Last month there
was a news story that one third of Americans don’t believe in evolution, and
surprisingly that number is increasing in some groups. As for myself I would
not say that I “believe” in evolution (belief being a different faculty of the
human person than what is used in evaluating evolution or any other scientific
theory), but I am thoroughly convinced by the evidence for evolution and accept
whole-heartedly the theory of evolution. And what is more, I can see no
conflict between thoughtful acceptance of evolution as a scientific theory and
religious faith.
Here
is how I see the relationship between the two: Scientific evolution, propelled
by the engine of natural selection, pushes forward (though in evolution,
properly speaking, there is no “forward”) the diversification of species into
ever greater variety and complexity. And that is it. There is no goal, no
objective, no endpoint towards which evolution is aiming. It just pushes, to
all appearances, aimlessly. Species arise, thrive, are wiped out and then
replaced by something new. We humans as a species are currently in the
limelight, but it was not always thus and may not always be so. Evolution just
keeps chugging along with no apparent end in sight.
But
that is only half of the picture. On the other side, if I may phrase it that
way, is the work of the Holy Spirit. From the beginning of time, from the
instant of the big bang, the Holy Spirit has been at work, but not pushing
development from below, but rather pulling it from above, enticing, alluring,
calling matter and spirit into more complex forms capable of receiving and
responding to the Holy Spirit (that is us). While evolution pushes onward the
Holy Spirit draws forward to an ever greater self-communication of the Spirit,
of God’s own life. God has a plan and a goal towards which all creation
(including you and me) is drawn. I believe this is part of what we mean when we
proclaim in the Creed each Sunday “He will come to judge the living and the
dead.” Our hope for eschatology (the end times) is that God will be all in all.
Creation has a goal and a purpose. It is not all “sound and fury signifying
nothing.” Rather, it is God’s communication of God’s self to all creation.
Now
this process does not happen in a neat and orderly way. I wish it did. It
offends my Germanic sensibilities of order and thrift. But it does not happen
in an orderly way. Evolution puts the Federal government to shame in terms of
waste. It seems totally random and pointless. But it is not.
A
good way to think about this is St. Matthew’s Gospel 1:1-17. It is the
genealogy of Jesus from Abraham to Jesus. As Matthew presents it, it is a mess.
There are obstacles to the succession, there are dicey situations with
prostitutes and adultery, there are wars, exile, slavery, empire, civil unrest,
captivity, you name it. The history of the Chosen People looks as random and
pointless as the history of any people or group you can find. But when you look
back in hindsight it begins to take on the shape of a plan. In verse 18 we
read, “So all the generations from
Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to
Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the
Messiah, fourteen generations.” Through all that messy human history of some
1,600 years of the Hebrews from Abraham to Jesus God was at work. God was
preparing for the coming of His Son, writing straight with crooked lines.
Something
analogous is happening in creation but over a much broader scope of time and
space, making it even more complicated. None-the-less, God is pulling creation
forward in a messy, tangled, complex way that we cannot really see from our
vantage point. Someday I believe that we will, but we have to await the
revelation of the children of God at the end of time.
God bless!
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