What is evolution, and why is it controversial among Christians? Christians respond to the theory of evolution in various ways. All Christians maintain some form of creationism, that God created the cosmos as described in the first line of scripture (Geneses 1:1). “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Charles Darwin, the naturalist, popularized the theory of evolution in the 19th century. Erasmus Darwin, Charles’ grandfather, was also a naturalist and conceived of the theory as early as the 18th century. It argues that animal and plant species gradually change over geological ages in order to adapt to their changing habitats. Charles Darwin’s theory of gradual evolution included concepts such as the survival of the fittest, natural selection, and ongoing speciation, that is, the creation of newer forms of life out of old ones. Initially, these evolutionary ideas did not trouble Christian believers, as human-controlled breeding of animals showed the potential for change and had been practiced for centuries. But evolution has become a moral challenge for Christians because it questions humanity’s origin and our moral relationship to God, our Creator.

Physicalist naturalists supported Darwin’s theory that living organisms are the result of chance, not a pre-determined chain of physical events. They argued that there is no Creator and that God is no longer necessary for explaining the origins of living things. In recent decades, the scientific community has largely accepted the theory of evolution along with certain added conclusions. These include the fact that life arose from inorganic material, making divine intervention unnecessary. These ideas are obviously at odds with the Christian faith in many ways.

Why is it controversial among Christians?

“Evolution versus Creationism” theory sparks lively debates among scientists, philosophers, theologians, Christians, non-Christians, theists, and atheists. It is part of the wider debate of the supposed conflicts between science and religion. This controversy has even stirred debate among Christians themselves. Some Christians embrace science as a valid source of knowledge and argue compatibility between the theories of evolution and creationism. Such Christians view the “evolution versus creationism” as a false dichotomy. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s (later Pope Benedict XVI) book, ‘In the Beginning…’ is a good source in recent years on this position.

Other Believers are skeptical of any doctrine outside of scripture. Some Christian communities explicitly condemn reason as a valid source of knowledge. Theologian Karl Barth famously condemned the notion of natural theology. Barth said reason can be used to justify any conclusion whatsoever. The admixture of reason and revelation, according to Barth, tended to abominable doctrines. So he felt it was better to clearly separate the two in one’s thought.

What is evolution?

In biology, ‘evolution’ describes the process by which a population of organisms changes gradually over time. Given enough time, the process of evolution brings about new species from within the single-family tree of life. This “common descent” postulates that all life today is descended from the same parents when traced back far enough. Other Naturalists, such as Alfred Russel Wallace, independently arrived at similar ideas at roughly the same time as Darwin. The corroboration of observations and ideas gave rise and credibility to the scientific theory and study of evolution.

The study of evolutionary biology and evidence for common descent emerges from five distinct research areas. Evolutionary biologists perform studies of comparative anatomy, observe organisms’ development from embryos, categorize creatures according to the strata they occupy in the fossil records, analyze DNA sequences and gene flow, examine the geographical distribution of species over time, and study the adaptations in modern organisms over time. When these data points converge, it suggests an evolutionary change has taken place.

Natural Selection

Charles Darwin proposed evolution by the process of natural selection in his 1859 book, On the Origin of Species. He argued that organisms with physical traits better suited to their environment and for sexual selection are more likely to survive and reproduce. Through reproduction, individual species pass on their genetic material to the next generation, supplying the driving force behind evolutionary processes. Over time, natural selection sifts out the noncompetitive traits, leaving advantageous physical traits that become more common in a given population.

Some equate ‘Darwinism’ with evolution, although modern evolutionary theory far exceeds Darwin’s initial ideas. The theories of common descent and natural selection have merged with molecular biology and genetics, forming the modern synthesis of evolutionary science. The 20th-century synthesis analyzes evolutionary processes on a molecular and genetic level.

Mutations

Changes in genes called ‘genetic mutations’ are one way of introducing new alleles into a population. Mutations enter the genome of individual organisms through DNA replication or repair errors, damage by chemicals, or radiation. The slight changes on the molecular level brought about by DNA mutations are either harmful or neutral. Occasionally, a mutation is beneficial and increases an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce. Beneficial mutations become more prevalent in successive generations by sexual reproduction, reproductive success, and natural selection, eventually spreading throughout the population.

