Theistic evolution or evolutionary creationism is the belief that God used evolution (natural cause) and extensive time as his primary mechanism to create the universe and all therein. All theistic evolutionists believe in a god of some kind. All theistic evolutionists believe the heavens and Earth are billions of years old. Typically, intelligent cause is minimized and natural cause is maximized. They believe natural cause and extensive time provide a plausible explanation for the world about us.
Theistic evolutionists vary in their belief concerning the role evolution (natural cause) had in bringing the heavens, Earth, and all therein to its present state. Some theistic evolutionists believe God used strictly natural cause as his creative mechanism. The universe started with a naturalistic Big Bang that created all energy and matter. Galaxies, stars, our solar system, and life developed strictly due to natural cause without God's direct intervention. Earth's species are the result of random mutation, natural selection, and other natural processes (neo-Darwinian evolution). Other theistic evolutionists believe God started things in the beginning and occasionally stepped in to jumpstart natural processes when they stalled out. Still other theistic evolutionists believe God performed a series of genetic mutations over millions of years to make Darwinian evolution possible. These directed genetic mutations resulted in the emergence of modern humans and the chimpanzee from a distant common ancestor.
Theistic evolutionists are trying to make sense of the apparent conflict between science and the Bible. They find themselves impaled on the horns of a dilemma and have adopted theistic evolution as a solution. Fundamental issues, reflected in their beliefs about science, evolution, and the Bible, have convinced them to adopt this position.
BioLogos is the current leading organization that promotes theistic evolution. In November of 2007, Dr. Francis Collins (former head of the Human Genome Project, Director of the National Institutes of Health, and author of The Language of God) established The BioLogos Foundation and publicly launched it on April 29, 2009 with a blog post. BioLogos is currently headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The following statements from the BioLogos website (2022) reflect their current beliefs.
The English word "evolution" is derived from the Latin word evolutio meaning "to unroll." Time flows in one direction, and as it unrolls change occurs in the universe. It is a fact that change has occurred throughout time, and there is little debate over this issue. The statement, "Automobiles have evolved," is semantically and etymologically correct, although due to intelligent cause (human intelligence). Likewise, the statement, "The Mississippi River channel has evolved," is correct, although due to natural cause.
However, as used within mainstream science, evolution means change over time due to natural cause alone. Evolution means "naturalistic evolution." Evolution means random, undirected, purposeless, natural change without any intelligent influence. Evolution proponents believe natural cause is a powerful constructive mechanism when given sufficient time.
As explained in Twenty-First Century Science, the abilities of natural cause (naturalistic evolution) may be categorized as follows:
(1) Destructive Ability—Natural cause is capable of randomizing, wearing away, deteriorating, and destroying. Destruction is evidenced when internal changes cause a star to explode, water to erode a road, repetitive freeze-thaw cycles to deteriorate concrete, moisture to rot wood, and sunlight to fade paint. The effect of undirected natural change on organized structures and information is to randomize, degrade, and destroy.
(2) Small Object Constructive Ability—Natural cause is capable of forming sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks. It can form concretions, dried mud crack patterns, freeze-thaw rock circles, pingos, caves, stalactites, stalagmites, snowflakes, hail, mineral crystals, gravel, sand particles, salt grains, and simple molecules.
(3) Large Object Constructive Ability—Natural cause can form beaches, make sand dunes, construct cloud formations, build vast sedimentary deposits, erode vast chasms (the Grand Canyon), uplift mountains, build volcanic cones, form lakes (the Great Lakes), and cause continental drift.
(4) Lacks Sophisticated Constructive Ability—In the present, natural cause has not demonstrated the ability to create design information, build complex functional structures, adjust multiple variables to fine-tune a system, or construct mathematically improbable objects of any significance. The resources (the undirected laws of chemistry and physics) available to natural cause inherently limit its constructive abilities. Empirical science and applied science do not support the belief natural cause has any significant sophisticated constructive ability.
Because natural cause lacks sophisticated constructive ability, it is incapable of forming most of the physical objects we observe in the universe. The resources available to natural cause preclude it from making most heavenly objects. The resources available to natural cause cannot rationally explain the origin of life or the origin of Earth's legacy species. Random mutations in DNA result in a net information loss to gain ratio in excess of 1,000 to 1 and cannot account for the formation of new genes, proteins, functions, features, and legacy species.
