Evolutionary Theory, The Concept

Evolution, the Concept

     Natural selection is the filter used by nature to guide living organisms to a successful fit with their environment. Darwin called evolution ‘natural’ because it appears to be undirected and takes place without intervention. A river flowing downhill is called a natural occurrence, and life adapting to its environment is just as natural. We are more comfortable with the natural process of water flowing downhill, than with the natural selection of living forms, because water flowing downhill is an easy observation and fits neatly into our pace of awareness.. The downhill water concept takes only a second to observe, involves only a simple subject and requires very little conceptualization. The evolution of living forms, on the other hand, takes place at a pace well below our observational rate, involves an extremely complex set of observational subjects, and requires considerable conceptualization.

     Religious explanations for the creation of various species often conflict with scientific findings. Paradoxically, genetics, as a scientific discipline, began in an Augustinian monastery where a monk; Gregor Mendel, used careful observation and a statistical analysis of pea plants to provided evidence that hereditary characteristics are passed from generation to generation as particulate factors. His paper, published in 1866, (seven years after Darwin published his “Origin of Species”), was a masterly use of scientific method. Both Mendel’s work and Darwin’s ideas, however, remained unappreciated for years. Mendel’s work remained an unread paper for 31 years. During the same time period, Darwin’s conclusions were embroiled in a lengthy confrontation with alternate explanations based upon the idea that organs and other living characteristics evolved, or were discarded, based upon their use or disuse. These ideas remained a viable alternative until Mendel’s papers were rediscovered in 1900. The rediscovery of Mendel’s work revitalized the idea that heredity could be passed by discrete units and that it could be the basis for evolutionary changes. Mendel’s observations and conclusions gave new support to Darwin’s point of view.  The controversy between mutationists, (Mendalians), and biometricians, (Lemarkians), approached resolution in the 1920s when mathematical arguments showed that variations in living characteristics could be explained by Mendel’s laws, and that small variations could become cumulative effects and result in major evolutionary changes as suggested by Darwin.

     The fact that Darwinian ideas became dominant because of scientific observations made by a religious monk, should help those who see science as the enemy of religion understand that science is simply a careful examination of our surroundings followed by experimentation to check the validity of any conclusions reached. When nature tells us something different than our religious teachings we either have to choose between opposing views or seek a compromise. The theory of evolution is the result of many compromises, some by science as new evidence required old theories to be modified, and some by religious thinkers as simple explanations became inadequate. St. Augustine allowed that some life forms must have developed after the great biblical flood since Noah’s ark could not have been large enough to hold all observable contemporary forms. Theologians of the middle ages, like St. Thomas Aquinas, also accepted the possibility that living things could be generated from inanimate matter and that such a possibility was not incompatible with religious teaching.