by Frank Sinbeans

Created on: February 15, 2010

"Darwinism," or the theory of evolution by natural selection, neither excludes nor requires a Creator, and makes no claims as to an existence, or lack thereof, of a spirit world. Therefore, belief in a God (or gods) and acceptance of the theory of natural selection, may, and do, coexist.

Darwinian theory addresses the mechanisms leading to the variety of forms of life on earth, currently in existence and extinct. It is not intended to explain the origins of the Universe, the processes by which life began (either through creation or spontaneous generation), or the purpose of life.

Many evolutionists are religious persons of all faiths, and many others are deists.

Similarly, atheism predates the theory of natural selection, and Darwin himself, by hundreds of years. In fact, many atheists today base their lack of belief in a God or gods, not in the theory of natural selection, but in feelings toward religion, and unanswered questions regarding the pain and suffering in the world, which, they believe, a God as described in most of the world's major religions would surely have already stopped. Thus, just as "Darwinism" and belief in a God or gods are not mutually exclusive, atheism is not dependent on "Darwinism."

So, from whence comes the common belief that the theory of natural selection precludes the possibility of a God or gods? The answer is found in religion itself. Most religions (but not all) contain some sort of creation myth. (In the complete absence of science, early religion took on the role of explaining unanswerable questions, such as why humans die, what causes illness, where the Sun goes at night, and where we humans came from.) The Bible's creation myth is found in Genesis. Probably even those who have never touched a Bible can still describe the most important aspects of this creation myth.

In many religions, creation myths are simply anecdotal, and are not required for continued belief in the rest of the religion. Not so with (fundamentalist) Christianity. For most Christians, the idea that humans were not directly created by God presents a serious problem, because if there was no literal Adam and Even, in a literal Garden of Eden, then there was no literal Original Sin, and therefore nothing to be "saved" from. If there's nothing to be saved from, then, it follows, there's no need for a Savior. So, for fundamentalist Christians, evolution by natural selection brings down their entire faith system like a deck of cards.

It is this reason that has led many Christians to fight "Darwinism" to the death, and has created the myth that a Darwinian model of evolution eliminates the possibility of a God or gods. But, in fact, this is truly a myth. Therefore, the answer is clear: God and Darwinism can coexist. Any claims to the contrary are simply propaganda.

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