Not-So Intelligent Design

Tertullian- "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem."

This past week I read a news article saying that archeologists have discovered the oldest human remains in Israel: 400,000 years old. Much speculation surrounds the discovery and could drastically alter theories of human origin. Also this past week, I read a statistic that approximately 40% of Americans believed in some version of Intelligent Design (AKA- "Creationism"). Normally when I speak to religious fundamentalists about evolution, the most popular response that I receive is " I don't believe that we came from monkeys." It is at this point that I abandon the conversation because in most cases the individual's understanding is so misguided I do not wish to take the time having to reinvent the wheel to bring the discussion up to par. To make matters clear, primates are our cousins who share a common ancestor with modern man; we did not come from them as many like to argue.

I would like to approach this topic from a theological perspective since that is the language and discipline I am most familiar. The basis for ID is a strict, literal interpretation of the first chapters of Genesis. To put it simply, there are people who believe that the ancient Hebrews and other Ancient Near Eastern groups processed and defined both history and science in a modern matrix. The Bible is not only a theological document, but can also be used in science text books. Put this way, the whole proposition seems almost laughable. To use the Bible as a polemical weapon to battle against the "evil" designs of science is to forfeit religious and spiritual credibility as a Christian. The most ancient forms of Christian faith, Orthodoxy and Catholicism, do not even endorse such a view. What fundamentalists must understand is that both religion and science seek truth, but do so in different ways. Where science becomes incompatible with religious beliefs, then those beliefs must be changed or modified to remain relevant.

Theologically speaking, evolution is completely compatible with the Christian religion. God the Father is both Creator and Love. The whole concept behind love is freedom- being willing to accept something or someone as is. I believe that evolution more adequately represents the character and economy of God. Since love implies freedom, then would it not be more plausible that God ALLOWS the universe and the rest of creation to "create" itself and pursue paths to life as it sees fit? Could God have given the universe the freedom to create itself? Science has shown how both the universe and carbon-based life have literally taken billions of years to shape itself. From Hubble's discovery that the universe is expanding to Darwin's proposal that life evolved from lesser life forms, we are given a unique perspective of where humanity stands in the great scheme of things. Humans are related to and made up of the same materials as the rest of the creation around us. Evolution can serve to enrich that kinship between the environment and ourselves.