Posted on 02/07/2004 8:41:04 AM PST by PatrickHenry
In a 1996 speech, a Christian leader offered an endorsement of Darwin's theory of evolution.
The leader, a champion of traditional biblical teaching, told a meeting of scientists that evolution wasn't incompatible with Christian faith.
"New knowledge leads us to recognize in the theory of evolution more than a hypothesis," the leader said. "The convergence, neither sought nor induced, or results of work done independently one from the other, constitutes in itself a significant argument in favor of this theory [of evolution]."
The man who said this was Pope John Paul II. [Source: Message from the Pope, 1996]
Stories that talk about the conflict between Darwin and religion often paint both sides in extremes -- evolutionists who don't believe in God and creationists who literally believe in the story of Adam and Eve.
But the pope's comments show that there's a lot of middle ground between Darwin and religious dogma. Not only is there is a rich variety of views on the creation of the world in Christianity but in all religions as well.
Each Abrahamic religion offers a slightly different version of the Genesis story — and its own way of responding to Darwinism. But the two major Eastern faiths see no need to provide a single creation story or a uniform response to Darwinism.
BUDDHISM
There are no Adam and Eve in Buddhism. In fact, there is no firm beginning. Buddhism has adopted an Indian notion of time as something that is cyclical and unending. The universe comes to an end but then begins anew, said Eric Reinders, an authority on Buddhism and an Emory University professor.
At the beginning of each cycle, land forms in darkness on the surface of the water. Spiritual beings who populated the universe in the previous cycle are reborn. One takes the form of man and starts the human race.
But don't expect Buddhists to get in screaming matches over the world's origins, said Malcolm Eckel, an authority on Buddhism from Boston University.
"Buddhism is less concerned with where does all of this mess come from," Eckel said. "It's more concerned with how to deal with it and make all the suffering go away."
Eckel said Darwin's theory of evolution meshes with the Buddhist conception of creation as something that is constantly changing. Darwin's theory insists that all plant and animal life is constantly undergoing small changes over time to give them survival and reproductive advantages.
Buddhists also see the universe as something that is continually unfolding as well, he said.
"What Darwin was describing would be a small piece of a larger picture of Buddhism," Eckel said.
HINDUISM
Don't expect one creation story from Hinduism. Expect many. Just as there are many gods in Hinduism, there are several creation stories.
One Hindu creation story says the world started with the sacrifice of a primal man called Purusa. Purusa's body was the entire universe — the lower part became earth while the rest became heavens. The various castes of humans came from parts of Purusa's body.
Another Hindu scripture states that the universe was formed from the god Vishnu's breath. With each of Vishnu's breaths, countless universes emanate in seedlike forms that expand. Another story simply says the world came out of a cosmic egg.
Joyce Flueckiger, an authority on Hinduism from Emory, said Darwin simply offers another way to look at the universe to Hindus.
"The problem of reconciliation with yet another story of creation does not create the same kind of tension that may be present between a singular creation story and that of evolution," Flueckiger said.
Dr. P.V. Rao, a physics professor at Emory who has led a seminar on science and Hinduism, said many Hindus actually see Darwin's theory as a "small part of a larger scheme."
"Historically speaking, Darwin's ideas were embraced by all the learned Hindus as soon as they came to know about it," Rao said. "There was no need for any reconciliation."
ISLAM
The Koran's creation stories share many elements with the Christian and Judaic accounts found in Genesis.
Islam teaches that the first man, Adam, was created by the will of God. It insists that Adam lived in paradise with Eve, who was created from his rib. Then Satan came and seduced Adam, who was reprimanded by God, said Khalid Siddiq, the director of the Al-Farooq Masjid in Atlanta.
Siddiq said the Koran doesn't teach the concept of original sin.
"Adam was forgiven by God, but still God sent him down to Earth as a test to see if he was going to be obedient to him," Siddiq said.