Migration and interbreeding introduce new alleles into a population. Alleles can become lost in a population when a subpopulation with less genetic variation enters reproductive isolation, often through environmental barriers. Through a process called genetic drift, neutral mutations and random shifts in allele frequencies within a population fuel evolution. Evolutionists see this as the basis for species change. However, the point at which we consider one population to become a different species is a matter for philosophers of biology. This process, along with the mathematical modeling of changes in gene and allele frequencies, forms the basis of population genetics. Together, they establish evolution as the central paradigm of biology.

As new discoveries and technologies deepen our understanding of genetics and biochemistry, scientists refine the evolutionary model. Despite this, evolution’s core principles have endured for centuries, making it one of the most well-supported scientific models in history. Evolutionary theory is foundational to current scientific consensus in astrophysics, paleontology, geology, genetics, and developmental biology.

The Debate Over Evolution Among Christian Communities

The Christian response to the theory of evolution is quite varied depending on different Christian understandings of evolution. All Christians maintain some form of creationism, the theory that God created the cosmos and that the cosmos is subject to some sort of intelligent design. The first line of scripture (Genesis 1:1) states, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” This stands in direct opposition to the scientific presumption that everything is the result of chance, random processes, and the physical laws of nature. The different Christian views of evolutionary theory are rooted ultimately in the different ways Christians understand Genesis 1-3.

Fundamentalist-Literalist Creationism

Fundamentalist or literalist, Christian leaders resist the theory of evolution wholesale, rejecting evolutionary science’s credibility. Bible creation stories are literal history or science, emphasizing God as Creator. In addition, they see the creation of a “static” understanding of the world and its inhabitants. Taking the Biblical timeline literally, they date the cosmos to be around 6,000 years old. This is “young Earth Creationism.”

Harmonizing Accounts

At the other end of the spectrum, Christians who are willing to consider scientific explanations see compatibility between scientific explanations of life and the account of creation as found in the bible. As opposed to reading the days of creation as literal 24-hour periods, these Christians understand “days” as poetic symbols for eons of time and the different stages of earth’s formation. For them, evolution is evidence of intelligent design and ongoing divine providence governing a dynamic creation. In other words, they argue that God guides the living world and the history of life through the process of evolution. This position is theistic evolution or evolutionary creation. These same Christians will reject any conclusions that deny the existence of God.

Fundamentalist Creationists resist interpreting the Bible through a cultural lens and challenge evolutionary creation or creation science in three key areas.

Why Some Christians Reject Evolution

Methodological Naturalism

This first objection labels evolutionary thought as “Darwinism” or “evolutionism,” a worldview opposed to God, the Bible, and faith. Thus, Creationists see engaging with science as compromising or introducing foreign elements to the faith. Many atheists or philosophical materialists (those who deny the supernatural and see the physical world as all-encompassing) draw philosophical conclusions from scientific findings. However, the evolutionary model itself does not form a complete worldview. Evolutionary theory does not disprove God’s existence, no matter what atheists may claim.

The scientific method is based on methodological naturalism, meaning it does not presuppose supernatural causes. Its effectiveness comes from its universal applicability, allowing people of various worldviews and religions to reach similar conclusions about the natural world. It removes philosophical bias and gives people a common set of tools for exploration.

However, this can lead to the hubris that physical sciences enable humanity to know all there is to know. Science has limits. Scientific knowledge comes from systematically studying the natural world empirically, using logic, math, and observation from the senses to make conclusions.

Medical science can declare a person clinically dead or alive, but it cannot explain why it happens.

Science can explain the “how” but not the “why.”

Embracing methodological naturalism does not require a rejection of a supernatural reality or a belief that science answers all questions.

Scientists who are Christians (Yes, there are some!) are free to pursue spiritual knowledge through ways of knowing other than science, such as prayer and reading of theological texts.

The Problem of Evil

The second reason Creationists object to evolution is the problem of evil. In the Creationist conception of the beginning of life on earth, creation was perfect and free from all death. They attribute all death, predation, disease, and disaster to Adam and Eve’s disobedience by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in Eden. This act of sin, the Fall, brought death into the world and fundamentally altered creation.

