Theistic evolution

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following important information is missing from this article or section:
This article mainly presents positions in the Catholic Church; there are no views of Protestant, Jewish or Islamic theists
Help Wikipedia by researching and pasting it .

The term theistic evolution describes a range of perspectives on the tension between theistic religious belief and scientific theories on the origin and evolution of life . Many devout theists believe that a god plans or controls the development of life in some way. Some theists only assume the influence of a god on psychological phenomena, some go so far as to speak of a direct creative intervention by a god in natural processes.

In contrast to advocates of evolutionist creationism , followers of theistic evolution generally do not assume that the Bible is inerrancy . Some scientists and numerous theologians take the view that the theory of evolution and the belief in a creator God are compatible with one another without contradiction. On the other hand, very many believers of the major denominations consider science and faith to be independent of one another. Whether and how far the latter still fall under the umbrella term theistic evolution is controversial.

Basic theological ideas

Classic idea of ​​Creatio continua

In the Christian doctrine of creation, Augustine of Hippo is the inventor of the concept of the so-called creatio continua . Augustine uses this term to make it clear that creation is not yet complete, but is constantly open to the intervention of a god in its laws. Even Newton takes this view. Leibniz , on the other hand, accuses Newton of viewing God as a bad watchmaker. Leibniz is the first, after the Middle Ages, to claim again that the world is strictly causal according to the laws of nature (created by a god at the beginning of the world) and that it is currently closed to the intervention of a god, as it would be expressed in miracles .

Under a more metaphysical perspective, the concept focuses on the creatio continua the ratio of timelessness (eternity) of a creator or creators - for the creator 's all "simultaneously" - for linear temporality of the contingent , accidental creation. The creatio continua (Latin: “continued creation”) is either the preservation and preservation of creation through constant creation (Thomas Aquinas, Summa contra gentiles III, 6) - opposite view: deism - or / and the coincidence of creation and maintenance.

Modern theological conceptions including the theory of evolution

Theistic supporters of a closed natural causality, such as that represented by Leibniz, want to interpret a statement by Augustine to the effect that there are narrow limits to the intervention of a god: “The world is not created in time, but God also created time with the world . ” According to your interpretation of this statement, a god sets the world and time into existence, with this one act of creation the creation is completed and the world continues to develop in time according to the also finally created natural laws. In doing so, they are just claiming that creation was at the beginning of time and not beyond time. In this context, theological aspects of creation of the universe, of life and the soul, which lie outside the temporal and spatial world, are often spoken of. Other interpretations see the emergence of these three aspects as active intervention. Supporters of these interpretations generally distance themselves from the designation of theistic evolution, since they consider their thesis to be completely independent of science and make no statements about evolution itself. However, some directions go so far as to regard biological evolution as a control system of a god with whom he constantly intervenes actively in the development of life.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955) was a distinguished geologist and paleontologist as well as Jesuit priest and wrote extensively on the subject of the inclusion of evolution in a new understanding of Christianity. While initially he was not recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, his works later had considerable influence. His point of view is discussed in Catholic and Protestant seminars. Even if it does not reflect the doctrine of these churches in every detail, it is accepted in principle at least by the Catholic Church. For example, Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI. very close to Teilhard de Chardin's view, which becomes clear, among other things, in a radio lecture from 1968. According to Teilhard de Chardin's view, cosmic evolution, which includes biological evolution as a part, on which in turn a cultural evolution is based, represents the act of divine creation, which is not ended even after the emergence of man, but rather on one point Omega approaches and in which everything is related to Jesus Christ as the divine center. This point Omega would be the final fulfillment of the divine plan of creation, so to speak, in which the whole creation would be spiritualized and filled by God.

Independently of Teilhard de Chardin, Hoimar von Ditfurth developed the same view that the meaning of cosmic evolution as an inner-worldly view of the divine creation process presented in temporality consists in the fact that an otherworldly spiritual principle manifests itself more and more in it. Accordingly, like all previous stages of development, the human being is only viewed as a further transitional being and according to Hoimar von Ditfurth the cosmos will be completely spiritualized at the goal of its development, i.e. enter into a symbiosis with the purely spiritual reality on the other side.

Of course, with regard to this view of de Chardin and von Ditfurth, there is a decisive relationship to Hegelian philosophy, in which even before the discovery of biological evolution, within the framework of a pantheistic and idealistic view, the developmental concept of the world played an important role. For with Hegel, in the context of history, the absolute spirit, understood in the sense of an infinite subjectivity, recognizes itself through a dialectical process of ever higher knowledge at some point, which is then the completion of history and stands in an analogy to the point Omega or the spiritualization of the cosmos .

In Germany, around half of the members of the Roman Catholic Church and also many other large churches and denominations more or less represent one of these directions, since traditionally they have by and large never viewed the Bible as the literal and only authoritative source of transcendent truths. Pope Pius XII made his first statement on modern scientific theories about the development of life . 1950 in the encyclical Humani generis . This encyclical was taken up by John Paul II in 1996 . He spoke of the fact that she interpreted the theory of evolution as a "serious hypothesis" and emphasized that it had become "more than just a hypothesis" in the meantime.

