Creation
and Evolution:
How Do
Christians
Bridge the
Gap?
As noted in my previous two posts, the famous Scopes Trial
was 90 years ago.
The issues at the heart of the 1925 trial continue to divide U.S. Christians.
My focus in the previous posts was a consideration of how evolution informs an understanding of psychology in general and the psychology of religion in particular.
The issues at the heart of the 1925 trial continue to divide U.S. Christians.
My focus in the previous posts was a consideration of how evolution informs an understanding of psychology in general and the psychology of religion in particular.
My focus in this post is to consider why evolution is such a
divisive issue for a substantial minority of Christians and what, if anything,
may be done to reduce the acrimony and promote peace.
A few days ago, news
stories appeared about the resignation of respected evangelical philosophy
professor, Jim Stump. Stump is a philosopher of science with a degree from
Boston University. His former employer, Bethel College (Indiana), prepared a
statement on human origins. The resignation appears to have occurred
peacefully. Here’s a quote from the ChristianPost.
"In considering this corporate
commitment, I decided to resign from my position at Bethel in order to pursue
alternate work, rather than remain under the new statement and bring tension to
the Bethel community," noted Stump, who stressed that his resignation was
completely his decision.
"While there are recent
reports in national media describing the dismissal of faculty at religious
institutions over origins, it should be clear that I initiated my own
resignation; I was never asked to resign from Bethel College. In fact, many
Bethel leaders have been extraordinarily supportive of me throughout this
lengthy process of arriving at the statement," he said.
5 Christian Tribal Beliefs
Key beliefs about creation separate Christians into
different groups. At least five groups can be identified. The differences are
often presented in two major ways. First, each group presents reasons for their
belief and second, each group explains why the beliefs of another group are
wrong.
1. Young Earth
Creationism (YEC). God created the earth about 6,000 years ago. God created
life. Humans did not evolve from other life forms. I have heard quite a few
U.S. Christians talk about creation in near literal terms. You can learn more
about creationism at the Creation Museum
in Kentucky.
2. Old Earth
Creationism (OEC). Those supporting OEC affirm the scientific evidence that
the earth is billions of years old. OEC finds the biblical narrative consistent
with scientific evidence when the “days” referred to in Genesis chapter 1
represent lengthy periods of time. Essentially, a day is a metaphor. Creation
can take place over long periods of time. Another belief held by some has been
called the “Gap Theory.” The idea is that there are two accounts of creation in
Genesis. And a lot of unrecorded events happened between the two creation
stories. I learned about the gap theory from my dad’s Scofield Bible—I guess I
was about 11 or 12 years of age. The gap idea seemed good for a brief time.
3.
Intelligent Design. Some view ID as creationism in disguise. People
do not need to be a Christian to believe in intelligent design but the idea of
God creating people and the universe fits the idea Christians have of God as a
master designer. The idea is appealing to many. People tend to focus on the
majesty of nature or the incredible details of how humans function. It just
seems plausible to believe in a Divine Maker. The science of evolution seems
strange. The philosophical problems are probably too abstract for many. The Discovery Institute offers the
following statement.
“The theory of intelligent design
holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best
explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural
selection.”
4.
Evolutionary Creationism (EC). The viewpoint of EC can be found on
the www.biologos.org website. I refer to
them below as one perspective offering a bridge. I suspect EC will appeal to
many educated Christians.EC is a “Big Tent” approach.
With EC, Christians get to have
their evangelical cake
without denying the findings of science.
The narratives of the Bible are not dismissed. My take is there are various ideas about how to take a nonliteral view of the Genesis creation narratives. Following is a quote from their website.
At BioLogos, we present the Evolutionary
Creationism (EC) viewpoint on origins. Like all Christians, we fully
affirm that God is the creator of all life—including human beings in his image.
We fully affirm that the Bible is the inspired and authoritative word of
God. We also accept the science of evolution as the best description for how
God brought about the diversity of life on earth.
5. Theistic
Evolution (TE). There’s some variety of belief but essentially,
Christians who accept the TE view believe that God had a role in the origin of
the universe, including the origins of life. In my view, TE is like EC without
evangelical doctrine. TE can accommodate many religious persons who believe in
God and accept scientific explanations about the origins of the universe and
life.
5 Factors Influencing
Christian Acceptance of Evolution
1. Life is
sacred. The belief that God took time to create an individual human
being named Adam imbues Adam and all of mankind with a high level of worth. The
idea that all humans evolved from less complex life forms seems so demeaning.
People hate to be “treated like animals.” Some animals are
associated with dirt, filth, and disease (pigs, rodents). The psychology of
disgust is a well-known motivational force behind the rejection of all things
unholy and degrading.
We can expect Christians who believe in evolution to include
sacred words and quotes to make the belief in evolution more palatable—less
subject to rejection. Sacred phrases like “God’s creation,” “made in God’s
image,” and “God as creator” will be crucial to expanding the acceptance of
evolution in Christian colleges, organizations, and churches.
2. Guilt by
association. Many of the proponents of evolution are atheists—people
to be avoided if you want to keep your faith. Some creationists have presented
beliefs in creation as a test of faith. The guilt by association problem is
psychological rather than philosophical. Evolution is tainted by association
with atheists. Christians “touching” evolution will be contaminated. The
psychology of disgust is a factor explaining the contamination effect. When
this contamination factor is enhanced by the need to defend one’s faith,
powerful righteous motives arise. These motives are connected to multiple moral
reasons based on protecting kin from harm, respecting authority, being loyal to
one’s faith, and protecting that which is holy and sacred.
