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To many people the relationship between science and religion is
epitomized by the clash over evolution. Over the past two decades America has
seen a significant rise in the number of Christian "creationists" who
believe the biblical story of creation must be taken literally, and that the
universe was therefore created in six days just over six thousand years ago. But
although there are some Christians who insist on taking the Genesis account
literally, the majority of Christian believers understand this story
metaphorically. Recently, the Vatican Observatory in conjunction with the
Berkeley-based Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences held a conference on
the issue of evolution to which they invited theologians, philosophers, and
scientists from around the world. Here, Christian participants overwhelming
agreed that evolution was not in conflict with Christian faith, and that on the
contrary it could be seen as the way in which God goes about being creative
within the world. For these believers, an understanding of the processes of
evolution could indeed enhance their faith.
 The
controversy over biological evolution began in 1859 when Charles Darwin
published his monumental book "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural
Selection". Darwin's book suggested that instead of being specially created
by God, humans were the product of biological evolution. As he later wrote:
"Man is descended from a hairy quadruped, furnished with a tail and pointed
ears, probably arboreal in its habits." Many religious believers in the
nineteenth century felt that Darwinian evolution had robbed humanity of its
dignity, for how could humans be created in the image of God if we were the
descendants of apes? Faced with this dilemma, they rebelled against Darwin's
theory. Yet even in the nineteenth century there were many theologians and
ministers - both Catholic and Protestant - who did not see a conflict between
their faith and Darwin's science. These more liberal thinkers often went to
great lengths to convince the public that evolution could be harmonized with
traditional religious views and values.
Today a new generation of Christian thinkers is again stressing
that an evolutionary perspective is compatible with their faith. A leading voice
in this debate is the Oxford University biochemist Arthur Peacocke. Peacocke,
who is now also an ordained minister in the Anglican Church, believes that
evolution can even enhance understanding of the Judeo-Christian God. Whereas
biblical literalists insist that creation was a once only event that happened at
the beginning of time, Peacocke notes that evolution is compatible with the
Christian idea of creatio continua, the notion that God is continuously
creating. As he explains: "Whatever we meant by God being creator, it
wasn't something that God did once in the past, and then walked off ... It's
something that's going on all the time."
The point here is not that one must see God in the process of
evolution, but rather that there is nothing inherently incompatible between an
evolutionary view of life and a commitment to the Christian scriptures.
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| Contributed by: Margaret Wertheim
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