Theistic Evolution
While the comments show that the strident, irrational atheists don’t like it, PvM at Panda’s Thumb provides an excellent commentary on theistic evolution and how it is not at odds with Christian faith:
One of the major processes of evolution is variation and natural selection. Those familiar with natural selection will remember that Darwin appealed to artificial selection to make his case for natural selection. In other words, God can at least in principle affect the process of natural selection. Second of all, the process of variation. Much confusion exists over the meaning of the term random here. Sufficient to say that random seems to be misunderstood by many an ID Creationist who misinterprets it as ‘unguided’, or ‘guided by a pure chance process’ when in fact logic dictates that random refers to the immediate relevance of said variation in the environment. Furthermore, science has shown how variation can become biased by the same processes of evolution, as long as the source of this variation in variation is genetic. In other words, natural selection can select for sources of variation which are more likely to be successful.
PvM notes that the process of evolution is more akin to other natural processes we attribute to God. I have no problem reconciling the language of the Bible when it says God can measure the volume of water in the oceans in the hollow of His hand (Isa 40:12) with the scientific principle that a hand large enough to hold all the water couldn’t possibly scoop it up (displacement, etc.) We don’t quarrel with the scientific theory that a rainbow is due to light refraction through water vapor in the air, while at the same time believing that it is also God’s promise that He won’t send another flood to destroy all humanity (Ge 9:13).
In fact, it is easy to argue that God’s Creation was set in motion to eventually result in a form of life which could gain spirituality and a soul and thus become aware of His existence. Furthermore, even if God had set in motion a Darwinian process, He could still have intervened, as I have explained above, without violating natural law. In other words, the process would still appear purely Darwinian and at the same time would be guided.
Here, PvM gets to the essence of the modern Christian’s thought about creation and evolution. The reaction against evolution in the US has been primarily a fundamentalist reaction, spurred on by unscientific statements in textbooks that evolution “must be” random and must be “without direction”. I think these statements are from the atheist’s heart, rather than from the scientist’s mind. The truth is that science can only prove what is provable, and the existence of a “supernatural” creator … one outside the laws and boundaries of the physical world … cannot be proved or disproved. For this reason, science must be functionally atheist in assessing the physical world. The Christian scientist remains both functionally atheist in his work while entirely spiritual in his life. There is no contradiction in this, any more than there is in allowing a mechanic to use a wrench to fix your car rather than a prayer shawl.
The Creationist and ID claim that you should look for the creator’s mark on every unexplained feature in our physical world serves only to abandon inquiry and, in the end, stop the worshipful practice of learning more about the world (created) through (natural processes). For even the atheist worships God when he observes and catalogs the magnificence of the universe.
