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The Evolution Dialogues:. Science, Christianity, and the Quest for Understanding. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Program of Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion. The American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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The Evolution Dialogues: Science, Christianity, and the Quest for Understanding The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Program of Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion
The American Association for the Advancement of Science • World’s oldest general scientific society • World’s largest general scientific society • Represents some 10 million scientists worldwide • Publisher of Science • Founded in 1880 by Thomas Edison • One million readers per week
AAAS Mission • To advance science and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all people
AAAS Program of Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion (DoSER) • Contributes to the level of scientific understanding in religious communities • Promotes multidisciplinary education and scholarship of the ethical and religious implications of advances in science and technology
DoSER also seeks to: • Increase scientific engagement in the dialogue on science, ethics, and religion • Facilitate collaboration among scientists, ethicists, and religion scholars and leaders • Further public understanding of the dialogue on science, ethics, and religion
History of evolutionary theory • Relationship between Christianity and evolution • The nature of science and Christian ways of knowing • The history of life
A Period of Unprecedented Scientific Discovery • In the late 18th century: • Fossils discovered in Russia, Europe, and North America • Overseas travel revealed unfamiliar plants and animals • Patterns uncovered in layers of rocks
Rethinking the Age of the Earth • Biblical writings: 6000 years old • Estimated time based on lineages • Compte de Buffon: 75,000 years old • Data on heating and cooling of iron and other materials • James Hutton: Millions of years old • Observed weathering and erosion • Charles Lyell: Millions of years old • Studied rock layers
Fossils of non-existent species Evolution (change over time) was occurring Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Transmutation: the change from less perfect into more perfect Pondering the Succession of Life
Darwin Makes His Contribution • Articulated the mechanism of evolution: • Individuals with traits more adaptive in their particular environment would be more successful • This mechanism is natural selection
The Seamless Blending of all Knowledge • Western understanding of the world based on the bible, nature, and history • In 1650, Archbishop James Ussher dated the creation of the world to 4004 B.C.
The World as inferred from the Bible • Special Creation • God created each living thing in its ideal form or “kind” • Humans created in God’s image • The Great Chain of Being • All creatures ordered from worms to human beings, through angels, to God.
An Evolving Sense of History • Geologists: • Evidence suggested a much older Earth • Religious thinkers: • How to interpret the first chapter of Genesis • Day-Age theory • Gap theory • More generally: • Shift towards importance of empirical evidence to scientific pursuits
Darwin’s Religious Views • Best described as agnostic • Did not believe the world was a result of the evolutionary process alone • But could not trust the human mind to grasp the true nature of existence
Evolution in Action • All species related through a common ancestor • Distinct species result from incremental changes to traits over millions of years
Natural Selection • Process itself is not random • Response to environmental conditions • Changes to DNA is random • Mutation: changes to DNA • Occasionally causes beneficial changes in traits • Increased reproductive success • Trait endures through subsequent generations
Other Evolutionary Mechanisms • Sexual selection • Females prefer to mate with most impressive male • Genetic drift • The genetic structure of a population changes randomly over time.
Microevolution and Macroevolution • Microevolution • The small-scale, observable change over time that occurs within a species • Macroevolution • The production of new species through evolutionary processes
Evidence for Evolution • Homologies • Anatomical structures that are similar across species • Transitional fossils • Records in stone of the change within species, across species and across lines that separate one type of body plan from another
Focus on Current Research • Biological evolution • Widely accepted by scientists • However: • Details are still debated • Questions remain in relation to evolution • When did the various species first evolve? • How much is the evolution of one species related to the evolution of another? • How did life originate?
