IDEAS THAT CONFRONT THEOLOGICAL THOUGHT WITH EVOLUTIONARY THEORY - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The ideas that confront theological thought with evolutionary theory are positions that have developed over time when trying to explain more precisely the origin of life and the evolution of living species.

Both evolutionary thinking and interest in the origin of species have their roots in ancient times. The Greeks, the Romans, the Chinese and the Islamists have begun the search for a concrete explanation about these issues, opposing the ideas of the creation of a particular god.

Source: es.wikipedia.org

From a theological point of view, creationism - described in many religious scriptures - completely rejects the evolution of living species. The debate between biological evolution and creationism is a conflict between science and theology that continues to this day.

The first to give evidence of evolutionary theories was the Frenchman Jean Baptiste Lamarck with his theory of the transmudation of species.

While Lamarck was careful not to be so criticized for the theological stance, his scientific successor, Charles Darwin, did not. Otherwise, he was subjected to humiliation for his theory of natural selection and for his religious unbelief.

Ideas from Jean Baptiste Lamarck

Idea of ​​the transmutation of species

At the beginning of the 19th century, the French naturalist Jean Baptiste Lamarck proposed his theory of the transmutation of species, being the first complete theory to be related to the evolution of living species.

Lamarck did not believe that living things came from a common ancestor, but that species were created from spontaneous generation. In addition, he explained the presence of a "vital force" that gradually converted the more complex species over time.

The French claimed that these gradual changes of the species would be inherited by the next generation, causing a change in the environment. This adaptation he called "the inheritance of acquired characteristics", known as Lamarckism.

The inheritance of acquired characteristics explains that parents transmit to their children traits that they acquired through their relationship with the environment throughout their lives.

Lamarck expounded his law through giraffes: the neck of these mammals was stretched by the need to forage for food in much taller trees.

Lamarck's position on religion

In his time, only the idea of ​​the species created by God (related in the Bible) was accepted; however, Lamarck proposed that organisms had evolved from the simplest and most primitive forms to what are the living species of today.

Lamarck remained attached to religion and never came to question the existence of God; otherwise, he considered that God was the creator of animals, plants, seas and lakes. However, he found a way to be able to explain and present his evolutionary thinking with total care to avoid confrontations with the Church.

Many theologians of the time considered him a "lazy deist" when explaining a theory that was completely outside the spiritual parameters. Also, others considered him of little faith in challenging the scriptures of the Bible.

Although the spontaneous generation theory did not turn out to be entirely true, it is considered the first scientific approach to the theory of evolution.

Charles Darwin ideas

Charles Darwin

The origin of species

Charles Darwin was an English naturalist known for being the scientist who raised the idea of ​​the evolution of living species, thanks to his theory of natural selection. This theory is described in one of his works, entitled The Origin of Species.

In the book, he explains that all species of living beings have evolved - over time - from a common ancestor (a species from which the following species started).

Galapagos finches investigated by Darwin

This gradual evolution occurred through a process of natural selection: environmental conditions play a key role in the development of species.

Darwin explained in his theory that species can be fertile enough for easy reproduction; however, one that can adapt to the environment naturally will survive.

In addition, he explained that it is a slow process, which causes populations to change over time as part of the same adaptation to the environment.

Unlike Lamarck, Darwin proposed a branching tree of life to explain that two different species could share a common ancestor.

In the 1920s through 1940, his theory was accepted after studies and developments in biology. Before that time, the ideas of evolution were explained by other archaic processes or by religion.

Creationism versus evolutionism

Charles Darwin proposed his theory of evolution in the 19th century, during Victorian England; that is to say, in a time marked by technological, industrial and scientific innovations.

However, when Darwin performed his experiments and wrote his renowned work, he knew that the dogmas of the Christian faith would be at odds with his views.

In fact, when he finished his studies, he waited 20 years before publishing his work The Origin of Species. The idea that all living species had not been created by God in seven days, but had evolved over millions of years by a process of natural selection, was synonymous with controversy and discord at that time.

In his youth, Darwin gradually questioned the Bible's book of Genesis (the account of God's Creation) through his scientific investigations.

His atheistic stance at a time when the Anglican Church of England was on the rise unleashed a scandal in society.

Following the publication of his evolutionary theories, the Church conceived his work as one of the most evil ideas in the world. The biologist was subjected to innumerable humiliations, even comparing him to the evil serpent in the Garden of Eden that the Genesis of the Bible narrates.

Acceptance of the theory

With the proposal of the Czech naturalist Gregor Mendel on genetic inheritance - rediscovered in the 20th century - Darwin's theory of natural selection began to be accepted.

Beginning in the 1920s, Darwin's theories of natural selection coupled with Mendel's genetic theory (which had been forgotten over time) were presented as a "modern evolutionary synthesis." The synthesis represents, even today, the modern view on evolution.

However, much of the Christian community today rejects Darwin's theory of evolution because it is incompatible with the biblical account of creation.

Still, Pope Francis publicly defended Darwin's theory of evolution and the Big Bang theory. According to the leader of the Catholic Church, Darwin's scientific ideas do not contradict the divine account; he even fused the two ideas through the notion that Darwinian creation required divine creation to give rise to life.

References

1. Darwin vs God, Pablo Jáuregui, (nd). Taken from elmundo.es
2. "Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace: the same but different?" by Peter J. Bowler, Portal Notebook of Scientific Culture, (nd). Taken from culturacientifica.com
3. The Theological Argument For Evolution, George Murphy, (1986). Taken from asa3.org
4. The theory of evolution responds to the image of the biblical God, Portal Trends 21, (nd). Taken from trends21.net
5. History of evolutionary thought, Wikipedia in Spanish, (nd). Taken from wikipedia.org