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In the wake of the evangelical films God’s Not Dead and God
vs Evolution comes another film about Christians
vs “secular academia” – A Matter of Faith. The
film’s premise is essentially about a Christian girl who goes off to university
and starts to drift away from her faith after she is taught evolution in her Biology
class. As a result, her father decides to challenge her Biology professor to a
public debate to prove Creationism (and therefore the Bible) over the theory of
evolution. Now I don’t want to focus too much on this film, partly because I
haven’t seen it. Instead I want to focus on a quote by the film’s director Rich
Christiano. In an interview
with Christian News Network the following was stated:
The crux of the evolution/creation debate, Christiano
said, ultimately comes down to a simple question: “Who are you putting your
faith in? Darwin? Or God?”
I disagree with this sentiment quite strongly for three
reasons.
There is virtually no scientific debate over the theory
of evolution
The debate over evolution is sometimes portrayed as being a
highly controversial issue where scientists are divided on either side as to
whether it is true or not.[1]
In reality, the scientific community is pretty united in their acceptance of
evolution. A study
conducted in 2009 by the Pew Research Center found that “nearly all scientists
(97%) say humans and other living things have evolved over time.”
It ignores the fact that many Christians see no conflict
between believing both evolution and God
The creation debate evolution is often portrayed as a debate
between Christians and atheists (this was the dichotomy I grew up with). But
this caricature ignores the fact that there is a growing number of Christians
who see no conflict between holding a biblical faith and accepting the science
of evolution. And these aren’t obscure Christians or extremely liberal
theologians either; many respected Christian leaders including Billy Graham,
John Stott, C.S. Lewis, N.T. Wright, J.I. Packer, Karl Barth, and Alister
McGrath hold this view.
The problem with forcing a dichotomy between evolution and
God is that it both drives people away from faith and stops them from coming to
faith by saying that they need to choose between science and God, a distinction
the Church hasn’t historically held. During the Nye/Ham debate earlier this
year Ken Ham’s catchphrase when posed a scientific question was "There's a
book about that, and it already has the answers.”[2]
But this ignores a long tradition in theology that has held that God gave us
not one book of revelation, but two books of revelation – The book of scripture
and the book of nature. Both have the same author but they tell us different
things. The book of scripture teaches us about the author and His plan for the
future redemption of creation (including humans), and the book of nature tells
us the history of His creation. Or as Cardinal Caesar Barionius succinctly put
it during the Galileo affair, "The Bible teaches us how to go to
heaven, not how the heavens go."
It misunderstands the nature of faith
Faith is a commonly misunderstood concept these days. It is
often meant to mean an intellectual assent to a certain idea. But the nature of
faith is different. Faith does require an intellectual assent, but it goes
further in demanding a response in the way one lives their life. Jesus himself
said “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much
fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”[3]And
this is where the idea that it’s a case of putting your faith in God or Darwin breaks
down. I accept evolution in the sense that I believe that it’s how God sustains
life, but I don’t have faith in it any more than I have faith in the
heliocentric model or the hydrologic cycle. These are simply scientific ideas
that I accept; they don’t make any particular demands on how I live my life. I
don’t particularly live my life in any way that consciously reflects
evolutionary principles. However, a faith in God does call for a
response in how I live my life (how well I answer that call at times is
debateable).[4] Faith
does call for us to live a life that reflects the Gospel we have received (Philippians
1:27-30).
So is evolution a matter of faith? I don’t think so. Rather
it’s a matter of not confusing periphery issues with the essentials of the
Gospel.
[1] I
partially suspect that this is due to confusion caused by the title “theory of
evolution”. In everyday speak theory refers to a hunch or supposition, giving
the impression that evolution is “just a hunch”. However, in scientific
parlance a theory is “a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the
natural world that can incorporate facts, laws, inferences, and tested
hypotheses.” (National Academy of Sciences definition)
[2] Yes
I was one of those people who not only watched the whole debate but watched it
on a live stream too.
[3]
John 15:8
[4]
Kierkegaard calls the moment you encounter Jesus “the crisis” where you have the
choice to submit or fight back.
"Faith does require an intellectual assent, but it goes further in demanding a response in the way one lives their life."
ReplyDeleteLoved your definition here. And I agree, I think it is easy to let my Faith in God and my knowledge of science coexist.
Thanks for your comment, Lara. :)
DeleteThere is an insidious definition of faith going around these days that subscribes too heavily to the 'with us/against us'mentality. In my book that harms the appreciation of what both sides have to offer.
ReplyDeleteI think what you're talking about is more to do with social maturity. It's a concept could in-group-out-group bias where we naturally favour those with similar views to us, and marginalise those with different views. It affects people all over the political and faith spectrum. Of course out-group bias doesn't always go with in-group bias, but again I think it's a matter of maturity being able to see more than one side of an argument.
DeleteI appreciate your comments about faith demanding a response. i've heard some say that Christianity is a crutch. Actually it is much harder to follow Christ than it is to just go with the flow.
ReplyDeleteYour musing that faith requires a certain lifestyle while evolution doesn't is limited in a very important way. Many atheists (and Christians and other theists, for that matter) consider the fact that humans evolved just like other animals a reason to not hold to such Puritanical standards and absolutist, strict beliefs of fundamentalism and other radicalism. Evolution gives them a particular frame of reference for morality and interacting with other people ("very intelligent primates" deserving of dignity just like any other intelligent but still instinctual animal) that they may consider kinder and/or more effective in the aggregate than the aforementioned belief systems. To imply that evolution has nothing to do with life choices, sense of right and wrong, etc., is not completely grasping the bigger picture.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything else.
It's not all black and white, there is always perspective needed, and you very obviously understand that. I'm just pointing out where a bit more gray might be beneficial in your wording.