Earth formed some 4,600 million years ago, and it has taken that long for evolution by natural selection to transform inanimate chemicals into human beings. In fact, it has taken a total of 12,000 million years since the big bang to produce us. A long, long, time. From the vantage of this modern understanding, we have a far better appreciation of the patience and far-sightedness of God than was possible in earlier times. From God’s perspective how petty our own restive, anxious demands for immediate results and instant gratification must seem.
Second, we learn from evolution that God is willing to incorporate into the achievement of his purpose an element of chance. The mutations on which natural selection works occur randomly. There is no conscious, detailed “design” built into all the minutiae. There is a world to be itself. And yet he knows that the whole system has been set up in such a way that his broad aims eventually will be achieved. Intelligent life of one form or another will in due course emerge.
On other planets, the random events giving rise to life will be different, so humans as such will not evolve. But some form of intelligent life eventually will appear – a form of life that will at some stage begin to ask the ultimate questions concerning the purpose of life and whether relationship with God is established, which is why the world is here in the first place. In these ways, our conception of God has to broaden.
One particularly difficult problem inherent in evolutionary theory has to be mentioned. Evolution by natural selection has been characterized by phrase “survival of the fittest.” It is a crude description but has some truth to it. It is all about survival, as is plain to see from the constant engagement between predator and prey. Although it is impossible to be sure what any other animal actually feels, it seems only reasonable to conclude that evolution involves suffering on a massive scale.
Now, of course, there is nothing new about suffering. The problems of evil and suffering have been with us since time immemorial. Evil can be accounted for in terms of our own disobedience against the wholly good God, and some suffering arises directly out of evil acts or from wanton unwillingness to help those in need. But not all suffering arises in this way; even in the absence of human wickedness, there is suffering through natural causes such as earthquakes, flood, and failure of crops.
A partial explanation might lie in the need for rigid laws of nature to hold sway so that we can exercise free will in an environment in which we know what the outcome of our actions will be. Inevitably, one will sometimes fall foul of those laws working out their inexorable course. One also has to accept that in a hypothetical world where there was no suffering, it would be difficult if not impossible, to demonstrate one’s love for another (in the way one attends to his or her needs and is prepared to make sacrifices on that person’s behalf). Having said that, the sheer degree of suffering in the world has always appeared to be excessive. Now, on top of that, we have to come to terms with the fact that the very process by which intelligent beings evolve incorporates by its very nature an unavoidable degree of intense suffering. Why did God choose evolution by natural selection? Was there no other way? Clearly, we still have much to learn about the mind of God in this matter.
Second, we learn from evolution that God is willing to incorporate into the achievement of his purpose an element of chance. The mutations on which natural selection works occur randomly. There is no conscious, detailed “design” built into all the minutiae. There is a world to be itself. And yet he knows that the whole system has been set up in such a way that his broad aims eventually will be achieved. Intelligent life of one form or another will in due course emerge.
On other planets, the random events giving rise to life will be different, so humans as such will not evolve. But some form of intelligent life eventually will appear – a form of life that will at some stage begin to ask the ultimate questions concerning the purpose of life and whether relationship with God is established, which is why the world is here in the first place. In these ways, our conception of God has to broaden.
One particularly difficult problem inherent in evolutionary theory has to be mentioned. Evolution by natural selection has been characterized by phrase “survival of the fittest.” It is a crude description but has some truth to it. It is all about survival, as is plain to see from the constant engagement between predator and prey. Although it is impossible to be sure what any other animal actually feels, it seems only reasonable to conclude that evolution involves suffering on a massive scale.
Now, of course, there is nothing new about suffering. The problems of evil and suffering have been with us since time immemorial. Evil can be accounted for in terms of our own disobedience against the wholly good God, and some suffering arises directly out of evil acts or from wanton unwillingness to help those in need. But not all suffering arises in this way; even in the absence of human wickedness, there is suffering through natural causes such as earthquakes, flood, and failure of crops.
A partial explanation might lie in the need for rigid laws of nature to hold sway so that we can exercise free will in an environment in which we know what the outcome of our actions will be. Inevitably, one will sometimes fall foul of those laws working out their inexorable course. One also has to accept that in a hypothetical world where there was no suffering, it would be difficult if not impossible, to demonstrate one’s love for another (in the way one attends to his or her needs and is prepared to make sacrifices on that person’s behalf). Having said that, the sheer degree of suffering in the world has always appeared to be excessive. Now, on top of that, we have to come to terms with the fact that the very process by which intelligent beings evolve incorporates by its very nature an unavoidable degree of intense suffering. Why did God choose evolution by natural selection? Was there no other way? Clearly, we still have much to learn about the mind of God in this matter.
P.S. I will announce with pomp when I finally construct my alternative take on society. It is still in its embryonic stage.
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