The Implications of Evolutionary Biology for Religious Belief

Abstract

Evolutionary biology developed as a discipline within cultures influenced by the Christian faith and it was therefore with this religion that the initial exchange of ideas occurred. This chapter introduces some of the general models that have been proposed to describe the relationship between science and religion and then relates these to the particular engagement of Christianity with the theory of evolution. The important distinction between methodological and ontological reductionism is discussed within the context of this engagement. The chapter highlights four disparate issues that are particularly relevant when considering the implications of evolutionary biology for religious belief: biblical hermeneutics, the theological understanding of the term ‘creation’, the role of chance, and the implications of evolution for morality. It is concluded that the historical emergence of the contemporary scientific enterprise from a theological matrix generates many positive resonances between science and faith, and that, consequently, the biological research community is where a believer should feel particularly at home.