It's where I differ with both those claiming to be scientists and those calling themselves theologians.
Both are actually the study of the nature of the Almighty. And both rely upon words/concepts like "supernatural", "spiritual", to fill in that which at present is unknown.
Natural-scientific theories and the word of God are all tools to be used in the study of his handiwork (the natural, and for now, unnatural world).
While evidence exists of species evolving over eons, no one has to date proven if it was natural selection, intelligent design, or a combination of the two [my personal favorite] as being responsible.
There are way too many unanswered questions to say all life evolved on this planet due to natural selection. For example brain development. Sharks have been around for millions of years. By now sharks should be the smartest animal life on the planet because smarter sharks survive longer. Yet sharks are still pretty dumb when compared to humans who have really only came into their own, in intelligence, after the last ice age 12,000 years ago.
Evidence points to something, or someone(s), rather quickly increased human intelligence many fold in our recent history. And it happened worldwide and on separate continents relatively simultaneously.
Einstein said it best, "My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."
Einstein's quote applies equally well to science.
Totally agree, thanks for a great post.
As to how or why God might intervene in any "natural" selection, if we simply remember that God's Plan (word) was with God from the beginning, indeed, the Plan itself IS God, then it seems to me irrelevant whether God Himself makes "natural" selections, or whether the eventual outcome of those selections is predetermined by God's original Plan.
Does that help?