Muslims don't tend to accept the theory of evolution's claim that man was created by random forces.
"The creation of man was for a purpose and was a willful act of God," Siddiq said.
Siddiq, a medical doctor, said that a Muslim can actually accept some of the aspects of evolution, such as the belief that animals may adapt over time to survive in their environment.
But God is the source of those adaptive changes, Siddiq said.
"It is God's gift to that particular animal for survival," Siddiq said. "It's not an accident. Nothing happens in this world without the will and hand of God."
JUDAISM
Jews are divided over the beginning of the world.
Orthodox Jews generally reject evolution and literally believe in the Genesis story's insistence that God created man while forming the world in six days.
Rabbi Ilan Feldman of Congregation Beth Jacob in Atlanta said Orthodox Jews believe what the Bible says in Genesis.
"We believe man was created by God and did not develop from anything else," Feldman said.
Many Orthodox Jews accept Darwin's theory of evolution as an intelligent hypothesis supported by evidence, but with major questions still unanswered — "What about some of those missing fossils?" -- Feldman said. He does not feel threatened by Darwin because his theory assumes natural forces at play, with no director.
"I would say to a class of students: 'Here is the way Darwin interpreted the evidence, since he was forced to rule out God as a force directing nature,' " Feldman said. "Once you put God in the picture, all bets are off."
Conservative and Reform Judaism generally reject the Genesis story and see Genesis as religious symbolism.
"We don't get hung up on literalism," says Rabbi Mark Zimmerman of the conservative Congregation Beth Shalom in Atlanta. "There's literal truth, and there's allegorical truth. The Garden of Eden story may be an allegory that teaches us that we have to be responsible for our actions."
CHRISTIANITY
There isn't one Christian belief on the beginning of the world. There are many — and they seem to constantly be at odds with one another.
Many evangelical Christians are biblical literalists who believe the claims of the Genesis story — that God created Adam and Eve and the world in six days. Some hold on to these stories because they believe that the fall of Adam made necessary the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Members of more mainline Protestant denominations tend to accept the theory of evolution and see Genesis as religious allegory, as some Jews would. They either accept wholeheartedly the theory of evolution on face value — that random selection caused animals and plants to evolve. Or some believe that God used evolution to create the world.
Yet a number of Christians believe in "intelligent design." They do not invoke the inerrancy of Scripture, and they concede that the Earth is billions of years old and that some evolutionary change has taken place.
But according to Jim Holt, a science columnist for the online magazine Slate.com, they don't think, as Darwinians do, that evolutionary change is induced by random, mechanical causes operating gradually over time. They believe that the biological world is filled with evidence that points to the intervention of an intelligent designer -- God.
"They think that belief in Darwinism and belief in God are fundamentally incompatible," Holt writes. "They are in agreement with their more radical Darwinian opponents. Both extremes concur that evolution is, in the words of Phillip Johnson [a law professor who believes in intelligent design], 'a purposeless and undirected process that produced mankind accidentally' and, as such, must be at odds with the idea of a purposeful Creator."
Paul Abramson, a writer and lecturer on creationism, said intelligent design proponents or "scientific creationists" don't discount science.
"We don't exclude the scientific evidence; we interpret it differently," he said.
Yet Christians who accept science could never accept Darwin's contention that God used evolution to create man.
"Then we say the creator of life on Earth is not perfect," Abramson said. "For millions of years, he's learning by trial and error."
Abramson says evolution implies that God stood by and watched as animals suffered and died because of "survival of the fittest."
"In Genesis," Abramson said, "it is Adam and Eve's fault through their disobedience that caused death and suffering."
If Eden was creation, then all Christians MUST accept the concept of post-Edenic evolution. Adam and Eve were of one race and spoke one language. Yet, today, there are many of both. How did that happen? They evolved!
"Then we say the creator of life on Earth is not perfect,"Yeah exactly, like make silly things as the vermiform appendix. Oh wait... nevermind :p
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