Claim CA602:
Evolution is atheistic.
Source:
Morris, Henry M. 1985. Scientific Creationism. Green Forest, AR: Master
Books, p. 215.
Response:
- For a claim that is so obviously false, it gets repeated surprisingly
often. Evolution does not require a God, but it does not rule one out
either. In that respect, it is no different from almost all other
fields of interest. Evolution is no more atheistic than biochemistry,
farming, engineering, plumbing, art, law, and so forth.
- Many, perhaps most, evolutionists are not atheists. If you take the
claim seriously, you must claim that the following people are atheists,
to give just a few examples:
- Sir Ronald Fisher -- the most distinguished theoretical biologist in
the history of evolutionary thought. He was also a Christian (a
member of the Church of England) and a conservative whose social
views were somewhere to the right of Louis XIV.
- Pope John Paul II -- a social conservative.
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin -- a paleontologist and priest who taught
that God guided evolution.
- President Jimmy Carter -- a devout and active Southern Baptist.
More than 10,000 clergy have signed a statement saying, in part, "We
the
undersigned, Christian clergy from many different traditions, believe
that the timeless truths of the Bible and the discoveries of modern
science may comfortably coexist. We believe that the theory of
evolution is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up to
rigorous scrutiny and upon which much of human knowledge and
achievement rests." (Clergy Letter Project 2005)
- Anyone worried about atheism should be more concerned about
creationism. Creationism can lead to a crisis of faith when people
discover that its claims are false and its tactics frequently
dishonest. This has led some people to abandon religion altogether
(Greene n.d.). It has led others to a qualitatively different
understanding of Christianity (Morton 2000).
- By saying that only one religious interpretation is correct and
universal, creationism typically is a rejection of every other
religious interpretation. For example, young-earth creationists reject
the religious interpretation that the universe is more than 10,000
years old (Sarfati 2004), and design theorists reject the idea that God
has guided evolution (Dembski 1996). For people whose beliefs about
God differ from those of a creationist, that creationism might just as
well be atheistic.
Links:
NCSE. n.d. Voices for evolution: Statements from religious
organizations.
http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/articles/5025_statements_from_religious_orga_12_19_2002.asp
References:
Further Reading:
Ruse, Michael. 2001. Can a Darwinian Be a Christian? Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
created 2001-2-18, modified 2005-11-24