In a recent Facebook thread on one of the sites I follow, a question was raised regarding the creation/evolution debate, specifically, on whether or not there was anything out there that actually celebrated how science, philosophy, and theology could inform one another. Well, in the last chapter in my book, The Heresy of Ham, I attempt to do this very thing. And so, I thought over the next couple of days, I would post a few selections from that chapter, in hopes of inspiring people to see that evolutionary theory, if understood in its proper light, can actually help us understand the Christian faith better. Enjoy…
Fruit Flies, The Trinity, Creation, and Relationship
A few years ago, I saw this particular video on Nova concerning evolution. It was entitled What Darwin Never Knew.[1] The entire 2-hour special is fascinating, but there is one segment in particular that blew me away…it was all about fruit flies. Basically, there are two types of fruit flies: one with dark spots on its wings, the other without dark spots. Scientists wanted to find out why some fruit flies have these spots, while others don’t. Well, they looked at the genetic code of both types of flies and found to their astonishment that both flies have that “paint-brush gene” that coded for the dark spots. The natural question became, “If both flies have the same “paint-brush gene,” then why does one fly have dark spots and the other doesn’t?
The answer was found in the supposed “junk DNA” of the genome that nobody really understood—it is called the “dark matter” of the genome. In fact, 98% of the double-helix of the DNA structure doesn’t code for proteins. What this means, basically, is that the monumental step forward with the Human Genome Project that successfully coded the proteins of the genome, still left 98% of the double-helix uncharted. That fact alone should blow us away and leave us in sheer awe of the complexity, creativity, and mystery of life.
In any case, scientists found a difference in the “dark matter” around the “paint-brush gene” between the two flies: the spotted fly had a stretch of DNA that was different from the unspotted fly. So scientists took that stretch of DNA, combined with the gene in a jellyfish that makes it glow, and then injected it into the unspotted fly. Guess what happened? The unspotted fly developed glowing spots on its wings!
What scientists had found was essentially a switch in the DNA structure. It basically turns on and off the genes that make stuff. If the switch is turned on, then the “paint-brush gene” paints dark spots on the wings of fruit flies; if the switch is turned off, then that “paint-brush gene” is essentially out of work.
What this all boils down to is that evolutionary theory has been able to show how, at the genetic level, biological organisms interact and adapt to their environment in the natural world. The genetic information and ability is already there in the fruit fly, or bird, or bacteria, or human being, to do a whole bunch of “stuff.” Whatever “stuff” any given organism does, though, is dependent upon its interaction with its surrounding environment. What this shows, therefore, is something we should have known anyway: creation is not a static thing, but rather an on-going creative process of life. Creation is happening every second of every day. This is the sort of thing many of the early Church Fathers said almost 2,000 years ago.
Evolution, God, and Creation
Now, what does this say about God? I think it forces us to abandon two extremes regarding God and creation. Not only must we abandon the idea that God is something like a watch-maker who created the “universe-clock” way back when, and then let it run all on its own, but we also have to abandon the idea that the natural processes we see in the natural world are all there is—for evolutionary theory blows both the mechanistic understanding of the universe and the naturalistic view of the world out of the water. The universe, and the world in particular, neither is simply a machine built by an “intelligent designer,” nor the product of blind processes.
A machine (like a battery-powered clock, for example) will run in the same way whether it is set in the Himalayas, the Amazon jungle, or the Sahara desert—the only thing that can “happen” to it is that either its batteries run out, or that something in that given environment destroys it. Simply put, you, me, and creation itself, is not a machine governed by blind natural laws and processes. A machine cannot adapt and evolve—it is not relational. By contrast, living organisms, indeed creation itself, is fundamentally relational—it interacts, adapts, evolves, and creates ever-new life forms in relationship to other forms of life within creation.
From the Christian perspective, this concept of life being fundamentally relational should not surprise us at all. First, this helps us understand the Trinity a bit better. The doctrine of the Trinity reveals to us that God Himself, as the source of all life, is a relational being within Himself. He is not a static “thing,” but rather a living, relational, life-giving being. He is, as C.S. Lewis said, sort of a perichoretic dance (perichoresis is a Greek word that is used to describe the Trinitarian relationship within God), and His purpose for His creatures is for us to enter into that dance.
And so, this biological reality of evolution within the natural world points toward the deeper reality of the life of God Himself: the spiritual dance of the Trinity is being performed on the stage of this natural world. God is dancing, He has created us to enter into the dance by means of relating to everything within creation: a close friendship, a hike in a forest, giving birth, painting a landscape—all of these things require relationship, and the very concept of relationship demands personhood. All these things in the natural world impact who we are on a Spiritual level, for there is interaction, adaptation, and ultimately transformation from being mere creatures to being Sons of God who will rule all of creation with our Lord and Brother Christ
Second, this should also help us understand creation as it relates to God a bit better. Instead of understanding the laws of nature as mechanistic or blind processes, I think evolution, by showing the very relational character of creation itself, reveals that what we call the laws of nature are, in fact, living, relational laws, reflecting the very metaphysical nature of the living, relational God, and bringing forth the kind of creative life in the natural world that is ever-present within the Trinitarian life of God. In that sense, just as human beings are made in the image of God, and thus are to reflect the nature of God, the very creation itself also reflects in its temporal, natural life the very eternal life of God. Therefore, to partially quote one of my favorite songwriters, Bob Bennett, the task of human beings as the royal, priestly custodians of God’s creation is to enter in, take part in this miracle of creation, and offer it back up to the Lord of Life:
A light shining in this heart of darkness; A new beginning and a miracle
Day by day the integration of the concrete and the spiritual[2]
We see it around us every day. The very theory of evolution itself opens a door to understanding the miracle of creation even more. And in that sense, by further unlocking the mysteries of the natural world, evolutionary theory opens yet another door to deeper Spiritual realities. It is our task, as image-bearing priests of God, to offering everything in creation up to God, and thus integrate “the concrete and the Spiritual.”
*****
[1]“What Darwin Never Knew,” Nova.
[2]Bob Bennett, “Matters of the Heart.” Matters of the Heart. Star Song Records, 1982.
Great post. I entirely agree with your ideas from my own point of view as a biologist. I am currently doing research on some of the details of how genes turn on other genes, and I have also been very interested in the way evolution reveals the majesty of creation. But I never thought about the way biological interactions leading to evolutionary changes reflects the Trinity. I would like to reblog this post. I also think you might post parts of this on CCNS. Blessings.
Sy
Re-blog away…I did, though, already post it on CCNS. There will be a few more excerpts I’ll be putting out over the next few days.
Beautifully written! I just read The Gene and though written from a secular standpoint, was honest enough to have a sense of awe about DNA. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Thank you for this post!