Darwin, Christians and the Struggle Therein

You know, for years, science has been positioned as being in opposition to religion. That position is partly the responsibility of religion and partly the responsibility of science itself. Many scientists set out to disprove many things about religion, including the existence of God. Many of them ignore the fact that some of their very predecessors in science - like Einstein and Newton - actually believed in God and further, believed science gave proof to that fact, not denial. However, the antagonistic turn of the church towards science - probably as a defensive response in the same - is no better than what the scientists themselves are doing.

The primary issue the church has taken on recently has been the Theory of Evolution. For many Christians, it flies in the face of creationism and is incompatible with what God laid out in Genesis.

Also, before I go further, I feel like it’s necessary to clear something up. Charles Darwin never recanted his belief in evolution. Sorry, never happened.

Christians would do well to remember that there was once a time when a controversial scientific finding stood to rock the foundations of the faith. That finding was that the Earth revolved around the sun, not vice versa. As time has shown, our understanding of the Bible - and indeed our own faith - has adjusted and melded with the finding of that scientific fact.

It’s almost as if our faith is too fragile to withstand a critical eye. If so, is that a faith worth having?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that the entire theory is correct. Nor am I claiming - as many Christians instinctively do - that it is 100% false. The truth is, there is a tremendous amount of compelling evidence that suggests that evolution, on some levels, is not only valid but predominant. When you see that there are species that literally evolve to reproduce without a partner, it’s hard to ignore. Yet, many of us feel threatened by these things. We feel
But, no matter how much truth may be found in the evolutionary theory, it doesn’t mean that the Christian faith has to suffer for it. Fighting science is a fruitless endeavor. Rather, we should embrace the finding of new truths and work on the understanding of what it means to our faith, not assume that it destroys it.

As more and more evidence is discovered that supports tenets of evolution (again, not necessarily the whole thing), we should look at this as an opportunity to affirm the existence of God in these findings, not question it. We should embrace sound scientific study and applaud its merits, rather than looking like fools and criticizing it. We should embrace truth, wherever we find it.

For our faith is not the sole domain of truth - it is centered on the origin of it.

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