Review of Evolution From Creation To New Creation: Conflict, Conversation and Convergence

From the Covalence Archives

The Rev. Dr. Patrick Russell is Associate Pastor of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Lafayette Hill, PA and a physicist with research experience in human neurobiology.

The advancing dialogue between Christian theology and natural science, characterized by ever increasing theological and scientific sophistication, is yielding what for many are encouraging signs of a healthy synthesis. Amidst this rapid progress, one might have hoped that a new volume providing an overview of the various historical and theological reactions to the theory of biological evolution by natural selection would be unnecessary. The narrative of the old conflict between biblical and scientific views on the origin of species has been told, and in part debunked, on other occasions. More productive would be new theological proposals for relating the scientific and religious world views. But given the almost daily reminders that a conflict model is still being vigorously pursued in school boards and courtrooms around the country, a concise and coherent review of the historical relationship is still much needed.

Ted Peters and Martinez Hewlett have produced a volume that fulfills this overview function even as they offer their own proposal for a modern synthesis. Anyone who wants to review the historic progression of scientific and religious thinking about evolution as prelude to forming a critically grounded assessment of the current situation would do well to read this book. At only 215 pages, it is an exceptionally accessible volume that is suitable for clergy and laity, student and educator seeking an introduction to the subject or a quick review. A helpful glossary is included, and the lack of a bibliography is largely compensated by the end notes, which point the interested reader to additional material.

Peters is Professor of Systematic Theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and has made extensive contributions (including several other notable volumes) to the science-religion dialogue. Hewlett is Professor Emeritus of Cellular and Molecular Biology, a Roman Catholic and adjunct professor at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology. One is anchored in the Protestant theological tradition with firm commitments to natural science; the other is rooted in research science with deep ties to the Roman Catholic tradition. Both are devoted to building bridges between their areas by exploring their methodological and philosophical underpinnings.

Following an introductory chapter to provide orientation, the authors provide a succinct summary of the historical development of Darwinian evolutionary theory and its basic tenets, adding a chapter on its application to and sometimes misapprehension by the fields of psychology, sociology, and philosophy. They then devote a chapter each to the scientific creationism and intelligent design movements. I found their discussion of the former among the more engaging writing in the book, as they take the reader through a detailed and nuanced tour of the history of anti-evolutionary thinking. Along the way they clear up some common misconceptions about these movements and offer a conclusion that will surprise many readers: namely, that the stated claim of scientific creationists to be pursing a scientific rather than religious agenda should be taken seriously, noting that creation-evolution debate is indeed a conflict, but "it is a conflict between science and science, and it is a conflict between religion and religion" (p. 96). Though I didn't fully agree with their assessment, I enjoyed their analysis in reaching it. The chapter on intelligent design provides the occasion for a relevant excursus on natural theology followed by a critique of the leading proponents of ID, with care taken to distinguish their ideas from the scientific creationism with which their own thinking is often held to be in continuity.

Arguing against the extremes of either anti-evolutionary dogmatism on one hand and scientific atheism on the other, the authors espouse a view they term theistic evolution, in which the modern biological ideas of natural evolution are accepted as empirically valid and available to the theologian for informing our views about God and creation. Here again Peters and Hewlett shine as tour guides of the contemporary theological landscape, assessing the viewpoints of familiar thinkers including Teilhard de Chardin, Philip Hefner, Robert John Russell, John Haught, and Arthur Peacocke among others.

Of particular note is the authors' argument against the so-called "free will defense" of God as creator, in which God is argued to willfully restrict divine power so that nature can take its course, so to speak. This, in their view, preserves the role of chance and natural contingency as key components of the scientific theory without truly grappling with the problem of theodicy and the role of God in permitting inevitable suffering as part of the natural order. In addition, the authors note a persistent weakness in much contemporary discourse in subsuming evolution entirely within the doctrine of creation without sufficient attention to the role of salvation.

In offering their own proposal, the authors build on a concept that runs deeply through Ted Peters' other theological writings, namely, the idea that God's power is not only exercised from the past in creation, but also from the future in redemption. In giving us a meaningful future, God is not simply redeeming a flawed creation, but rather is completing a world undergoing continual creation guided not only by past causation but also by the pull toward future consummation. In this framework, evolution is not simply a "necessary evil" God allows, nor is it strictly speaking God's will, but rather an integral part of a fallen creation being drawn toward completion. Having identified the challenging topography created by the scientific rejection of teleology on one side, and the theological view of a powerful yet gracious God on the other, the authors plunge in and navigate their own course. Part of the fun in reading this book is deciding whether the authors have succeeded in avoiding the pitfalls of the other viewpoints they catalog and dissect so clearly.

In reviewing the historical trends in religious discourse on evolution, providing a succinct summary of current thought, and offering their own constructive proposal, Ted Peters and Martinez Hewlett have produced a timely and highly useful contribution to the study of science and religion that should prove useful to a widely varied audience.

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