Are humans the result of Intelligent Design or random chance?
There shouldn’t be a dispute between religion and science concerning the origin of life on earth and how it evolved over time. Religion supports that God created life and above all human beings in His image, man and woman. Observing the physical visible world we can perceive His omnipotence i.e. His creative power and wisdom. However, there are so many things which we cannot really grasp about God’s creating a vast cosmos, his plan and motivation. Science’s approach about the creation of the world is based on measurable physical laboratorial evidence related to matter, so taking distance from religion or any sentimental emotional approach. We cannot arbitrarily exclude God from the process of evolution i.e. because we might be atheists. It is an accepted fact nowadays that the Bible uses symbols and metaphors in many cases in order to define time or explain things. One “day” could be thousands of years in the long process of creation. This is only one small example that these two fields can agree on many matters and not oppose each other.
Fossils prove that evolution is a natural phenomenon that cannot be questioned, while faith is a human phenomenon that is being expressed throughout religious history and is being observed in people’s life and action. Both creationism and evolution have a common basis that doesn’t allow them to undermine each other, but to support each other. We can see “fossils” of faith recorded in human history and tradition throughout the world, from time immemorial. There is an ungodly evolution and a theistic evolution that justifiably believes that the God-Creator must be involved in everything and that also includes evolution. Creation follows a purpose and God is the guiding force behind that purpose. Otherwise, how could it be explained that the human being was created at the end of a long circle of time right at the point when everything was there ready to welcome the appearance of man. “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” - Isaac Newton (1642-1727), Principia (1687) The power of religion cannot be put above the power of a God-Creator whose attributes haven’t fully been revealed by religion. However, it is also appropriate to describe God according to Christian faith, Father or Parent, rather than to totally disclose God from human affairs. A parental figure cannot be abstract. “I belong to the group of scientists who do not subscribe to a conventional religion but nevertheless deny that the universe is a purposeless accident. Through my scientific work I have come to believe more and more strongly that the physical universe is put together with an ingenuity so astonishing that I cannot accept it merely as a brute fact. There must, it seems to me, be a deeper level of explanation. Whether one wishes to call that deeper level ‘God’ is a matter of taste and definition.”
– Paul Davies
Βοth sides, religion and science agree that the cosmos and life are astonishing and mind-boggling. It’s not possible to explain life by sheer scientific knowledge. You cannot but feel fascinated by the incredible harmony, biodiversity and variety in nature, the duality and interconnections within the ecosystems and the relationships surrounded by incredible beauty, and interdependence. And all that should be the result of random chance? To believe that let us follow this analogy, imagine that in a store house there is a sudden explosion and the result is a wonderful mansion with a beautiful garden and swimming pool! Does it make sense? However, if that happens, and you are just an observer who happens to receive this gift of a mansion with a swimming pool, wouldn’t you wish to meet the donor of this property and relate to him as a sign of gratitude. My common sense is affirmative, and I would like to meet that person face to face and express my feelings to him. “They are two windows through which we look at the world. Religion deals with our relationship with our creator, with each other, the meaning and purpose of life, and moral values; science deals with the make-up of matter, expansion of galaxies, evolution of organisms. They deal with different ways of knowing. I feel that science is compatible with religious faith in a personal, omnipotent and benevolent God.”- Francisco Ayala, Evolutionary Geneticist
This debate is endless, because it encapsulates two crucial perspectives which are our trust and acceptance towards science as something tangible and measurable and our approach to religion which incorporates a spiritual dimension that requires faith and spiritual perception. Is there any spirituality in science? It all depends on the worldview and the orientation of the researcher and scientist, if he/she is a devotee or not. Having said so, it is what makes the difference between an atheist and a believer. By the same token, the very essence and meaning of science is knowledge and knowledge should lead to wisdom and higher awareness of the world we live in. Interestingly, the essence and meaning of religion is associated with the connection to God through a love relationship, a very word you won’t find in science. However, it’s only the essence of love which can save the world, lead to a higher awareness and wisdom and finally to peace, inner peace and world peace. This is the difference between science and faith. Nevertheless, true world peace can only be realised if the two sides come together and follow the pathway of convergence and unity.
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