The fossil evidence, showing billions of years of life before humans, seems to contradict this origin story. Literal creationists argue that the evolutionary model, based on survival struggles, clashes with the idea of a prelapsarian creation.

Christians who accept evolution and fossil evidence believe the Bible says creation was good, not perfect, and death is essential for life’s natural cycles. They view Genesis’s Adam and Eve story as non-literal, seeing sin as causing human spiritual death, not universal mortality or herbivores turning carnivorous.

God’s Image Bearers

Creationism’s final rejection of evolution is humanity’s creation in God’s image, distinct from other creatures. Creationists reject the idea that humans, evolving from and sharing traits with other animals, can embody God’s image. They believe that God uniquely designed humans to be distinct from other creatures on Earth. They also reject many scientific hypotheses on the origins of humanity that do not fit the Creationist timelines from genealogical accounts in the Bible.

Some Christians think God disclosed scientific facts in the Bible long before modern scientists discovered these same truths. Others believe that Psalm 139 contains a factual account when it declares, “For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb; I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Those Christians feel that Biblical teachings take precedence. For more information, check out Answers in Genesis.

An Original Couple?

Science argues that it was impossible for Homo sapiens to originate from a single couple (though evidence supports human evolution from a single population in Africa.) On the contrary, Creationists see Adam and Eve as humanity’s only recent ancestors, possibly within the last 6,000 years, which conflicts with archaeological evidence.

Evolution theorizes Homo sapiens developed from apelike ancestors over approximately 7 to 8 million years. Scientists theorize that the first hominids diverged from a common ancestor shared with chimpanzees. This family tree includes extinct hominids not directly ancestral to Homo sapiens.

The oldest hominid fossils, aged 7 to 2 million years, are exclusively found in Africa, not elsewhere. Bipedalism evolved over 4 million years ago, with the earliest stone tools dating back to 3.3 million years ago. Groups of Homo sapiens migrated from Africa into the Middle East, Europe, and Asia throughout many millennia. Modern humans from Asia migrated globally, reaching Australia within the last 60,000 years and the Americas within the last 30,000 years. Agriculture and the rise of the first civilizations occurred within the past 12,000 years.

Reconciling Science and Theology

Christians who accept evolution reconcile with theology in various ways. Some believe in animal evolution but maintain humans were a unique act of creation by God and, therefore, do not share common ancestry with animals.

Some Christians, acknowledging evolution, use “human” to describe spiritual or moral traits distinguishing us from non-human ancestors and other animals. They may speculate about when in history God bestowed His image upon us (making people “truly human” or “spiritually human”). They may speculate about when H. sapiens (or perhaps other earlier hominids) became spiritually capable of relating to God or morally accountable for sin. Others see the image of God as a special calling He gives to humanity at a certain point in time, not capacities or qualities that humanity evolved. If the image of God is a calling, then bearing the image of God depends on being chosen by God, not on evolving in some special way.

Recent studies suggest the Creationist vs. Evolutionist debate may be a false dichotomy. Genetic evidence over generations does not disprove Adam and Eve’s existence or their status as the first humans, preserving the validity of Genesis’s literal interpretation. Furthermore, Genesis 4:14 mentions Cain’s fear of being killed outside Eden, implying the existence of other humans beyond Adam and Eve’s lineage. Therefore, dismissing Christianity or evolution due to perceived conflicts presents a false choice. Both Genesis and evolutionary science allow for the possibility of the other’s truth.

Conflict Narrative

More and more Christians find the faith vs. evolution conflict uncompelling. They do not see Christian faith and evolutionary theory as fundamentally incompatible, or is it true that science is at war with faith? Understandably, attempts to harmonize what science and the Christian tradition say about God, humanity, sin, and redemption raise questions. However, Christians committed to rigorous science and faithful Christianity are doing fruitful work in these areas. To investigate these ideas further, check out the following resources. BioLogos, American Scientific Affiliation, Faraday Institute, Disciple Science, Peaceful Science, or Science for the Church.

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