HUMAN EVOLUTION AND THE PUBLIC

By Robert J. Schneider
for the Anglican Centrist

Recently the Gallup Organization released the results of its latest (2006) poll of American opinion on the issue of human evolution. Since 1980, respondents have been asked to choose among the following:

1) Humans developed over millions of years, but God guided the evolutionary process.
2) Humans developed over millions of years; God had no part in it.
3) God created humans as is within the past 10,000 years.

In 1980 the results were: (1) 38%, (2) 9%, and (3) 44%. In 2008, the breakdown had changed only a little: (1) 36%, (2) 14%, and (3) 44%. These figures call for some explanation. Since 1980, the evidence for human evolution has grown tremendously. More hominid fossils have been found and these offer a better visual picture of evolution. More importantly, studies in comparative genomics have conclusively established our relationship as a species to other primates and helped tremendously to map the pathways from lower life forms that have led to the emergence of homo sapiens. Dr. Francis Collins, evangelical Christian and just retired Director of the Human Genome Project, has made the case very well in his 2007 book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, and I recommend this fine personal testimony of the complementary relationship between science and Christian Faith. (Other evidence is summarized in my previously published web essay, “Human Evolution and the Image of God” at http://community.berea.edu/scienceandfaith/essay06.asp.)

Why, then, in the face of so much compelling evidence from nature for the evolution of life, including human evolution, does nearly one-half of the American public reject this concept and hold on to the notion that humankind was directly created and that the earth is less than 10,000 years old, defying the equally compelling evidence from geology that our planet is billions of years older?

Here are some factors I believe are at work here. In the decade before 1980 American society became caught up in a “culture war” as many people of traditional faith perspectives watched the nation’s moral compass spin wildly in the face of changes in social relationships and behavior. Young earth creationists, promoting a movement that only emerged in the 1960s, convinced a large portion of the conservative and fundamental Christian population that “belief” in evolution was responsible for this assault on traditional values. They persuaded these Americans that one must adopt a literalistic reading of Genesis 1 as historical and scientific in order to be a true Christian. Thus, when scientists reject their belief in a young earth and separate creation many faithful Christians see this as an attack on the Bible, the very heart of their faith. It has proven very difficult to change the minds of believers when they have been taught to believe that they must choose between God and evolution.

Also, a few conservative Christians are prepared to accept the evolution of other species, but the vast majority draws the line at human evolution. At some fundamental gut level they simply are unable to accept the fact that we may be descended from some lower life form, especially those clownish chimpanzees.

More fundamentally, other polls have shown only about 5% to 7% of the public really understand what science is and what scientists do. Thus, it is difficult for most people to understand why science has come to adopt an evolutionary paradigm for its study of the natural world. Such ignorance has also made it easier for anti-evolutionists, including, since the late 1980s, “Intelligent Design” proponents, to paint the scientific community as “dogmatic” and unwilling to look at “alternatives” to evolution. Suspicion of the scientific enterprise, regrettably, has grown in recent years, a trend that if continued could eventually lead to America yielding its primacy in the natural sciences.

A few years ago, the Episcopal Church’s Committee on Science, Technology and Faith, became concerned that Episcopalians by and large shared this ignorance about science, and even more distressing, showed little understanding of the doctrine of creation, even though we profess it every time we recite the Nicene Creed. To contribute to their education the Committee created “A Catechism of Creation: An Episcopal Understanding,” which is accessible at www.episcopalchurch.org/science/ (click “Catechism of Creation”). The Committee also produced a resolution, passed by General Convention 2006, that expressed the compatibility between the science of evolution and the doctrine of creation; and called on Episcopalians to promote and defend good science education (see “Affirm Evolution and Good Science” at http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_search.pl.).

I believe that it is incumbent upon all Episcopal educators to learn the basics about the doctrine of creation and its relationship to the work of science. God’s two books, the Book of Scripture and the Book of Nature, come from the same source, the creating Word of God, and we need to help the faithful develop a better understanding and appreciation of this fundamental truth.