A great story from a young physician and his journey to EC.
A physician and dad finally takes the time to examine his beliefs and questions about evolution and the Bible, finding they are worth the journey.
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Misaligned chromosomes are typically devastating for an organism, but in human development, this fusing of chromosomes had participated in our uniqueness. - David Goodman
It merely shows us something of how He operates. - Francis Collins
That sounds like providence to me. Evolution is a subset (a very large subset 
) of God’s providence.
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I am comforted to know that God is no stranger to working through slow, progressive modification. That is the message I want my sons to know. I want them to know a God who is big enough for their doubts and powerful enough to transform them slowly over time into the men he would have them to be.
Thanks for this post. I feel the same with my two sons, 12 and 9, who have been asking me hard questions about the Bible and science. It’s harder yet because our church is strongly hard-line- YEC, and much of what they hear seems to contradict science. Patience and forgiveness, mercy and grace take away the fear of getting things wrong, and improve delight in learning.
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I’m sure this is tough. I am pretty concerned about my kids hearing different messages from church and home. Perhaps you could encourage your pastors to at least look into some of the arguments for OEC if not EC. There is a robust and respectable cadre of theologians that are not YEC.
This summer I organized a group of pastors and friends that went through Four Views on Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design. We had some excellent discussions and some guys moved to a more open position.
Don’t be scared to engage with sincerity.
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Dale, good point. I had been thinking the same thought, but felt like I had been changing the article too much up to the point of publication to try and make this point more clearly.
Human chromosome 2 is a very interesting example of an event that is confusingly “natural” in its appearance, but so incredible it begs for input from God. It helps me to see God as a meticulous crafter who brought us to humanity in a very different way than the church typically imagines.
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I am concerned that Evolutionism has become so prominent in our culture precisely because Christians have lacked the humble confidence to engage with evolution without the fear of upending their faith.
Excellent! This is my concern as well, though from the opposite direction. There are many scientists like Collins and myself who have many reasons to see something of value in the Christian message. But a Christianity which refuses to look at how evolution impacts Christian theology simply will not work for us. For me the reality is that I could never accept Christianity without evolution. Atheism always has and still looks quite reasonable and even appealing to me (I actually think it may be too good to be true). In evolution I find the perfect answer to the oldest and greatest challenge to theism from Epicurus 300BC known as the problem of evil and suffering. Because of that I can come down on this issue on the side of theism and Christianity, for not being raised Christian, there is little else to compel me to that side of the question.
P.S. For more details if interested, here is my reasons for belief and here is my take on Collins’ book and some of our difference.
Hey, I’ll need some warning if you intend to keep dipping into your sense of humor like that. goes to get tissue to wipe coffee off the monitor
I am glad you enjoyed the comment (though sorry about your computer screen). Maybe you will find it even more funny when I tell you that I said that dead-pan serious with no humor in my thoughts at all. After all, Christianity does have a lot baggage that gets rather tiresome at times.
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Most abuse of power comes from those in power and at times that has been the church. Most of the baggage is the baggage of humanity itself.
For me it isn’t that abuse of power or humanity’s dark side which keeps me on this side of the divide. I still think there is something in our nature which gives rise to God belief. I’m just unconvinced that anyone knows exactly what that may be and my inclination is to favor natural sources.
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YES! That is a fair assessment which I think many atheists don’t like to admit.
For that reason I can accept the baggage. But it doesn’t change the fact that it can be tempting to leave such baggage behind you when you are tired of it.
that would be great! I approached my pastor and an elder friend with the suggestion that having that book on hand would be helpful for anyone who struggles in college. However, they did not seem interested at the time. Taking a study through the book sounds like a good idea. Thanks. BTW did you work with Loma Linda teaching in Africa?
If only that were even possible. Unfortunately seeing evil at work in others is always easier than in oneself. There are a thousand ways to slice “them” from “us”, but none of them contains the magic to leave us free from evil.
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Randy–I volunteer with the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons which is a training program accredited through Loma Linda, so in a roundabout way…yes, but I have no affiliation with Loma Linda University.
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what is evolutionism?
From wiki:
Evolutionism is a term used (often derogatorily) to denote the [theory of evolution] …
The term is most often used by creationists to describe adherence to the scientific consensus on evolution as equivalent to a secular religion.[4][5] The term is very seldom used within the scientific community, since the scientific position on evolution is accepted by the overwhelming majority of scientists.
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It’s analogous to the difference between science and scientism.
so it is a religion???
That is the accusatory position of other varieties of creationists.
it at least serves the function of a religion, giving us an origin myth, and it has high priests who wear funny clothes and speak in a funny language, even latin sometimes
and when people disagree with the evolution, they are cast out into the dark like a bunch of heretics
it also promises us the possibility of moral perfection and immortality through gene editing, which can be brought about by making generous contributions to the church of evolution
i am not saying it is a religion but it is sure quacking and waddling well
Like I said, accusatory.