A primer on Darwin Day: Some religious groups embrace ‘Theistic evolution’ – LancasterOnline

Sunday is International Darwin Day the 208th anniversary of the birth of naturalist Charles Robert Darwin, whose 1859 book, On the Origin of Species, began a controversy that exists to this day.

Sunday also is being proclaimed as Take Darwin to Church Day in various parts of the world. Leaders of the movement, which was initiated by the Council for Secular Humanism, suggest that churches invite science advocates to speak to their congregations.

Darwin has been lauded and maligned over the past 150 years, depending on ones point of view.

Although some religious organizations stridently oppose biological evolution, other groups accept evolution with a twist: they allow for theological considerations.

Theistic evolution, also known as theistic evolutionism or evolutionary creation, allows for the belief that God is the creator of the universe and all life and that evolution is a tool that God used to create human life. That includes astronomical, geological, chemical and biological evolution.

In 2014, Pope Francis suggested a link between evolution and creation. Said Francis: God is not a demiurge or a conjurer, but the Creator who gives being to all things. The beginning of the world is not the work of chaos that owes its origin to another, but derives directly from a supreme Origin that creates out of love. The Big Bang, which nowadays is posited as the origin of the world, does not contradict the divine act of creating, but rather requires it. The evolution of nature does not contrast with the notion of Creation, as evolution presupposes the creation of beings that evolve.

A survey conducted by Pew Research last year found that while 98 percent of scientists associated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science believe humans evolved over time, only 62 percent of Americans overall believe that to be the case.

Among those least likely to believe in human evolution, according to the survey, were evangelical Protestants (57 percent) and Mormons (52 percent.)

In 2008, the Church of England acknowledged it was overly defensive when it dismissed Darwins ideas. In its public apology, the church compared its dismissiveness of Darwins theories to its rejection of Galileos astronomical observations in the 17th century.

Over time, a number of myths about Darwin have cropped up. In response to a request by LNP, Josh Fischel, who teaches religion in the philosophy department at Millersville University, debunked five myths about Charles Darwin.

1. Charles Darwin was an atheist.

While he despised the orthodoxy of traditional religious practices, his writings suggest that he was a deist not an atheist.

2. Charles Darwin had a deathbed conversion to religion.

Its untrue. This myth was started by a woman who never had met Darwin, but who sought to profit from telling a story about this end-of-life conversion experience.

3. The existence of humans is the goal of evolution.

Not true. The purpose of evolution, if you will, is more evolution.

4. The common claim that its just a theory implies that its some kind of speculation.

In fact it is a scientific theory. But scientific theories explain, through the gathering of evidence (in this case, from embryology, archaeology, genetics, etc.) observations we make about the natural world.

In fact, evolution is a descriptive scientific theory that helps us to better understand and predicate the nature and origin of life, but makes no pretensions to how we ought to act or what we should strive for as individuals and as a society.

Read more here:

A primer on Darwin Day: Some religious groups embrace 'Theistic evolution' - LancasterOnline