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Philosophical
theologian Keith Ward, like Rolston, accepts the general framework of evolution
with natural selection as a central mechanism, but argues this is not a
sufficient explanation for the current state of biological affairs. Instead, he
believes “mutations must be coherent and co-ordinated” and a
“continuing causal activity of God is the best explanation of progress towards
consciousness.”Once again using the terminology of chance rather than intervention, he
suggests that without this continual causal activity the evolution of humans
would be improbable. Unlike
Rolston he justifies this claim in explicitly theological and metaphysical
terms. Ward argues persuasively against naturalism and determinism, and
suggests that the ‘laws of nature’ are not fixed. With this different context
established he is free to claim that God steers evolutionary development
“towards more complex and sentient life-forms. There is no physical mechanism
that produces such a bias. Yet it is not entirely left to chance.”
Ward’s
view is self-consistent and theologically satisfying, but it comes at a high
price. By asserting the natural order is malleable, he can explain much more
than evolutionary history. Such an assertion follows from his theological
starting point, but is it consistent with observations of the natural world? At
some scales of observation it does seem reasonable to say there are fixed laws
of nature.
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| Feedback | Contributed by: Adrian Wyard
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