I am always delighted to meet those who pass F. Scott Fitzgerald’s test for a first rate mind: the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.
Francis Collins has gone beyond this challenge. He found coherence between evolution and faith and has the courage to share it.
Francis Collins is a leading, (really leading) evolutionary scientist embracing evolution and DNA research. He is also a sincere Christian and sees no conflict
between evolution and his belief in Jesus and the Bible.
As Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, he led the successful worldwide effort to sequence the DNA code of the human genome. On June 26, 2000, Collins was joined by Bill Clinton and biologist Craig Venter to announce a working draft of the Human Genome.
When Collins was invited to the White House to announce the triumph, Collins tried to signal that those concerned with the soul and the spirit should not take the new science as a threat:
“It is humbling for me, and awe-inspiring to realize that we have caught the
first glimpse of our own instruction book, previously known only to God.”
Moved to become more public about his beliefs, Collins wrote his book “The
Language of God,” and argued that faith, God, and science can coexist. Given the science/religion controversy, “It’s been a bit like taking a public bath,” he
commented.” (LA Times, Stephanie Simon, 8/17/06)
When Collins was “invited to the White House to announce the triumph, Collins tried to signal that those concerned with the soul and the spirit should not take the new science as a threat. ‘It is humbling for me, and awe-inspiring,’ he said, standing at Clinton’s side, ‘to realize that we have caught the first glimpse of our own instruction book, previously known only to God.’ “
Moved to become more public about his beliefs, Collins wrote the book “The Language of God,” and argued that faith, God, and science can coexist. Given the science/religion controversy, “It’s been a bit like taking a public bath,” he commented.”
Here, in his own words, is his summary of his point of view, theistic evolution:
“There are many subtle variants of theistic evolution, but a typical version rests upon the following premises:
1. The universe came into being out of nothingness, approximately 14 billion years ago.
2. Despite massive improbabilities, the properties of the universe appear to have been precisely tuned for life.
3. While the precise mechanism of the origin of life on earth remains unknown, once life arose, the process of evolution and natural selection permitted the development of biological diversity and complexity over very long periods of time.
4. Once evolution got under way, no special supernatural intervention was required.
5. Human are part of this process, sharing a common ancestor with the great apes.
6. But humans are unique in ways that defy evolutionary explanation and point to our spiritual nature. This includes the existence of the Moral Law (the knowledge of right and wrong) and the search for God that characterizes all human cultures throughout history.
“If one accepts these six premises, then an entirely plausible, intellectually satisfying, and logically consistent synthesis emerges: God, who is not limited in space or time, created the universe and established natural laws that govern it.
Seeking to populate this otherwise sterile universe with living creatures, god chose the elegant mechanism of evolution to create microbes, plants, and animals of all sorts. Most remarkably, God chose the same to give rise to special creatures who would have intelligence, a knowledge of right and wrong, free will, and a desire to seek fellowship with Him. He also knew these creatures would ultimately choose to disobey the Moral Law.
“This view is entirely compatible with everything that science teaches us about the natural world. It is also entirely compatible with the great monotheistic religions of the world. The theistic evolution perspective cannot, of course, prove that God is real, as no logical argument can fully achieve that. Belief in God will always require a leap of faith. But this synthesis has provided for legions of scientist-believers a satisfying, consistent, enriching perspective that allow both the scientific and spiritual worldview to coexist happily within us. This perspective makes it possible for the scientist-believer to be intellectually fulfilled and spiritually alive, both worshiping God and using the tools of science to uncover some of the awesome mysteries of His creation.” ( Pg 200)
Some Christians, who champion a literal interpretation of Genesis, attack the ideas of Francis Collins. From the other side, some of his fellow scientists have attacked him for belief in God.
Is either fair?
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