Welcome to the first day of Spring 2009? As the birds return and hardier flowers take a cautious peek out of the earth we can be grateful for the change of seasons and the world God has created. Hold on -- am I allowed to affirm my belief in a creator God in a public forum? Will people think less of me for speaking of the Creator if I don't say something about evolution at the same time?
Recently Gary Goodyear, the federal government's Minister of State for Science and Technology declined to discuss his Christian convictions in the face of accusations that they might influence his decisions as a science minister. Goodyear felt that his beliefs were irrelevant to the way he did his job. Since then he has said that he believes in evolution, as though that assertion ever had anything to do with government cuts to science funding.
In recent years I have noticed an increasing ignorance and even antagonism directed toward religious people when it comes to issues of science. The assumption seems to be that if you believe in God you will not believe in evolution or take other scientific issues seriously. Granted, there will always be religious fundamentalists who assert that God literally created the world in seven days, but there are countless examples of scientists who are believers, as well as those who believe in a creator and a complex and envolving natural order. John Polkinhorne was a leading physicst who became an Anglican priest and continues to lecture and write on issues of faith and science. Francis Collins, the scientist who was instrumental in deciphering the genetic code is a Christian.
Today in the Globe and Mail newspaper there is an article in which Dr. Denis Lamoureux is interviewed. He hold doctorates in evolutionary biology and theology. I heard Lamoureux a few years ago in Halifax. The writer also speaks with Rev. Ambury Stuart who is a United Church minister and a climate change scientist. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090320.wxlscience20/BNStory/lifeMain/
During my first pastorate in outport Newfoundland we got into a spirited discussion at a bible study about creation and evolution. One participant was sure we couldn't be descended from apes. An older woman named Pearl offered "All I knows is dat some of us looks like 'em, and some of us don't!"
Have you made your peace between faith and science? Can you reconcile belief in a creator God and evolution?
Persoanlly I don't have a problem reconciling evolution with my faith. I think myth also has its place and so neither do I have difficulty holding on to the 7days of creation. Both views offer a sense of awe and wonder and both are miraculous. Both seem to speak of God to me.
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