What Scripture says
Scripture is clear on several things:
- God is the Creator of everything. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). “All things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16, ESV).
- Creation has purpose and order. Living things are made “according to their kinds” (Genesis 1:24), and God calls creation “very good” (Genesis 1:31).
- God works through creation. God commands the land to “bring forth living creatures” (Genesis 1:24). He sends his Spirit and creatures are created (Psalm 104:30).
- Humans are unique. We are made “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27), formed “of dust from the ground” with God’s breath of life (Genesis 2:7).
- Sin and death entered through Adam. “Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin” (Romans 5:12; see also 1 Corinthians 15:21–22).
What Scripture doesn’t say directly is how God created living things, or over what time.
What the evidence says
Science
The theory of common descent says that all living things share ancestors and changed over very long periods, through processes such as mutation and natural selection. It is accepted by the great majority of biologists: in a 2009 Pew survey, about 97% of scientists said living things evolved over time.
The mainstream case rests on several independent lines of evidence.
Fossils
The fossil record shows life changing over time, with simpler forms in older rocks. It contains forms with features between major groups:
- Tiktaalik (found in 2004), with features between fish and four-legged animals. Researchers predicted where to find it based on the age of rocks.
- Whale ancestors, such as Pakicetus and Ambulocetus, showing land mammals gradually adapting to water.
- Archaeopteryx, with features of both dinosaurs and birds.
Anatomy and geography
- The same basic limb bones appear in human arms, bat wings, whale flippers and horse legs, adapted for different uses.
- Species are distributed in patterns that fit descent: Australia’s marsupials, for example, resemble each other more than they resemble similar animals on other continents.
DNA
Genetics provides the strongest evidence for common descent:
- Species fall into a nested hierarchy: groups within groups. Comparing DNA produces the same family tree as comparing anatomy.
- Humans and other primates share broken genes in the same places. For example, we share with other apes a damaged gene for making vitamin C.
- Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes and other great apes have 24. Human chromosome 2 shows signs of having formed from two ancestral chromosomes fused end to end.
Evolution observed
Change within species is directly observed: bacteria evolving resistance to antibiotics; finches on the Galápagos changing beak size over a few years of drought; and Richard Lenski’s experiment with E. coli, running since 1988, in which one population evolved the ability to digest citrate.
Young-earth and intelligent design responses
Many Christian scientists dispute parts of this picture:
- Change within kinds, but not common descent. Young-earth creationists accept that species change and adapt, sometimes rapidly, but argue there is no evidence for one kind changing into another.
- Common design. Similarities can reflect a common Designer reusing good designs, just as engineers reuse parts.
- Limits of mutation. Some argue random mutations and selection can’t produce complex new structures or large amounts of new genetic information (see 2.13).
- Gaps and interpretation. They argue fossil transitions are fewer and more debatable than claimed, and that the same evidence can be read within a young-earth framework.
These views have a minority of scientific defenders and are rejected by most of the scientific community, but they should be stated fairly.
Philosophy
It helps to separate two things that often get lumped together:
- Evolution as a biological process: change over time and common descent.
- Evolution as a worldview: the claim that the process was unguided, purposeless and all there is.
The second is a philosophical claim, not a scientific result. Science can study how living things change; it can’t determine whether God guided the process. Unguided, purposeless evolution clearly contradicts a Creator. Evolution as a process is where Christians disagree.
Christian responses to Darwin were mixed from the start. The American botanist Asa Gray, a devout Christian and Darwin’s friend, promoted his theory. The conservative theologian B. B. Warfield thought evolution could be compatible with Scripture if God was understood as working through it. The Catholic Church has said since 1950 that evolution of the human body is compatible with faith, while holding that God creates each human soul.
Where they meet
Christians hold three main positions:
| View | Age of the earth | Common descent? |
|---|---|---|
| Young-earth creation | About 6,000–10,000 years | No; change only within created kinds |
| Old-earth (progressive) creation | About 4.5 billion years | No; God created new kinds at different times |
| Evolutionary creation (theistic evolution) | About 4.5 billion years | Yes; God created through evolution |
All three affirm that God is Creator. The disagreement is about method and time.
What’s still open
- Adam and Eve. Evolutionary creationists must explain how a historical Adam fits. Proposals exist but are debated (see 2.6).
- Death before the Fall. If evolution is true, animals died for millions of years before humans sinned (see 2.7).
- Genesis 1–2. How literally these chapters should be read (see 2.5).
- The science. The mechanisms of evolution, and how much they can explain, are still researched and debated, including by scientists who accept common descent.
These are hard questions, and each view has costs.
Bottom line
Unguided, purposeless evolution contradicts a Creator. Whether God used a process is where Christians split: young-earth and old-earth creationists say no; theistic evolutionists say yes but face hard questions on Adam and death before the Fall. The science should be presented fairly, and so should the tension. This is rated Debated.