Creation vs. Evolution or the Molecular Revolution: Are Christians Missing the Point?

"Here too are dreaming landscapes,
lunar, derelict.
Here too are the masses
tillers of the soil.
And cells, fighters
who lay down their lives
for a song."
- Miroslav Holub, 'In the Microscope'

There's an interesting discussion going on as a follow up to this week's Vox Apologia. The question posed is "Creation vs. Evolution - Does it Matter?" John of Blogotional, in true Occam's Razor style is saying it just doesn't matter! I think it would be fair here to say that in his original post on this John said:

"God is, by definition, supernatural -- that is to say, outside the system. Thus no scientific system or model can ever include God. That statement does not mean that God does not exist, it simply means that because God is outside the largest system we can define, the physical universe, he cannot be a part of the scientific process. In fact, this affirms that God is supernatural and not subject to our understanding -- a fact that I personally take great comfort in."

I agree with this. There are limits that we are unable to cross. Any scientific system of thought is a contained one. For example - while theories differ on the sequence of events that took place at the particle level from the beginning of the universe, no scientific system is able to explain why the universe began, or what took place outside of the confines of space-time to originate space-time and the physical dimension we call the cosmos. At best physics will put forward that a quantum event occurred - which in simple terms means an unpredictable event occurred which we cannot explain. I use the term "unpredictable" in a scientific way - to hammer home the point that science cannot predict, measure, or quantitate what happens outside of the boundaries of the world we are placed in. In fact we are still largely ignorant of what occurs within our world. John's argument is, as I understand it, that our knowledge of things such as the existence of God or the supernatural creative acts of God come from our faith, not from science.

In his latest post John goes further and says:

"I do not think God wants us to have some sort of scientific support for anything that has to do with our faith in Him."

I think I understand what he is saying here, but I question whether it's as clear cut as that - it may not be either/or. Science can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God. (See my post on Pascal's Wager for more). However at the same time I do not view science as something schismatically separate from my Christianity. Science is a range of disciplines with a multitude of ideas, findings, and discussions in each one. While there are hypotheses or ill-fitted theories which do not have direct conclusive evidence to shore them up, there are findings which are indisputable. Those indisputable findings do not prove God, but they are examples of his handiwork.

There are many descriptions in the bible of God's creative power being displayed in the physical world. For example:

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows his handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech,
and night unto night reveals knowledge"
- Psalm 19

What I'm saying here is that faith enables me to look at the physical world and to see the handiwork of God, whether it is the universe of the galaxies, or the universe of the sub-microscopic. Miroslav Holub, whose poem I quoted from at the beginning of this post, was a scientist. He was influenced by a Marxist view of the world. My point is that two people may look at the same physical data and come to different spiritual or philosophical conclusions - one has faith and one does not. For the one who has faith, the artistry and craftmanship of God is on display - and such displays are supportive of one's faith. It is the work of the one I believe in.

Yet I also wonder if Christians are being left behind (not in the popular book sense!) in some ways. In a recent post David of The JollyBlogger quotes Charles Ringma in his post More on Being in the World but Not of It:

"At the same time, there is not merit in being out of touch with the critical issues of our time. Ellul laments that Christians are usually 'several steps behind.' Consequently, they seek to provide answers to questions that people are no longer asking."

My own observation is that Christians want to engage in the Creation vs. Evolution debate very much, while many scientists are preoccupied with issues arising from the rapid advances made in the molecular and genetic fields of science. I've talked with Christians who believe that we are 98% genetically similar to chimpanzees, and I've talked to others who believe we are most genetically similar to pigs. My answer to both views is the same (and also provided an interesting discussion with some non-Christian scientists) - how do you know? Unless you take the entire human genome sequence, and compare it with both the entire chimpanzee genome sequence and the entire pig genome sequence (not currently possible), you cannot come up with a true percentage of the similarity. And if you did - one would need faith to see the hand of the God in it. It seems to me to be futile to use scientific information to try and scientifically prove God is the Creator.

Meanwhile, cellular and molecular issues such as gene therapy, xenotransplants, and the much avoided concern of the destruction of unwanted human embryos in IVF treatment, continue without many Christians being engaged in the dialogue. In my previous post on xenotransplants I acknowledged that I do not have a comprehensive biblical perspective on that issue yet. I'm working on it though. What is our response when we hear that a man has been cured of Parkinson's disease after having pig cells transplanted into his brain? You can read an interview with him on the right-hand sidebar of this website.

I think the Creation vs. Evolution debate has a place - particularly for parents instructing their children in the faith. And it's not my intention to detract from some of the apologetic work that Christians have put in on the issue. Yet I think we are missing issues that are or will be directly impacting on peoples lives and on the norms we will find ourselves surrounded by. As well as that, there is a view that Christians are always adversarial toward science - that we lack a generosity in regard to some of the benefits that we have because of scientific endeavour. I'd like to see Christians engaged in real discussion of the sort where we can acknowledge the beneficial results, and have a relevant and biblical position on issues that are controversial or undecided. Not to prove God, but to show a Godly perspective in our approach. I don't completely agree with John, but I wonder if the Creation vs. Evolution debate does not matter as much as we might think it does.

Photo: Milky Way Galaxy