As naturalistic explanations of observable phenomena come to light, God is backed into a smaller and smaller corner of the universe. When it was discovered that lightning is caused by the buildup of opposite charge between clouds, or between clouds and the ground, God was deposed as the explanation for the phenomenon of lightning. When we learned that comets are the remnants of the formation of our solar system and are nothing but dirty balls of ice in highly elliptical orbits, they ceased to be signs from God.
Similarly, evolution has explained, in natural terms, the development of all species of life on earth, from its simplest to most complex forms, so God is squeezed into being the explanation only for the initial genesis of life. At least until science explains that, too.
So how do Christian apologists respond to this ever-shrinking domain wherein God remains the so-called explanation? Some take a fighting stance and claim that evolution is "only a theory" and remains unproven. They claim that, despite all evidence to the contrary, the earth is really only 6,000 years old.
Others, however, take a tack that is more accepting of scientific reality. Okay, they say, evolution is true, but this only means that God used evolution to do his thing, not that He doesn't exist.
But what is the result of this concession? Simply this: God is unnecessary. To say that God works through evolution is to have him on both sides of the equation, and anyone who learned basic algebra knows that you need to simplify equations by canceling out unnecessary entities. A + B = C + B is going to be reduced to A + B - B = C, and then A = C. God can safely be removed from the equation. As an explanation of anything, he is wholly unnecessary.
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NewScientist - May 28, 2009, by Amanda Gefter
The Discovery Institute – the Seattle-based headquarters of the intelligent design movement – has just launched a new website, Faith and Evolution, which asks, can one be a Christian and accept evolution? The answer, as far as the Discovery Institute is concerned, is a resounding: No.
The new website appears to be a response to the recent launch of the BioLogos Foundation, the brainchild of geneticist Francis Collins, former head of the Human Genome Project and rumoured Obama appointee-to-be for head of the National Institutes of Health. Along with "a team of scientists who believe in God" and some cash from the Templeton Foundation, Collins, an evangelical Christian who is also a staunch proponent of evolution, is on a crusade to convince believers that faith and science need not be at odds. He is promoting "theistic evolution" – the belief that God (the prayer-listening, proactive, personal God of Christianity) chose to create life by way of evolution.
It sounds like a nice idea, but to my mind any time you try to reconcile science and religion by rejecting Stephen Jay Gould's notion of "non-overlapping magisteria" and instead try shoehorning them into a single worldview, something suffers. My concern is that science will take the hit – and Collins's speculative arguments about divine intervention via quantum uncertainty seem dangerously poised for the punch. The Discovery Institute's concern, on the other hand, is that Christianity will take the hit. "For Christians," they write on their website, "mainstream theistic evolution raises challenges to traditional doctrines about God's providence, the Fall and the detectability of God's design in nature." For them, reconciling evolution and religious faith is simply a hopeless endeavour.
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SkyNews - May 19, 2009, by Alex Watts
Scientists have unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossilised skeleton of a monkey hailed as the missing link in human evolution.
The search for a direct connection between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom has taken 200 years - but it was presented to the world today at a special news conference in New York.
The discovery of the 95%-complete 'lemur monkey' - dubbed Ida - is described by experts as the "eighth wonder of the world".
They say its impact on the world of palaeontology will be "somewhat like an asteroid falling down to Earth".
Researchers say proof of this transitional species finally confirms Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, and the then radical, outlandish ideas he came up with during his time aboard the Beagle.
Sir David Attenborough said Darwin "would have been thrilled" to have seen the fossil - and says it tells us who we are and where we came from.
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