God of Genes: A Theology of Evolution

Abstract

Science and faith are held up as opposition parties in public discourse, but this is a relatively new development in intellectual history. Francis Bacon described science and faith as companion volumes written by God to teach humankind about Godself, where rather than fighting, they inform one-another. This is a case study using the traditionally controversial topic of evolution to show how we can learn about the Creator by studying Creation while respecting both our faith and our intelligence. The scientific backing for evolution is strong and is not the focus of this paper. Instead, common religious objections to the theory of evolution will be addressed with theological reflection on the theory of evolution, including scriptural debates and questions of human nature, existentialism, theodicy, and materialism. Through this process, we see that different perspectives on the same truth are not contradictory, but supplementary and are stronger together than alone.