Evolution vs. Creationism
I'm grateful that my recently rediscovered Catholic faith is not contingent upon a disbelief in the scientific theory of evolution.
The ongoing debate pitting evolution against "intelligent design" has been irritating me for quite awhile now. Why, I've been wondering, is there so little mention of the possibility that the process of evolution is being guided by a Higher Power? Why does it seem we are only hearing from Atheists and Fundamentalists?
The Catholic Church has long taught that the two views are not mutually exclusive, but rather are the product of entirely different realms. There shouldn't be much to argue about, right?
So, it was refreshing to discover this article in Time magazine yesterday. (I have a subscription to the tangible, paper and ink version of the magazine, but the link here seems to be to the same story I read).
The article is about Evangelical Christian and biologist Francis Collins, whose book, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, argues that science and religion can coexist peacefully.
The story describes the current lack of agreement:
. . . few of the polemicists have the authority to preach beyond their own choirs. Most believers don't care to listen to an atheistic scientist calling the idea of God a mythology created to explain what humans don't understand, and academic atheists are just as uninterested in scientific lectures from Bible literalists.
Enter Collins, who is qualified to blaze a trail down the middle. During his medical residency, he was converted to Christianity in a religious awakening that began when he read Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis.
I suspect there are a great deal of scientists out there who are Christians, but who keep their faith under wraps at work, for fear of losing credibility among their colleagues. Hopefully, Collins' book will catch on, and will influence a few minds on both extremes of this debate.