Creation and Evolution: Addressing Essential Questions
Peter Kreeft addresses 5 essential questions: 1. Is creation possible? 2. What difference does creation make? 3. Is evolution possible? 4. What difference does evolution make? 5. Does evolution contradict creation? He argues that creation by God is possible and imbues nature and humanity with meaning and purpose. While evolution may also be possible, it does not preclude the involvement of a creator. Kreeft finds no logical conflicts between evolution and creation, suggesting they could both involve God in complementary ways.
Is Creation Possible?
Initially the idea that the universes came out of nothing was thought absurd and irrational by Greeks as, “out of nothing nothing comes”. However, the response goes like this: the laws of nature cannot bind the transcendent creator of nature. An infinite power can produce the infinite change from nonbeing to being. The idea of God creating out of nothing is not irrational as it does not claim that anything came into being without rational cause. God did not pop into existence and nature had an adequate cause - God!
What Difference Does the Doctrine of Creation Make?
The doctrine of creation affects the way we think about God. If he is creator then he must be infinitely powerful, immeasurably wise, a great artist, and totally generous. This doctrine also affects our concept of nature and ourselves.
| Focus Area | Impact of the Doctrine of Creation |
|---|---|
| God | Infinitely powerful, immeasurably wise, a great artist, and totally generous. |
| Nature | Intelligible, Good, and Real. |
| Humanity | We owe our existence to God and have no rights over the Author of our existence. |
The Concept of Nature and Historic Heresies
If nature is created by God then it is intelligible (notably science arose in the theistic west), good, and real. Historically, Christians have rejected as heresy Gnosticism and Manichaeism. Gnosticism was a second century heresy claiming that salvation could be gained through secret knowledge; Gnostics believed that the material world (matter) is evil and that only the spirit is good. Manichaeism is a third century dualistic heresy holding that there is a struggle between light and darkness, where redemption is possible through an ascetic life.
The Concept of Humanity
If we owe our existence to God then we have no rights over God. As Kreeft posits: "how can a character have rights over the author of the book they appear in?"
Evolutionary Creationism and Science
Evolutionary Creationism is a position that is both one of faith on the one hand, and science on the other. This worldview seeks to redefine the age-old concept of “Theistic Evolution”. It seems people believe God is still involved in the world even if we can only detect natural processes in an objective sense. For example, if you tracked the history of a loaf of bread sitting on your table you wouldn’t find anything supernatural—the wheat was grown, harvested, and baked—yet believers still thank God for the food He has provided.
Harmonizing Faith and Science
The goal is to understand how the position of a creator can be aligned with the general scientific view. Evolutionary Creationists believe that nature and its laws do not preclude the involvement of a creator, even when describing the history of the world through natural processes.