1. Oxymoron: The term "theistic evolution" is an oxymoron and similar to such terms such as "science fiction," "Christian atheist," or "promiscuous virgin." It combines two words with contradictory implications and inferences. BioLogos claims to believe in the active, living creator God of the Bible while at the same time accepting mainstream science and its commitment to naturalistic evolution.
2. Inconsistent: In bullet number five above Biologos makes the statement, "EC [evolutionary creation] is neither science nor theology." In bullet number seven Biologos makes the statement, "ECs [evolutionary creationists] accept evolution as the best scientific explanation we have." BioLogos is being inconsistent when it says EC is "not science" and in another statement says that it accepts "evolution as the best scientific explanation."
3. Road Kill: Although Biologos claims, "The Bible is the inspired and authoritative word of God," in reality they throw it under the bus. Once past their disingenuous claims of believing in a creator God, their beliefs of how the earth and universe came about are essentially identical to mainstream science and its commitment to naturalistic evolution.
4. Misrepresentation: As described in Twenty-First Century Science, mainstream science artificially limits science to natural causes and natural explanations. In addition, mainstream science defines evolution as "naturalistic evolution." Intelligent cause is not allowed. BioLogos is misrepresenting the term "evolution" by making it appear it can be something other than naturalistic.
5. No Added Value: Theistic evolutionists have added nothing to the scientific debate over origins, and in fact have obfuscated the issues. The scientific debate over origins is best framed as a dichotomy of Intelligent cause versus non-intelligent cause (natural cause). Intelligent cause and natural cause are not opposites and are best viewed as having different limitations and capabilities. Natural cause is severely limited as a constructive mechanism. In contrast, intelligent cause, as demonstrated by human design and applied science, has shown considerable constructive ability.
6. Hostile to Intelligent Design: In general, theistic evolutionists are critical of the theory of intelligent design. They accuse it of being, "God of the gaps type thinking." They say intelligent design is not scientific because the intelligent designer cannot be identified. Theistic evolutionists often say intelligent design is creationism in disguise.
7. Failure to Understand Design: Design theory posits that natural cause is incapable of creating design information, complex-functional structures, fine-tuned systems, and mathematically improbable objects of any significance. Design theory recognizes similarity among species as evidence of a common designer or a common design philosophy. Similarity represents the development of good designs and their widespread use.
8. Faulty Logic: According to BioLogos, God used evolution to create all of Earth's species. If God wanted to use evolution (natural cause) as his mechanism to build new legacy species, is it possible? The answer is best given in the form of an illustration. Suppose engineers decide to use evolution (natural cause) to build an automobile. They jump start the process by collecting iron, copper, aluminum, and other metal ores in a pile, combined with silica sand, and several gallons of crude oil—all the requisite raw materials for an automobile. At that point, if all they did was observe and wait, we would not have a single automobile, even given billions of years. Random, undirected, purposeless, natural change cannot produce a machine of this nature. And if engineers assist in the developmental process in any way, then whatever is accomplished is due to intelligent cause rather than natural cause. Likewise, if God aided the process of new species development in any way, this is intelligent cause in action rather than natural cause (naturalistic evolution).
9. Aberrant Belief: In explaining Earth's species, some theistic evolutionists claim God directed and caused millions of heritable mutations to slowly change one species into a new legacy species over extensive time. This was repeated many times to result in Earth's present species. Thus the term "theistic evolution."
Theistic evolution represents one response in an attempt to solve the perceived conflict between the biblical creation account (i.e., young-Earth creation theology) and evidence of extensive time. It is an attempt to resolve the conflict between God as the creator of Earth's legacy species and Darwin's theory of evolution. The solution is to accept mainstream science and its naturalistic paradigm, while at the same time claiming to accept the Bible as the word of God. Proponents of theistic evolution want to be recognized as men and women of science, yet desire to be viewed as Christians. Theistic evolution is an attempt to merge two contradictory beliefs—theistic intelligent cause and atheistic natural cause.