(Super) Natural History January 7, 2008 – Posted in: Aberrant Normalcy

I went to the Museum of Natural History in New York recently and lost myself in the tableaus of Earth’s varied creatures. It is readily apparent when you see five hundred birds side by side, or the variety of primates, the bones of paw and hand, of the common origin of species, as Darwin might put it. And it got me thinking: evolution states that all living organisms come from a single source. Never mind the literal interpretations of scripture, isn’t that what religion says too? I have always felt that one can believe in a transcendent God and also believe in evolution according to Darwin. They are not mutually exclusive.

It seems that this book put out by the National Academy of Sciences agrees.

2 Comments

Mercurio Rivera January 07, 2008 - 16:19

I happen to agree that they’re not mutually exclusive–as reflected in that cartoon. But I recall a professor I had in college who insisted otherwise. He called the cruelty of evolution–so many “unfit” species rendered extinct–inherently inconsistent with a caring God.

Matthew Kressel January 07, 2008 - 16:48

That is often the same argument put out by the New Atheists and the question many faithful have when one of their loved ones dies. I cannot claim to have an answer, but my thoughts lean in the following direction:

Without death, life has no meaning. It loses its preciousness.

I realize that might not be comfort to someone who has suffered a great tragedy, however, and part of me fears that, in any future loss of mine, it will not be enough.