Compatibility between Science and Faith

Evolution and Faith:

Communicating their

Compatibility in Christian Higher

Education

“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power,

love, and a sound mind.” II Timothy 1:7

One would think this verse would energize and enable

all Christians in the mission of confidently

communicating Christ’s primary messages of love,

forgiveness, and relationship. Yet from first-hand

experience as a veteran biology educator at a Christian

university I can attest that something is tragically

amiss: A peripheral issue (evolution) is getting in the

way. Indeed, an ungodly and consuming fear of

evolution has engulfed the Christian community. And

when fear reigns, power, love, and sound thinking are

casualties. In addition, this disabling fear is as

contagious as influenza or AIDS – blindly passed from

generation to generation, hence not easy to overcome.

This fear infecting the Christian community derives

from concern that the foundations of the faith, based

upon literal interpretations of scripture, are being

undermined by the claims of science. Regarding

evolution, this concern seems legitimate, especially in

light of advances in biology and genetics. The human

genome project - a 3.1-billion letter linear digital

directory of humanity - was deciphered in 2003. Now,

for the first time in history, we have acquired the letter-

by-letter document revealing humanity’s present and

past genetic connections with all other life at levels of

precision never before imagined. This is not your

mother or father’s gap-laden fossil record. Rather, it is

an exquisitely-defined map of our entire evolutionary

history! So how do Christian educators in the sciences

help people recognize that their fear of evolution is

unnecessary?

Teaching with Truth and Love

I believe that education is the key, but it is essential to

recognize that there is much more to education than

just reciting scientific facts and concepts. If we

legitimately claim the badge of bona fide secular or

Christian educators, we must unapologetically speak

the truth of science, but we must also do so with a

sensitive, loving, and accepting spirit – actively

engaging students where they are at.

When my book, Random Designer was published, a

National Public Radio interviewer asked an intriguing

question: “What is the greatest challenge you

experience in teaching evolution at a Christian

college?” I told her that the greatest challenge had

nothing to do with teaching evolution per se: Evolution

is what it is. Rather, I told her that my greatest

challenge was to sensitively listen to and gauge my

students’ backgrounds and understanding so that I

could effectively reassure them that new

understandings in science need never threaten their

faith.

In a diverse classroom of 230 students, this is no small

undertaking because it flies in the face of what they

have been taught growing up. For students coming

from very conservative Christian backgrounds where

evolution is routinely pronounced as evil and regarded

as a litmus test of Christian orthodoxy, the challenge is

to encourage and affirm them in their faith. For non-

believing students, the task is different, but no less

important - encouraging them to keep an open mind -

perhaps even giving this God thing a second look.

When successful in striking just the right balance in the

classroom – speaking the truth in love while also

recognizing and affirming each student where they are

in their spiritual and intellectual journey - something

magical happens. The preconditioned division and

discord that they brought to the classroom begins to

melt away - replaced by understanding and acceptance.

The Importance of Language, Words, and

Emotions

As I suggested above, teaching the actual scientific

facts of evolution is straightforward. However, if the

goal is actual student learning and effective integration,

two practical obstacles come into play - both of which

must be successfully addressed.

The first obstacle is language - the words we use to

communicate meaning and purpose. The unfortunate

reality is that words like randomness, evolution, and

mutation positively drip with ambiguity – frequently

poorly defined and easily misunderstood. The

consequences for relationships can be disastrous as

well-meaning good people talk right past one another

and misunderstanding, confusion, and agitation

escalates. Therefore, it is absolutely critical that terms

like mutation and evolution are precisely defined and

understood by all parties.

The second and perhaps the most significant obstacle

to understanding evolution and mapping a path to

peace is that in addition to being poorly defined, words

such as mutation and evolution often carry enormous

negative emotional baggage. Emotions are powerful

because they typically (at least initially - until we have

counted to ten!) overwhelm rationality. After all, I

doubt you would take it kindly if someone called you a

mutant! In addition, although actually inherently

compatible when properly understood, referencing

seemingly counterintuitive words like random and

evolution in the same sentence with God is likely to

elicit red-faced responses from even some of the most

sedate Christians and secular scientists.

These two things – imprecise definitions and negative

emotions - erect powerful barriers to effective

communication and understanding of evolution.

It has been said that people do not care how much you

know until they know how much you care. In my

experience, this is true. Therefore, the first step in

overcoming resistance to evolution is is to establish

understanding and trust.

At Stake: A Credible Faith

Twenty-first century college students are a savvy and

discerning lot: They can smell a fraud a mile away. On

the other hand, they appreciate a Christian educator

who respects and cares enough about them to speak the

transparent truth regarding controversial subjects like

evolution. In short, they want and deserve the real stuff

– including everything that modern biology and

genetics can teach them. Then, armed with actual

knowledge and understanding, they can intelligently

make up their own minds how to put it all together. My

experience is that they do this very well.

It is truly a sad day in the life of a Christian community

when new understanding and insights into God’s

marvelous creation revealed by biology and genetics -

including evolution - are viewed as a threat to faith. No

doubt there are many legitimate questions to address,

but continued denial of evolution by the Christian

community is a sure-fire losing proposition for the

credibility of the gospel and our Christian faith. We

can, and must do better. The next generation is

depending on us to confidently speak the truth in love -

and with no fear!