God and Darwin

Why am I a convinced “evolutionist”, although my grasp of biology and, in particular, of the complexities of the theories of Darwin and his successors is at best shaky?

For me, the test is a purely practical one: the theories work. The Darwinist comprehension of the world is one strand in a larger intellectual system in which it is intertwined with new understandings of mathematics, physics, chemistry and so forth. I am on no firmer ground with these disciplines than I am with biology. However, I know that, thanks to other people who do understand, systems have been built that enable me to fly across the globe to see my grandchildren, to talk to them on a mobile phone, to help me preserve my health into old age…in short, to live in the modern world. The scientific approach delivers the goods.

Why, then, do I believe in God? The atheist bus posters state that “There’s probably no God”. To say that something is improbable does not mean that it will not occur, merely that it will not occur often. Obviously, God does not need to occur often. Once is enough.

For me, however, the test is again a purely practical one. Most human beings have a clear moral sense. We know whether or not we are behaving morally and we have the choice whether or not to do so. As individuals and in groups such as nations, when we choose not to behave morally we generally end up creating much unhappiness for ourselves and for others. God helps us to identify the moral way, he helps us to choose it and when we fail, as we often do, he helps us back. God delivers the goods.

Everybody, scientists, theologists and ignoramuses alike, would agree that we still have much to discover about science. It seems to be less widely accepted that we still have much to discover about God. Personally, I find it hard to distinguish between a belief in Him and a belief in science.