What I Think About Evolution

I'm not really a big fan of Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, but he has a small editorial piece in today's New York Times that captures perfectly the thoughtful Christian's perspective on evolution. You may have to register to the Times to read it, but it's free and it's a good read.

Augustine, a famous Christian thinker of 1500 years ago, once said "Credo ut intelligum" (I believe so I can understand). Brownback uses that principle to highlight the relationship between faith and reason. Basically, both work together to lead us to Truth. His comment that faith "seeks to purify reason so that we might be able to see more clearly, not less," is right on the money.

Brownback doesn't go into detail about what he precisely believes. This is appropriate, and he would probably tell you (as I would, too) that I don't know for certain and that I'm still learning. That is humility with regard to the mysteries of God. But he is careful to say about what kind of things we must take definite stands on. He is careful to say that he believes God created and sustains our natural order, and that humans are His masterpiece. In his final few lines, he says:

"Man was not an accident and reflects an image and likeness unique in the created order. Those aspects of evolutionary theory compatible with this truth are a welcome addition to human knowledge. Aspects of these theories that undermine this truth, however, should be firmly rejected as an atheistic theology posing as science."