Deeper understandings Evolution
Creation not closed system but open: Not yet all it could become
Editor’s note: This series is intended to be a public conversa- tion among teaching theologians of the ELCA on various themes of our faith and the challenging issues of our day. It invites readers to engage in dialogue by posting comments online at the end of each article at
www.thelutheran.org. The series is edited by Philip
D.W. Krey, president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadel- phia, on behalf of the presidents of the eight ELCA seminaries.
By Nelson Rivera E
volution is a topic frequently in the news. There is ongoing debate about teaching evolutionary and creationist views in public schools. There are best-selling books, TV documentaries and science-oriented movies (March of the Penguins, deal- ing with evolution and the biology of cooperation, is a good example). Hardly a week goes by without an article or reference in the news to the “evolution-
creation debate.” The teach-
Rivera
Rivera is associate professor of systematic theology and Hispanic ministry and director of Latino Concentra- tion at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.
ing of evolution often raises fears that this theory is essentially antithetical to Christian faith and values in particular and against religion in general.
18 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
Such sentiments are only reinforced by the propaganda efforts of a few openly atheist scientists (like Richard Dawkins) and the tough questions evolutionary ideas raise about the origins and roles of values (including faith and morals). Evolution can be seen as unavoidably materialistic or even outright anti-religious. With the publication of On the Origin of Species (1859), Charles Darwin introduced a view on evo- lutionary thinking—more than a theory, it’s a bundle of different yet related ideas. The basic one is simple: life on Earth has evolved. Species (plants, animals and bacteria) aren’t static organisms but are in states of permanent change. Those changes can be confirmed by the fossil record (historically) and by observation (experimentally). Organisms struggle for their sur- vival by looking for and securing sus- tenance and producing offspring. At any given time there is more organic life, more individuals of any and all species, than can survive. Darwin learned (from British scholar Thomas Malthus) that competition for food becomes harder with every genera- tion since organisms produce more offspring than the environment can sustain. In the struggle for life some organisms are better equipped and enjoy advantages that make them bet- ter adapted to present conditions. Darwin said these are “naturally selected” for survival. The Darwinian account for evolution is commonsen- sical, even though it lacks a concept of design or direction.
As they succeed in surviving, organisms pass on their character-
istics to their descendants. The fun- damental principle at work here is “descent with modification”—advan- tageous characteristics are preserved and passed on to the next generation. It’s this principle of preservation that Darwin calls “natural selection,” his main contribution to the theory of evolution. It’s important to stress that natural selection, as understood by Darwin, is not a conscious “force” nor a “cre- ator,” but a blind and mechanical pro- cess, seemingly driven by chance. Darwin said evolution through natural selection requires a suffi- ciently gradual amount of time. The science of geology demonstrated that the Earth was much older than previ- ously thought. Only a very old Earth could account for the great variety of organisms, both extant and extinct, and therefore of species. These “vari- ations” could be seen as a result of natural processes without supernatu- ral or ultimate explanations. Darwin built his theory from the facts available to him. We can say that he was a “bottom up thinker.” He personally accumulated many speci- mens, fossil and organic, which he then studied with attention to detail. Moreover, he sought information about the behavioral patterns and reproductive habits of many animals in their adaptive environments. His gradual accumulation of an over- whelming amount of evidence to build theories was already acknowl- edged during Darwin’s time as a remarkable and convincing way to reach scientific knowledge. Evolutionary theory is not neces- sarily incompatible with religious
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