Evolution as Believers?
I guess we’re on a roll on science topics these last few days.
As a pastor my only concern with the creation/evolution “debate” is that those who feel they must deny evolution don’t make this a hurdle people have to jump over to get into the kingdom. As a fellow member of American society, however, my concern goes a bit deeper, for as Bill Nye says in the article below, having such a widespread resistance to the most fundamental aspect of science “holds everyone back.” As an apologists/evangelist, my concern goes deeper still. For the multitude of Christians who leverage the credibility of the Christian faith on the rejection of such a thoroughly proven theory gives multitudes of informed people just cause to not take the central truth claims of Christianity seriously. And as a theologian, my concern goes deeper still. For we are created and called to worship God with our minds by exploring truth, integrating truth, and growing in our understanding of truth wherever truth is to be found, whether in Scripture, in the sciences, in the arts, in religion…wherever. To reject evolution is to close the door on a wonderful opportunity to grow in our mindful worship of God as we explore ways of integrating it into our understanding of Scripture, of God’s creation, of God’s providence, the problem of evil, spiritual warfare, and a host of other issues.
And this rejection is just so completely unnecessary!
Check out the short but provocative story highlighting Nye’s views that has been causing a bit of a stir. And keep thinking!
Image by Aoife city womanchile. Used in accordance with Creative Commons. Sourced via Flickr.