A Topic of Personal Interest • On the Origin of Species published in 1859 • Book quickly sold out • Challenged understanding of God as creator • Raised questions about origins of human morality • Responses varied widely
Rejection • Many believed: • Change in nature part of God’s plan • Darwin’s theory contradicted this • Theory of Evolution: • Lacked sufficient evidence • Conflicted with a literal reading of Genesis
Qualified Support • Some colleagues: • Supported old Earth theory and natural selection • But not human evolution
Enthusiastic Support • Some of the scientific community • Some of the Christian community • Reverend Charles Kingsley • God could work through evolution
Evolution of Scientific and Public Opinion • Evolution widely accepted within 15 years • Natural selection not fully accepted until the 20th century • Neither were particularly controversial (after initial hubbub) • Used by public to justify unscientific views • Labeling of poor and uneducated as “unfit”
Evolving Christian Responses • Initially, no major issues among Christians except Catholics • Catholic immigrants labeled “unfit” by the eugenics movement • No major issues among other religious groups • No official resistance to evolution in U.S.
Build-up Toward Backlash • Rise of fundamental Christianity • Stability of traditional society challenged • Rise of industrialism • After-math of civil war • Women’s suffrage • Immigration • Increase in number of children receiving public secondary education
Evolution on Trial • Law passed in 1925 criminalizing the teaching of evolution in Tennessee • Scopes Monkey Trial • Law stood for forty years • Four other states banned teaching of evolution in public schools • Individual districts banned teaching of human evolution
What Science Is • A process through which to understand the natural world
Levels of Scientific Knowledge • Facts • Observations that have been confirmed again and again • Hypothesis • A tentative proposal used to explain data • Theory • An explanation of how nature works that encompasses many tested hypotheses
The Construction of Knowledge About Evolution • Darwin published after years of research • Studied pigeons using observations, experiments and correspondence • Hypothesized that pigeons were a single species • Bred pigeons from different breeds and produced fertile offspring.
Certainty and Uncertainty • Scientists must remain flexible • New data can require new hypotheses • Even theories can change • Changes to theories are accepted if they: • Fit experimental evidence gathered over years • Explain observations that conflict with previous theories • Predict further data
Non-scientific Interpretations of Science • Claims that science supports non-scientific worldviews • Theism • Atheism • Science is only one way of knowing.
Foundations of Christianity • The Bible • The foundation of Christian belief • Revelation • A source of Christian knowledge • Tradition • Biblical interpretations, theology, church government, religious practices • Reason • A gift from God that leads to deeper understanding • Experience • Everyday life, observations of the world, religious experiences
Jesus According to the Gospels • A rabbi and healer who preached God’s love • Seen as threat to social order; arrested, tried, and crucified • Appeared in the flesh three days later and after forty days, ascended to Heaven
Christian Belief • Christianity • World’s largest religion (2 billion) • Jesus the Messiah, God’s chosen one • Christians are called to: • Love God and others • Follow the example of Jesus • Unity with God is possible with repentance
Defining Religion • The pursuit of answers to life’s “big questions • A search for reality beyond scientific exploration
Faith as the Starting Point • Systems of knowledge are built through: • Shared assumptions • Judgments • Experiences over time • No intentional testing of doctrine
Contested Knowledge • Disagreement and Controversy within Christianity • Biblical inerrancy • Bible is without error in every detail • Word “day” means 24-hours • Biblical infallibility • Bible is correct in what it teaches • Can include allegory, metaphor, and parable
Diversity Beyond Measure • 1.8 million species • Estimated actual total between 4 million and 15 million
One Big Family • All species contain DNA • Genes are operational units of DNA • DNA sequences similar between species • DNA differences reflect “relatedness” • Similar traits also reflect common descent • But convergent evolution also produces similar characteristics
Life’s Origins • The Big Bang Theory • Predominant explanation for origin of the universe • Single-celled life appeared 3.5 - 4 billion years ago • Defining a living thing • Acquires and uses energy • Membrane separates it from surroundings • Reproduces
The Arrival of Plants and Animals • Soil and bacteria built up on Earth’s surface • Simple plants and fungi emerged • Over next couple billion years, eukaryotes appeared • 1 billion years ago, first multi-celled animals formed eukaryotic cells • 500 million years ago, first animals with spines evolved