by Zachary Ardern, Psephizo
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
The BBC Science Unit apparently neither shares nor countenances this belief. 45 seconds into the first episode of the beautifully produced new five part series “Evolution”, science and theology are placed in quite direct opposition; the series states and restates with various formulations that evolutionary processes rule out divine involvement. The much-dismissed “new atheism” is perhaps not yet as passé as we’re often told. The series ends in a similar way, teaching that we simply were not “made”.
Here are some quotations from series narrator Chris Packham; repeatedly the message is that because there are processes involved, we are the product of nature rather than foresight.
It’s easy to imagine that all of this is like somehow preordained … that it’s been made, a world of balance and purpose. But the truth—the truth is much wilder. This is a world of survivors. [Ep. 1: 0m 45s]
There was no blueprint, no grand design. Evolution is a process, shaped by powerful invisible drivers. [Ep. 1: 4m 51s]
We’re not perfect, and we weren’t made. We’ve been shaped by exactly the same forces that have shaped every living organism on this planet. [Ep. 5: 52m 5s]
Theologically of course, humans per se (One excepted) are neither perfect nor the center of the universe—we are after all, a little lower than the angels. And the idea that God uses secondary causes, such that processes and providence are in no conflict, is thoroughly biblical. We can talk intelligibly about secondary causes without mentioning God, and that’s fine and how science generally works. The overstep comes when theological concepts of providence, design, and human uniqueness are asserted to be simply ruled out by the science.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Dr. Adam Rutherford, genetics populariser and president of the British Humanist Association (BHA), loves the series. “Evolution should be compulsory viewing for everyone over the age of five.” It seems the BHA’s opposition to “indoctrination” of children ends swiftly when they like the message. Rutherford starts his review citing the famous statement that “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution”. This is the title of a 1973 essay by a founding father of modern evolutionary genetics, Theodosius Dobzhansky. Few who quote it actually read the essay. In it, Dobzhansky (an Eastern Orthodox Christian) was at pains to emphasise that science and Christian faith are not in conflict, ending the essay stating that in the view of one of his own heroes, “Creation is realised in this world by means of evolution”.
Back to the BBC series.