wfn.org | Faith and Life commentary: Creation vs. evolution - a misplaced

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debate

Oct. 26, 1999	News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.    10-21-71BP{567}

NOTE:  A head-and-shoulders photograph of the Rev. Phil Wogaman is
available.

A UMNS Commentary
by the Rev. Phil Wogaman*

It seems the debate over teaching evolution in the public schools will never
end! The latest round in the ongoing saga occurred last summer with a new
ruling by the Kansas Board of Education. That board removed the teaching of
evolution from the standard curriculum for Kansas public schools.

That was but the latest round. For many years, religious fundamentalists
have attempted to remove the teaching of evolution from the schools or, at
least, to require that "creation science" be taught alongside evolution.  

The creationists have argued that the biblical account of human origins has
as much if not more weight than evolution. Sometimes creationists have based
their plea for equal time on the ground that the exclusion of the biblical
account is religious discrimination since evolution is a conflicting
religious theory. More typically, they have taken the view that creationism
has scientific credentials equivalent to evolution.

Those of us who are not biologists may still wonder about that. Evolution,
derided by the creationists as a mere "theory," is pretty well established
in science. A theory, after all, is an attempt to make sense out of known
evidence -- and the evidence in support of evolution is overwhelmingly
convincing. 

As Michael Powell recently commented in The Washington Post, "There is a
central 'truth,' embraced by virtually every mainstream scientist worldwide:
that the cosmos and the Earth were created billions of years ago, and that
life evolved from one-celled animals to modern humans."  

The larger question for people of faith is why that should be so
threatening. A biblical literalist might, indeed, consider this an attack
upon his or her faith since the Genesis stories, taken literally, are not
consistent with the theory of evolution. But large numbers of deeply
committed Christians have long since abandoned such literalism. For them,
God's creation of the universe is much deeper than these issues of detail.
Far from being threatened by an honest examination of scientific fact, such
believers often feel their faith is enriched by it.  

Did life evolve from one-celled organisms, as most scientists believe?
Probably. But humanity in all its fullness and grandeur (and sinfulness) was
potentially present from the very beginning.  The mystery of ultimate
origins challenges every thoughtful mind. How could there be anything that
had no beginning? And yet, how could anything have come out of nothing?
There is at least as much reason to see a grand, creative Mind at the
beginning as to attribute the whole universe to mere chance.  

 
So we may well ask, do the school children of Kansas and other states need
to be spared exposure to the well-founded scientific theory of evolution?
That theory is not inconsistent with the religious doctrine of creation. It
is not about whether God created the world, but about how.  

Those who are prepared to read the Bible through the eyes of faith may be
all the more stirred by the words, "in the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth." And, in contemplation of their own humanity, by the
words of the eighth Psalm: "When I look at your heavens, the work of your
fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human
beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?  Yet
you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and
honor."

#  #  #

*Wogaman, pastor of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, is a
seminary professor of Christian ethics and author. He is a clergy member of
the Baltimore-Washington Annual (regional) Conference.

Commentaries provided by United Methodist News Service do not necessarily
represent the opinions or policies of UMNS or the United Methodist Church.

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United Methodist News Service
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