Cannot Contradict Truth", by Pope John Paul II, 22 October 1996.
• On Cosmology and Fundamental Physics, by Pope John Paul II, 3 October 1981.
• Communion and Stewardship: Human Persons Created in the Image of God Statement on creation and evolution from the International Theological Commission headed by Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), 23 July 2004.
• Science Does Not Need God, or Does It? A Catholic Scientist Looks at Evolution transcript of talk by astronomer George V. Coyne, S.J.
• Perspectives on Theistic Evolution An examination of both the theological and scientific aspects of theistic evolution.
• The "Clergy Letter" Project signed by thousands of clergy supporting evolution and faith
• DMD Publishing Co. home page Essays arguing that even a literal treatment of Genesis requires theistic evolution.
• Thomas Jay Oord Science of Love: The Wisdom of Well-Being, Templeton, 2003.
• Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Le Milieu Divin (Tome 4: Essai de vie intérieure), Seuil (1 Jan. 1998) ISBN 2-02-020136-4
• Denis R Alexander, Can a Christian believe in evolution?, The Evangelical Alliance, 12 May 2006

Creationist opponents of theistic evolution

• Why is evolution so dangerous for Christians to believe? (articles from Creation Ministries International)
• The Compromise Road by Henry Morris
• Saving the Appearances: A study in Idolatry (ISBN 0-8195-6205-X) by Owen Barfield