For many of us living in the 21st century, the relationship
between science and faith raises critical challenges and troubling doubts. This is especially the case in regards to the
theory of evolution in biology. Here,
doubts arise for many people because evolution’s account of how biological life
emerged and developed on Earth appears to directly contradict the story of
Creation in Genesis 1 of the Bible.
Although almost all 19th century Christians believed that the
Genesis 1 Creation Story could accommodate evolution without conflict, a
radical “creationism” emerged among many American Christians during the 20th
century.[1] Basically, “creationism” is the attempt to scientifically
ground our belief that God created the universe, as described in Genesis 1. Creationism proposes an alternative theory
that explains away or replaces the theory of evolution. While popular news reports tend to treat
creationism as a single, unified theory, there are actually several alternative
proposals. In my Sermon this Sunday,
January 20th, I will review and discuss three of these alternatives: (1) “day-age,” (2) “gap,” and (3) “Flood” or “Creation
Science.”
Even though many Christians hold some view of creationism,
there are other viewpoints, as well. On
the other end of the continuum, there are some Christians who do not attempt to
reconcile creationism with our understanding of God as the Creator. They accept evolution as an explanation of
the origins and development of physical life on Earth, and they see religion as
focused on an otherworldly spiritual domain, which is completely separate from
the physical.
Other Christians continue to believe that evolution and
Christian faith can be reconciled. From
this perspective, accepting the theory of evolution does not exclude God’s work
as Creator. Just as there were several
alternative proposals for creationism, so also this perspective has diverse
alternatives. During my sermon, I will
discuss two options: (1) God actively
creates by guiding the evolutionary process itself; and (2) When God created
the universe, God set up the evolutionary process as the mechanism through
which biological life would emerge and develop.
The theory of evolution raises many important faith questions
and challenges for Christians. I will
not have time to discuss all of these different challenges, but I will explore
some of these challenges. For instance, Genesis
1:27 asserts that human persons are created “in the image of God.” If the theory of evolution is correct, and
humans have evolved from monkeys, what does this mean for our understanding
that every single human person bears the image of God? In other words, was there some line that was crossed along our evolutionary path, so that before the line we were just animals and after that line we acquired the image of God?
This sermon is the third in a series, called: “Confronting Our Doubts.” For a complete listing of the series, see my
first post below. Through confronting
issues that raise doubts, I believe that we can gain deeper understanding and a
stronger faith. In exploring these
topics, I am not trying to convince everyone that they must resolve their doubts
by agreeing with my position. I think it
is important for each person to develop their own answer to these doubts. At the same time, I believe that as the
pastor I should share where I am on this issue.
So, in answer to the question, “Can I Be Christian and Also Accept
Evolution?” my personal response is, “Yes.”
Whether you agree or disagree with me, I hope that this sermon will
stimulate deeper reflection and understanding, concerning the troubling doubts
raised by evolution.
Feel free to join and post your comments on this blog. If you live in the Meriden-area and do not have a regular church home, please consider attending Meriden UMC this Sunday. Meriden UMC is located at the corner of Dawson and Main. Our worship service starts on Sundays at 10 am. Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.
[1]See
Ronald L. Numbers, The Creationists, The
Evolution of Scientific Creationism (Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: The University of California Press, 1992).
I am really enjoying this sermon series. I find myself begging conversation from anyone willing! I was curious to know given your beliefs re: Theistic Evolution, how you reconcile widespread illness, disease, genetic maladies, etc.?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you are enjoying the sermon series. Thanks. One thing that has surprised me about reaction to the sermon series so far has been the lack of response and discussion. So, on the one hand, I can really commiserate with you about "begging conversation from anyone," and, on the other hand, I am really glad to have your comment to my post. I think that part of the explanation for the lack of conversation is that for years we in the Church have been encouraged--both subtly and explicitly--not to discuss our doubts with one another. We keep our doubts to ourselves, lest we cause a crisis of faith among other Christians. Obviously, I do not hold this position because otherwise I would not be preaching this sermon series. Instead, I believe that we in the Church need to stop pertending that we have all of the answers neatly contained in Church Doctrine that everyone must accept down to the last detail. Rather, as I said in the conclusion to the first sermon, I believe that God calls the Church "to be a safe place, with theological resources, to help persons work out their own answers to questions and doubts that they have." This doesn't mean that the Church should abandon its Christian perspective, but the Church should be a place where critical thinking is welcomed.
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, your question goes to an area of Christian theology, known as "theodicy," which struggles with the question of why God allows bad things to happen. Specifically, if God is guiding the evolutionary process, why does God allow "widespread illnes, disease, genetic maladies, etc.?" This is a very deep and profound question. Unfortunately, I don't have any good answers that satisfy me. I will be preaching on this topic on February 24th, by the way. The problem of evil has been an area of doubt that persons of faith have struggled with, at least as far back as the book of Job in the Bible. Job basically calls God out and demands that God explain why he has suffered so much evil, despite being faithful to God. Ultimately, God answers Job, but does not explain why God allows evil things to happen to good people. Instead, God basically says that Job cannot understand. Job accepts this response and is rconciled with God. At first, this may seem as though the whole question of theodicy has been finessed and Job allows God to cop-out. However, for me it is important to read Job side-by-side with the story of the crucifixion. It's not just that God allows bad things to happen to human persons, God allows--actually, embraces--evil that happens to God's own son. So, the role of evil in the world is more complex than just why does God allow this bad stuff to happen. When I think about theodicy from this perspective, then perhaps at least some of the answer is that God's ways really are higher than human ways and God's thoughts are higher than human thoughts, to paraphrase Isaiah 55:9.