Can one more voice crying out from the evangelical wilderness make a difference amidst the rising and seemingly never-ending din concerning  Science “versus” Faith?  I guess we’re about to find out.

by Paul Burkhart

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You ever start reading a book and can immediately tell that it is going to be a pivotal book in your life? It hasn’t happened often, but the few times it has, it has indeed proven to be a life-altering experience. I’m feeling that right now.

Almost exactly a year ago, I met my now dear friend Chris Martin (not the guy from Coldplay). We were sitting there at a party (where he first met his now fiancee), and he began telling me about his experiences at L’Abri, a Christian retreat/study center in Switzerland started by Francis Schaeffer. In that conversation Chris told me about a book he had read from during his study. It was a large, poorly-graphically-designed, 525-page collection of essays called Perspectives on an Evolving Creation. It piqued my interest. I immediately purchased the book and am only now getting around to reading it. This is a book I know will affect me for the rest of my life. And that brings me to my secret. It’s something about myself that I have kept hidden from the vast majority of Christians I’ve known. I’ve wondered if/when/how to reveal this to the world. And I think now is the time.

I, Paul Burkhart, am totally on board with Darwinian Evolution.

And no, I’m not talking about “micro” evolution, which has become the popular “cool Christian” quick answer to the issue to make us feel like we know what we’re talking about (interesting read here, though, especially under “Misuse”). I mean full-blown “macro”, Darwinian, speciation evolution with species changing over time to become entirely new species. It started in college when I read Francis Collins’ (the new director of the National Institute of Health, by the way) paradigm-shifting book The Language of God (You can hear a presentation by Collins of the book’s ideas at the bottom of this article). I had grown up one of the most avid and passionate creationists out there, and I now held a book that knew all of my arguments. Collins systematically went through every argument I had ever heard and/or accepted against evolution and he dismantled every one. I suddenly found myself with no reason not to believe that evolution was in fact the mechanism behind all this. Well, almost no reason.

Collins more than adequately removed every intellectual (and even philosophical) defense I had against Darwin. But, if Collins lacks anything, it’s theological training (and he is the first to admit this). There were still a few pesky theological loose ends I needed tied up before I could start telling the masses the conclusions I had come to.   Is there really a necessity for an historical Adam? What about death being the vehicle of natural selection, even before “the Fall”?  What are the implications of this on the precise nature of the Fall? What about the nature of revelation and interpretation? Eventually, as these questions have begun to nag me more and more, I knew now was the time to read this book. The overall thesis of the book, as stated in the Preface by editor Keith Miller is:

As a geologist and paleoecologist with interests in reconstructing Earth and life history, I want to share the excitement and challenge of current evolutionary research…Furthermore, I am convinced that science is not only a profession but also a Christian vocation, and part of that vocation is using scientific knowledge to deepen our understanding of God and our calling as Creation’s stewards…The objective of this book is thus to provide a wide-ranging and authoritative evaluation of evolutionary theory from those within an Orthodox Christian perspective.

In short, this is a book of scholarly essays about evolution and its truth, Christianity and its truth, and how those things do not conflict. It’s broken into three parts. The first part helps explain how we historically, culturally, and philosophically got to the place we’re at now where science and faith are seemingly in “conflict”. In the second part, starting from the evolution of the universe all the way down to the evolution of human genetics, Orthodox Christian scientists lay out all the evidence for evolution. The third and final part has Orthodox Christian theologians taking the first two parts and telling us how they can better inform our theology and philosophy as Christians.

As I read this book, I’m going to try something I’ve never done before: blog through it. As I go through the various essays, I’d like to write a brief post on many 0f them – summarize their points, give my thoughts, and ask for feedback. The majority of these posts will be  put on my personal blog, though I may post some here at R&R. So whether you are an Dawkinsonian atheist that thinks that if evolution is true then all of Christianity is a sham or if you’re a Christian that thinks that agreeing with evolution undermines the authority of Scripture such that we would not be able to trust anything in the Bible, please join me in this. Along the way, I’ll also put up other relevant writings and article on this topic.  You can find the Table of Contents here. Let me know what essays you most want discussed.

One final note: when it comes to opinions and such, I have found it helpful to distinguish between “believing” something and “believing in” something. The difference is how much of ourselves is invested in the object of our belief. To “believe in” something means that it will really mess you up if that thing is proven wrong. I do not “believe in” evolution. I merely “believe” evolution is an accurate description of the way things are, but not much of my emotional and spiritual resources are invested in this opinion, however firm I may hold it. I “believe in” the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the only way to the Father. I “believe in” the very real and historical resurrection of that God-man. I “believe in” the authority and purity of Scripture and my responsibility to humbly submit to it.

Please understand and please trust me that there really is a way to hold all these propositions firmly and at the same time accept the evidence that Darwinian evolution is the mode by which all of reality came to be. These things are NOT mutually exclusive. C.S. Lewis was perhaps the most avid Christian Darwinian that ever lived. He thought Genesis even to the point of the Abraham account was all allegorical and had nothing historical about it.  For those avid anti-evolutionists out there: consider that next time before you are so quick to quote Lewis on other issues.  He writes about it all in The Problem of Pain if you don’t believe me.

Note that as we go through this, the entire text is available free at Google Books.  This is just a preview, so there are a limited number of pages you can actually look at (I don’t know how many), but you have free reign to spend those limited number of pages looking at any part of the book.  I’ve even embedded it on a special page here are R&R for your viewing ease.

That’s it for me, but in the meantime, read this incredible article at Patrol Magazine on this topic; read these essays by Michael Spencer (a.k.a. “the Internet Monk“) on why he’s not a Young Earth Creationist and how “Creationism” is killing the Church; and then listen to/watch the media below that might interest you.  After you’ve done all that, if you could do just one more thing: pray for me.

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Dr. Francis Collins on The Language of God:

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The iMonk on Science, Faith, Ray Comfort, and how Evangelicalism in general tends to miss the mark on this topic:

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Dr. Denis Alexander on how Christians can view evolutionary biology “Christianly”:

Dr. Denis Alexander – Evolution & the Church from Bill Kinnon on Vimeo.

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