by Keith Redfern

Created on: November 01, 2009   Last Updated: November 02, 2009

The general notion of a God and the theory of Darwinism are mutually exclusive concepts. Strange that the number one article on the No side of this debate should begin with virtually the same statement.

Both the concept of God and that of Darwin's theory of evolution need to be approached dispassionately and objectively if a balanced, reasoned conclusion is to be drawn from this debate. If one enters the discussion with the foregone conclusion that God exists and Darwin's theory was wrong, there is no point in reading any further.

Taking one thing at a time, God exists for many people. For different religious groups concepts of God vary - a man, a woman, a spirit, carved imagery, an internal driving force, the power of good, ultimate love, etc., etc. It is not necessary for the purposes of this debate to consider which, if any, of the above are accurate concepts.

Nor is it important to consider why God is considered to exist by so many people. That this is so suffices.

An existing God, for those who believe, created the world. That is a basic fact for all believers. But did God create just the world, or just this solar system, or the whole universe? So far as I am aware there is nothing, at least in Christian writings, which attributes anything beyond this world to God. So let us stick with that.

Having created the world what has happened since? The world has developed and changed. For the fundamentalist Christian all that we presently see was designed and created by God as it now is, but that is an assumption. It is perfectly possible to believe in God, and therefore to accept that God created the world, without necessarily taking it any further through the processes of the world's development.

Through his detailed studies, Charles Darwin developed a theory of an evolving process since the beginning of the world. If one takes this theory to its ultimate conclusion, it can fit the formation of rocks and the current scenery derived from them, it can fit the diversity of life forms on the planet, and it can fit the fossil and other historic evidence which has been studied by academics and others in many detailed scientific fields.

The problem is assumptions are made by many that the two concepts cannot coexist. That Darwin must have been implying that the world was not created by God.

However it is perfectly reasonable to assume that God created the world, then left it to develop, whether that was in a predetermined way or not. If the development was not predetermined, then Darwin's theory of how this development evolved is reasonable, fitting, as it does, so much evidence.

It would be possible to argue the many facets of concepts which can be connected to this debate, but that is unnecessary. The question is: Can God and Darwinism coexist? Of course they can. To accept Darwin's theory does not mean that one must refuse to accept that the world was created by God. Neither needs the other - therefore they can both be accepted at the same time. Equally it would be possible to believe neither in God's creation nor Darwinism.

This is how the two concepts are mutually exclusive. To attempt to combine the two can lead to endless cross hypothesising and debates such as this. Neither is necessary.

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