Views of Evolution

Because it provides an explanation of our origins, the scientific theory of evolution has provoked a variety of reactions.  Some have denied it, some have accepted it, and some have extended it beyond its domain.  A brief summary of some key positions:

Young-earth creationism: Evolution did not occur.  God created the universe in six days, and humans are descended from Adam and Eve.

Theistic evolution:  Evolution is an acceptable scientific explanation, and God doesn’t intervene with the material process.  “God, eternally foreseeing all the products of evolution, uses the natural process of evolution to work out his creative plan,” according to Avery Cardinal Dulles [1].  Pope Benedict proclaimed, “We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary” [2].

Intelligent Design: Evolution can explain some aspects of life, but not all.  God produced irreducibly complex organs that a sequence of small random mutations, under the laws of evolution, could not produce.

Teleological evolution: Evolution is an acceptable scientific explanation, and it has a purpose.  According to Cardinal Dulles, “Biological organisms cannot be understood by the laws of mechanics alone. The laws of biology, without in any way contradicting those of physics and chemistry, are more complex. The behavior of living organisms cannot be explained without taking into account their striving for life and growth” [1].  Evolution is a process that is not complete; God activates new classes of life within that process; and through it God will unite the whole universe in Himself.

Neo-Darwinism:  Evolution not only explains the origin of life but also shows that God does not exist and the universe has no purpose.  

1. Avery Cardinal Dulles, "God and Evolution," First Things, October 2007.

2. Pope Bendict XVI, homily, Inauguration Mass, April 24, 2005, https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050424_inizio-pontificato.html.