Christianity and Evolution

Christianity and evolution concerns the relationship between Christian theology and the scientific theory of evolution by natural selection, as developed by Charles Darwin,^[1] Alfred Wallace and subsequent biologists. The popular notion that the publication of On the Origin of Species triggered an immediate and dramatic clash between Christianity and science is, according to historian of science John van Wyhe, "probably more fantasy than fact"^[2]: as the Victorian public who first read the work were largely not biblical literalists, and certain ideas that may be against creationism, such as a progressive fossil record, had already been disseminated.^[3]

In modern times, various Christian views on evolution have emerged, having grown more important, as well as controversial, since the scientific community now regards evolution as an established scientific fact,^[4] supported by evidence from genetics, palaeontology, and molecular biology^[5]. Different Christian denominations have, at times, rejected evolution,^[6] or claimed that it does not contradict their theology,^[7] or avoided voicing themselves on the matter.

Christian engagement with questions of origins predates Darwin by centuries. Saint Augustine of Hippo, in De Genesi ad litteram cautioned against overly literal readings of Genesis.^[8][9], himself viewing it allegorically. Later, Thomas Aquinas, in the Summa Theologica, would follow Augustine's logic, writing: {{Blockquote|On the day on which God created the heaven and the earth, He created also every plant of the field, not, indeed, actually, but 'before it sprung up in the earth,' that is, potentially... All things were not distinguished and adorned together, not from a want of power on God's part, as requiring time in which to work, but that due order might be observed in the instituting of the world.^[10]

Some Christian thinkers contemporary to the publication of On the Origin of Species provided commentary on the work. Reverend Charles Kingsley was sent an early copy and wrote back that it was "just as noble a conception of the Deity to believe that He created a few original forms capable of self-development" — quote which Darwin included in the second edition of the book.^[11][12] Meanwhile, Princeton theologian Charles Hodge concluded in What Is Darwinism? that Darwin's theory was effectively atheism. While he didn't consider all evolutionary ideas to be in conflict with his religion, he was concerned with its teaching in colleges.^[13][14]

Eastern Orthodoxy has no unified magisterial position on evolution.^[15] Orthodox theologians who have voiced themselves on the topic are generally reluctant to dismiss evolution or to bring religion in "conflict" with science, while also rejecting that reduce human beings to purely accidental biological products.^[16] In positions akin to theistic evolution, rather than reading evolution as the means by which God created life, several Orthodox theologians interpret it as a process belonging to the fallen world. Drawing on thinkers such as Gregory of Nyssa and Maximus the Confessor, this view holds that the original creation was radically unlike the present material order, and that the physical world — including its biological processes — was transformed as a consequence of the Fall.^[17] This contrasts with the Western theological tradition descending from the later Augustine and Aquinas, which tends to read pre-Fall humanity as bodily continuous with modern humans.^[18]

Protestant views on evolution vary widely among subdenominations and individual people. Some Protestant churches—particularly many "mainline" denominations such as Lutheran, Methodist and Presbyterian bodies—generally regard evolutionary biology as compatible with Christian faith, like other facets of modern science.^[19]. Meanwhile, others groups, especially within Evangelical and fundamentalist movements, generally reject evolution and often lean towards Young Earth theory.^[20]

Positions within Anglicanism have also been mixed. In a March 2006 interview, the then Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams expressed his thought that

"Creationism is, in a sense, a kind of category mistake, as if the Bible were a theory like other theories. Whatever the biblical account of creation is, it's not a theory alongside theories... My worry is creationism can end up reducing the doctrine of creation rather than enhancing it."^[21]

Later, In 2008, The Church of England issued an apology to Darwin, acknowledging that it had previously been "over-cautious" in its response to his work^[22]

Theistic evolution (also called evolutionary creationism) holds that God acts as the ultimate cause of creation while natural processes — including evolution — serve as secondary causes through which God works. It accepts the scientific consensus on evolution, the Big Bang, and common descent,^[23] while affirming God as the source of all life.^[24] Leading proponents include Francis Collins, Kenneth Miller, and John Polkinghorne.^[25]

Young Earth creationism (YEC) holds that God created all life in six literal 24-hour days within the last 6,000–10,000 years, and that most of the geological record is explained by a global Noahic flood.^[26] Historian Ronald Numbers has argued that the modern movement was largely shaped by the Fundamentalist–modernist controversy^[27]

Central to Christian engagement with evolution is the interpretation of Genesis 1–2, for example:

• Literal readingc: The six days are 24-hour periods and Genesis records a factual historical account; the basis of Young Earth creationism.^[28]
• Allegorical interpretaion: Genesis 1 is a literary or poetic framework whose primary purpose is theological rather than scientific.^[29][30]

The relationship between Christianity and evolution has been publicly contested in American public school education.^[31] Key legal cases include:

• Epperson v. Arkansas (1968) - The U.S. Supreme Court struck down state bans on teaching evolution as a violation of the Establishment Clause.
• Edwards v. Aguillard (1987) -
• Kitzmiller v. Dover (2005) -

• Creation and evolution in public education
• Relationship between religion and science