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What is evolution?

What is evolution guided by god?

  • Evolution specifically explains how creatures are created by natural laws without any divine guidance in the process beyond creating the laws. If evolution is guided by god, does that mean god actually has any input into the process, other than making the initial rules?  (e.g. something other than deistic type setup).  In other words, how does "guided by god" differ from "guided by natural law" and if there is no distinction then why does this category exist?  If god is actually guiding evolution, HOW does this work at the physical level?  An invisible hand reaches in and picks losers or tweaks DNA or sends asteroids or what?  This question is going to seem obnoxious to some but I've been asked the same question over and over in the comments section of the original question below and nobody even tries to answer. The original question was based on factual information and has generated lot of controversy saying the statistics are overblown because may people believe in an additional kind of evolution "guided by god".     But I can't count guided by god as evolution if I don't know what this means, because any intervention is != evolution. One answer says: 32% believe in evolution, without god. 22% believe in evolution guided by a god (god of the gaps).

  • Answer:

    This position is known as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theistic_evolution. Theistic evolution has been described as the position that "evolution is real, but that it was set in motion by God", and "Theistic evolution, which accepts that evolution occurred as biologists describe it, but under the direction of God". The term was used by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Center_for_Science_Education executive director http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenie_Scott to refer to the part of the overall spectrum of beliefs about creation and evolution holding the theological view that God creates through evolution. It covers a wide range of beliefs about the extent of any intervention by God, with some approaching http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism in rejecting continued intervention. Others see intervention at critical intervals in history in a way consistent with scientific explanations of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speciation, but with similarities to the ideas of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Creationism that God created "kinds" of animals sequentially. As you can see, it encompasses a wide variety of positions. But look at it this way. You are a scientist, and you believe in God. You understand that evolution is the best explanation for the diversity of life. But you also believe that the universe is an expression of God's will. Then, obviously, evolution is part of that. Life on earth looks the way it does because that is how God wanted it, despite the mechanisms. You can believe that he just set up the initial conditions, or you can believe that he nudged it here and there. There is a whole host of possible ways that God influenced the outcome. That doesn't mean that you must reject what is known about evolution and how it works. It is simply a reflection of the creator;s intent.

Glenn Anderson at Quora Visit the source

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As already said, it's called Theistic Evolution. It's the position of the Catholic Church and therefore the majority of Christians. Generally people who believe in theistic evolution have 2 categories and therefore 2 different answers to the questions you're asking. 1) Classical Theism Classical theism asserts that God is above and transcends his own creation and therefore he is a completely separate entity from the earth and the universe. As such, he is also separate from natural laws. According to a classical theist concept of evolution, there are two different ways that God involves himself in the evolutionary process. The first is that he designed, created and initiated evolution. He designed all of nature including natural selection. The second says that God can interject himself into nature without violating natural laws through a "God of the gaps" type of involvement. For example, the Copenhagen view of quantum mechanics deals with probabilistic outcomes rather than determinative. God has the opportunity to influence the outcomes of probabilities in order to guide nature and history. Of course there are ways outside of evolution in which God could guide evolution. Classical theists believe that God can interrupt or violate or temporarily suspend natural laws. This of course is not theistic evolution, but theistic evolutionists could claim that God usually doesn't interfere with natural laws but only very very occasionally. 2) Panentheism I personally subscribe to a soft panentheistic view, which argues that God is more than the universe but at the same time, he is so actively involved in nature that natural laws could be considered God's active participation in the world. In other words, the reason that gravity exists is that God consciously and actively makes the object fall to the ground. God is consciously and actively moving the earth around the sun. We observe these things and call them natural laws because they never fail, but in actuality, it is God who never fails. Therefore as we describe natural laws, we are merely describing God's own actions. Of course God is far beyond natural laws. Therefore there is a clear distinction between the two categories. It is only that the term "God" encompasses far more than "natural laws" but "natural laws" is only a subset of God. Therefore as natural selection selects for and against genes, it's God who is actively doing the selecting. It is both natural and God.

Daniel Lowe

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