In 2005 there were some statements in circles of the Catholic Church, some of which were viewed as an approximation of some creationist positions of fundamentalist Christianity. In July 2005 , Cardinal Christoph Schönborn published the article Finding design in nature in the New York Times . In it, he did not question the theory of evolution itself, but directed against the interpretation that it was a process without a goal or purpose. Although he initially did not address intelligent design , he later advocated in interviews that it must be allowed in US school lessons to talk about this plan, for which he used the term intelligent design. However, he distanced himself from the charge of representing creationist positions and referred to the view of the Swiss zoologist and anthropologist Adolf Portmann , who named Darwin's deficits. In November 2005, said Paul Poupard , president of the Pontifical Council for Culture , on the question of the intelligent design movement that the creation story of Genesis and Darwin's theory of evolution are fully compatible if the Bible will be interpreted correctly. This is generally seen as a rejection of the intelligent design movement, which may a. rejects the theory of evolution. Pope Benedict XVI shortly thereafter reaffirmed Christoph Schönborn's position and spoke of an “intelligent plan” for the cosmos. It is often assumed that the statements are a reaffirmation of the point of view of the development of life planned by a god, although in the press some statements were seen as direct support of intelligent design because of the similar choice of words.

Relation to the theodicy question

An important aspect in relation to theistic evolution is the fact that it gives at least a partial answer to the age-old theodicy question of how the existence of a benevolent Creator God is to be reconciled with the appalling suffering in the world. Because according to this view, creation is still in the process of becoming. It is not over yet, but has yet to reach its ultimate goal. And we humans, too, as beings who have also emerged from evolution, are shaped by this evolution and are therefore imperfect beings. Hoimar von Ditfurth pointed this out very clearly. And this is also of decisive importance if one assumes that the innermost being of every human being, namely the soul, can at least participate in the perfection of God in principle. Already in the Epistle to the Romans of Paul of Tarsus , i.e. in the Bible, there is an expression in which the latter speaks of the fact that all of creation is suffering from creation pains to this day. Jesus Christ himself speaks in the Gospels about the fact that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which is very small at the beginning, but slowly grows into a tree with a huge crown, which can be related to the development of creation in the sense of salvation history .

Evaluation by natural scientists

Since Teilhard de Chardin and Hoimar von Ditfurth, other prominent natural scientists such as the evolutionary biologist Kenneth Miller , the paleontologist Robert Bakker and Francis Collins , the head of the human genome project , have postulated the view that evolutionary theory and Christian belief can be reconciled without contradiction . Miller and Collins in particular emerged as resolute opponents of creationism and intelligent design. Both are members of the Biologos Foundation , set up by Collins for this purpose , to which other renowned scientists belong and which stands for the compatibility of science and Christian faith. Several Anglican theologians have also submitted some very extensive works on this topic. In addition to John Polkinghorne , Arthur Peacocke , who had previously worked as a university lecturer in biochemistry for over two decades , and the theologian and natural scientist Alister McGrath should be mentioned in particular .

Evangelicalism

From an evangelical point of view, the following speaks against theistic evolution : According to biblical teaching, it was only through human sin that suffering and death came into the world. This means that the evolutionary “end product” of man cannot have arisen after the painful death of many generations of animals.

literature

German

  • Francis Collins (from the English by Arne Feddersen): God and the genes. A scientist decodes the language of God. Verlag Herder, Freiburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-451-06353-4 (The English edition was on the New York Times bestseller list for many weeks)
  • Thomas Christian Kotulla : The reason of the world: How we find what we are looking for. Brunnen Verlag, Giessen 2013, ISBN 978-3765520129 (Amazon best seller)
  • Herrmann Stinglhammer: Introduction to Creation Theology . WBG (Scientific Book Society), Darmstadt 2011, p. 100 f. (and passim).

English

  • Kenneth Miller : Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution. 2000, ISBN 0-06-093049-7
  • Kenneth Miller, J. Levine: Biology: The Living Science. 2002.
  • Kenneth Miller: Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul. 2008, ISBN 978-0-670-01883-3

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Regenbogen / Meyer, Dictionary of Philosophical Terms (2005) / creatio continua
  2. ↑ Teilhard de Chardin: Man in the Cosmos, 1955.
  3. ↑ a b Hoimar von Ditfurth: We are not only from this world , 1981.
  4. ↑ Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: Phenomenology of the Spirit , 1807.
  5. ↑ - ( Memento of May 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ^ Pope Pius XII .: Humani generis . Circulars to the Venerable Brothers, Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Pastors who live in peace and communion with the Apostolic See on some false views that threaten to undermine the foundations of Catholic doctrine (August 12, 1950).
  7. ^ Pope John Paul II: Christian image of man and modern evolution theories . Message to the members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on the occasion of their plenary assembly on October 22, 1996.
  8. ↑ Discovering the plan in nature According to Schönborn's guest commentary in the New York Times
  9. ↑ http://oe1.orf.at/inforadio/72955.html ( Memento from February 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ - ( Memento of February 3, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Schönborn: “I'm not a creationist”. In: derStandard.at. July 11, 2005, accessed December 8, 2017 .
  12. ↑ - ( Memento of August 8, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Cardinal Christoph Schönborn: About biodiversity
  13. ↑ Pope Benedict XVI. on the “intelligent plan of the cosmos”: Pope speaks of the “intelligent” plan of the cosmos