The Language of God

I have recently finished reading “The Language of God” by Francis Collins. Francis Collins was the head scientist of the Human Genome Project that mapped the entire human genome. Francis Collins is one of the leading scientists of our generation, a dedicated Christian and a believer in evolution. Many Christians would find this disheartening and threatening, I find it thought provoking and exciting. Let me say now that I believe whole-heartedly in evolution, the creation alternative really doesn’t make much sense to me theologically or scientifically. Clearly the creation story in the book of Genesis is a poem, well really it is two distinct poems. This story can teach us a lot about the human condition and give us an understanding of Jewish thought about the beginning of all things, but in no way is it a literal road map of how the earth began. It seems to me that God works gradually and is in no hurry when creating. To watch the process of human development from sperm and egg to foetus then into a new born, followed by 21 years of growth into adulthood. This process is long and difficult, something I see reflected in all areas of life. Why would God create this way now, but in the beginning decide to take 6 days. Furthermore, Genesis says that to God a day is like a thousand days, and 1000 days like a day. This is a way of saying that God doesn’t care about the mechanics of time, especially not like we humans do. As far as science goes Creationism just doesn’t hold any credibility or weight. The world is far older then 10,000 years, this has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt.

When I was a kid I was always told that evolution is a theory, and the science behind it was all about guessing and estimating, a theory that was not proven. While evolution is a theory, the term theory is not what it appears. In the scientific realm a theory means that it has been proven, it is considered a fact, just as the theory of gravity and the theory of relativity is fact. It is not the word theory like we use in common day language. The science of evolution is the same science, which has sent rockets to the moon, gets our cars from A to B and allows us warmth and light in our homes. By undermining evolution we are basically saying we don’t believe in the scientific concepts behind those things we use and have faith in every day of our lives.
The big bang shows me that there has been a beginning (there are radiation waves that can be detected which originated from the big bang – a fact, it really happened!). God forged this beginning with the divine purpose of creating life and for this life to come to know God and have union with God. Evolution doesn’t break faith down; it enhances and energises it. Well it has for me anyway :)