Devotionals For Darwinists I

[Note: this is the first in what I hope will become a regular series that takes scientific findings as fertile ground for devotional contemplation.]

In the Beginning

In 1931, the Belgian Roman Catholic priest Georges Lemaître suggested that the fact that all other galaxies in the universe seemed to be moving away from the earth was due to the fact that the universe had begun as a simple ‘primeval atom’ that exploded and continued to expand even today. Developed and confirmed in various ways, Lemaître’s Big Bang theory is now a commonly accepted assumption. However, at the time it was being developed, the Big Bang was foundation-shaking. Until evidence for the theory was accumulated and later accepted, it was widely believed (even by Einstein) that the universe was static and unchanging, that it had always existed. Evidence for the Big Bang demonstrates that this isn’t true. The universe, it seems, has a beginning. Or as Lemaître put it, the universe began on ‘a day without yesterday.’

Perhaps not surprisingly, the theory of the big bang was hailed by many Christians as a win for Biblical truth. After all, the very first words of the Bible are ‘In the beginning…” entailing at least that creation has a beginning. More than being proof for Biblical literalism, however, the Big Bang is significant in a more general way. The Bible begins with ‘in the beginning…’ because the Bible is a story – God’s story – and stories have beginnings. Thanks to science we now know that the universe has a story as well. It has a beginning, a history, even an age (currently thought to be about 13.7 billion years). As for we humans, this means that we aren’t simply a blip on the eternal screen of an ever-lasting, unchanging cosmos. Rather, we are a part of the long, dynamic story that is the universe. What is the theme of the story? Is it a tragedy? A triumphant epic? Have we reached its conclusion or are we only completing the opening narrative? What part are we to play? Science cannot fully answer these questions, of course, and as Christians we look to the Bible and our faith for answers. But this much is clear: we do not live in a static reality. The universe is a constantly changing narrative, and as it continues to change and evolve, it reveals another small part of its story each day.

Lord, I marvel at the immensity and complexity of what you have done and are doing in the universe and in my life. Compared with the history of the universe, my own history seems so insignificant. Yet you say not a sparrow falls without your noticing. Lord, keep me aware of the history taking shape around me. Keep me conscious of the roles you have given me to play.

The Heart of the Matter

Not much time to post lately, and really not much time to read either as one semester wraps up and another is set to begin so soon. But I have been thinking a lot lately about this question: what is the root of the deep resistance most Christians have to accepting evolution? It is common to hear that the answer has to do with Biblical literalism, but I do not think that that is the case. A 2001 Gallup poll, for instance, found that 45% of Americans believe in a literal interpretation of the Biblical story of creation in Genesis – that mankind was created fully formed within the past 10,000 years or so. The same poll, however, showed that 68% of Americans believe evolution is compatible with belief in a divine creator. This likely means that at least 13% of Americans recognize theistic evolution as a valid belief choice, but choose to embrace young earth creationism instead. So, clearly a perceived conflict between Biblical interpretation and evolution is not the primary issue here. So what is?

In my opinion, embracing evolution not only challenges traditional Christian thought on the topic of Biblical interpretation, but also on larger issues concerning our perceptions of the nature of God and creation. Our traditional view of God is highly classical, heavily influenced by Plato and Aristotle who both saw nature as intrinsically and statically ordered. Both of these philosophers, brilliant though they were, would have had a very difficult time accepting evolution. For them, nature was immutable and any perceived changes were just that – perception alone. These views were imported into Christianity (and other philosophies as well) over the centuries through foundational Christian thinkers, in particular Augustine and later Thomas Aquinas, and has led to an immutable view of God. For most modern Christians, God is immovable and unchanging. He has been present from the beginning, created all that is, and it is his sustaining power that continues to hold the cosmos in order. God created the universe and he continues to uphold it from beneath and push it forward into the future by his will. This view of God has been especially well integrated in our narratives of creation and the fall; we commonly believe that God created the world perfectly in the beginning, that he designed it just so; but this design has been corrupted by human sin. God continues to uphold the world, but the world is in a constantly degenerative state, spiraling toward its ultimate end.

This seems to me a very common narrative in evangelical circles and far beyond. What I would suggest here is that taking evolution seriously demands rethinking all of these views and indeed rejecting most of them. For if evolution is true, then God does not prefer an immutable, unchanging reality. Rather, he is responsible for a reality that is excessively dynamic and even chaotic. Rather than being well-designed, it is in fact very poorly designed from many perspectives (evolutionary processes require a great deal of suffering and waste to achieve dynamic adaptation). These are significant challenges to any belief in God, let alone the classical Christian view. As any readers of this blog know, I personally think these challenges have to be met head on, but I think that when they are, our traditional views of God must shift. Rather than being a God who sustains reality and pushes from the past, I think we must accept a God that gives reality the grace to form and develop on its own and who pulls creation towards him from the future. Rather than believing in a God who orders every molecule of the cosmos, we must accept a God who allows indeterminate chaos to exist. Rather than examining nature to find God’s design, we must rather look to nature for God’s promise. And finally, rather than seeing creation in a fallen state from a past state of perfection, we must see it as a dynamic creation emerging from chaos, being drawn by God toward an intended perfection in the future.

Clearly this is a radical shift in thinking about God when compared to the classical Christian view, and of course it has innumerable theological and practical consequences (most of which are good, in my opinion, and actually lead us to a more Biblical view of God) that I haven’t the space to discuss here. But I think that this is the crux of the matter – the heart of the cognitive dissonance that most Christians (and especially evangelicals) experience when they consider the possibility of an evolving creation. There are several difficult leaps to make here, and without many more theologians and pastors willing to commit themselves to leading the masses through it, I fear the “conflicts” between Biblical creation and evolution will never be resolved.