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The Implications of Evolutionary Biology for Religious Belief

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Book cover The Philosophy of Biology

Part of the book series: History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences ((HPTL,volume 1))

Abstract

Evolutionary biology developed as a discipline within cultures influenced by the Christian faith and it was therefore with this religion that the initial exchange of ideas occurred. This chapter introduces some of the general models that have been proposed to describe the relationship between science and religion and then relates these to the particular engagement of Christianity with the theory of evolution. The important distinction between methodological and ontological reductionism is discussed within the context of this engagement. The chapter highlights four disparate issues that are particularly relevant when considering the implications of evolutionary biology for religious belief: biblical hermeneutics, the theological understanding of the term ‘creation’, the role of chance, and the implications of evolution for morality. It is concluded that the historical emergence of the contemporary scientific enterprise from a theological matrix generates many positive resonances between science and faith, and that, consequently, the biological research community is where a believer should feel particularly at home.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Adam Sedgwick to Darwin, Nov. 24th, 1859. http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/entry-2548. Accessed Sep. 16th, 2012.

  2. 2.

    E.g. Gould, S. J. on the Revd. Thomas Burnet, author of the seventeenth century work The Sacred Theory of the Earth in Ever Since Darwin, Penguin Books (1980), ch. 17 pp. 141–146.

  3. 3.

    Referring to the idea that just as the strong are better able to survive and reproduce in the process of evolution, so this provides some kind of justification for humans to behave in a similar way.

  4. 4.

    Cited by P. Harrison in Berry, R.J. (ed), Lion Handbook on Science and Christianity, Oxford: Lion, page 57.

  5. 5.

    J.P. Pelikan and H. Lehmann, ed., ‘Luther’s Works’ American Edition, Volume 1, ‘Lectures on Genesis, Chapters 1–5’ St. Louis, Concordia Publishing House; Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1955, p.1.

  6. 6.

    Calvin. Commentary on Psalm 136:7; Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. 12: Psalms, Part V, tr. by John King, [1847–50]. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society.

  7. 7.

    Cited in Berry, R.J. (ed), Lion Handbook on Science and Christianity, Oxford: Lion, page 137.

  8. 8.

    Charles Darwin in a letter to Leonard Horner dated 20th March 1861 [Darwin Correspondence Project, http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/entry-3094].

  9. 9.

    Genesis 2:7.

  10. 10.

    Aquinas, T. On Separated Substances, c.9.

  11. 11.

    ‘Lacunas’ means ‘gaps’.

  12. 12.

    The term ‘design space’ here should not be confused with ‘Intelligent Design’. ‘Design space’ simply points to the fact that there is a finite number of ways of achieving evolutionary fitness within a given environment and the evolutionary search engine will keep finding similar fitness-generating adaptations again and again.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, St. Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Denis R. Alexander

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  1. Denis R. Alexander
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Correspondence to Denis R. Alexander .

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  1. Educational Research & Development, Geitonas School, Vari Attikis, Athens, 1234, Attiki, Greece

    Kostas Kampourakis

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Alexander, D.R. (2013). The Implications of Evolutionary Biology for Religious Belief. In: Kampourakis, K. (eds) The Philosophy of Biology. History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6537-5_10

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