Biologists like Richard Dawkins intensify the need to keep a
safe distance when he attacks not only creation narratives but also beliefs in
God and other tenets of Christianity. And it doesn’t matter that Charles Darwin
believed in God—his faith isn’t good enough for contemporary evangelicals. The
lesson: If you believe in evolution you must also be an atheist.
3. Metaphors
make mayhem. From a psychological perspective, the warnings of young
earth creationists make sense. Once you open the door to a nonliteral
interpretation of Genesis, you open the door to heresy. The proponents of YEC
see themselves as defenders of the faith against atheism. The devil comes in
different forms from Darwin to Dawkins. I find most Christians are creative in
the reasons they give for not taking a particular part of the Bible literally.
Some ignore troubling Bible passages. Others explain troublesome texts by
creating elaborate explanations that allow for the text to be true in a
nonliteral way.
Not surprisingly, the whole debate has an effect on young
Christians. Barna
reports nearly a quarter of youth are turned off by the creation-evolution
debate. Whatever the actual “turn-off” percentages are, Christian churches and
colleges that insist evolution does not explain the origins of life are sure to
lose many young people interested in the sciences and philosophy.
I recall the story of a bright young man who has invested
money in books about creation. He had what sounded to me like a conversion
experience—he abruptly turned his back on the whole issue and destroyed his
books. I wanted to learn more but he clearly did not want to talk about it.
Most Christians seem unaware of the metaphors they do accept
when reading the Bible. A heightened awareness of metaphors might help some
integrate science and faith.
4. Fear factor.
Some U.S. Christian leaders engender fear that Christianity is under attack.
There are enough stories in the news supporting their claims. Christians are
being killed because of their faith. Long-held positions of the Christian
church about marriage and male-female roles have been upended by new laws and
court rulings. In this context, evolution is another attack on faith.
Fear has at least another important role too. Many Christian
colleges and universities are strapped for funds. They are dependent on donations
from the faithful for their very existence. No faculty member or high ranking
employee in such institutions can speak against a conservative view of creation
unless they want to risk losing their job. Many are underpaid and have
families. Fear of job loss is real. So we’ll never really know how many
Christian professors accept evolution—it’s just too risky to be honest unless
one’s views are consistent with the official views of the college and the
majority of its stakeholders.
5.
Sunk-costs. I think it is nearly impossible to persuade a Young or
Old Earth Creationist to accept the findings of evolution. Many creationists
have invested great quantities of time learning about the details of their
viewpoint and the supposed problems with evolution. Many have invested money in
the purchase of books and videos. And some have donated funds supporting
creationist organizations. Their investment represents evidence of a strong
commitment that will not be dislodged by information from nonauthoritative sources—that
is, any source that appears to contradict the Bible. Sunk-costs is a
psychological principle derived from studies showing how people continue to
pursue a course of action after investing so much in a particular endeavor.
BRIDGING THE CREATION-EVOLUTION GAP
I’ve wondered how Christians could bridge the gap—how
Christians with different beliefs could come together and share perspectives in
an effort to ensure that truth prevails rather than a belief about the truth.
Perhaps I’m asking too much. In any event, I wonder if young people who have
not formed rigid opinions might benefit from a “virtual big tent” where they
feel respected and can explore the pros and cons of different perspectives on
origins. If beliefs cannot be bridged, I hope respect can work.
Creating
Bridges of Belief
Jim Stump, the retired professor referred to above, works
for BioLogos. Their mission statement follows.
BioLogos invites the church and the
world to see the harmony between science and biblical faith as we present an
evolutionary understanding of God’s creation.
Their mission statement, core commitments, and 11 beliefs
offer one way Christians attempt to create bridges of belief. Read more at http://biologos.org/about
Evolutionary Creationism and Theistic Evolution, in one form
or another, offer Christians two slightly different ways to bridge the gap
between a strictly naturalistic explanation for the origins of the universe,
earth, and life in contrast to the literal or near literal views of Genesis
represented by the proponents of Young or Old Earth Creationists, or the
creation compatible views of ID.
Creating
Bridges of Respect
I had not thought a lot about creation and evolution after
leaving school. But several events in the past decade captured my attention. Two
friends, Mike Tenneson and Steve Badger presented results of a survey of
beliefs on the origins of the earth and life. They were cautious as if they
were aware that creation vs. evolution was a really big issue for many
Christians. Of course, court cases, the Bill Nye-Ken Ham debate
of 4 February 2014, and the opening of a Creation Museum helped keep the issue
alive. I also began to notice more and more articles on evolutionary
psychology. Taken together, many factors revealed the importance of the long-standing
U.S. creation-evolution debate—not just to understanding human behavior but
also to understanding intertribal conflicts between Christian groups.
After I wrote the foregoing descriptions of the five tribes,
I found an article
by Mike and Steve, which uses slightly different language than I used. When I
read the article, I noticed a conciliatory tone, which reminded me of how Mike
presented his lectures.
As a biology professor, Mike teaches young Christians who
hold beliefs that fall into YEC, OEC and EC groups. I think Mike’s attitude
conveys a lot about creating bridges of respect. He presents information in a
low key way. He works at not creating divisions among Christians but instead
focuses on bringing people together. Mike and Steve recommend:
“In essentials, unity. In
nonessentials, liberty. In all things, love.”
Related Posts
Why
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