A Perspective on Teaching Evolutionary Creation in Classical Christian Schools

 A crisis of faith struck me in seminary. Raised to hold to a strictly literalistic interpretation of Genesis 1-11, I began to have doubts that grew out of my continually burgeoning understanding of science—a story I know I am not alone in. Various sciences had always been of interest to me; a few years earlier in my undergraduate education, my career path almost took me the way of meteorology. I wrestled with several questions as I was deciding what to do for my career. How could evidence of an old earth be reconciled with Scripture, or should we just simply reject the evidence? Were the days of creation seven literal days, or should they be understood poetically as ages of time? There does not seem to be much widely accepted geological evidence for a worldwide flood as seems to be described in Genesis 6-9. What do we make of that? Is it possible that life, even humanity, evolved over time, as current scientific consensus suggests? The vast majority of Christians in my life at the time were telling me that to abandon literal interpretations of Genesis 1-11 was to reject Christ himself. I wanted to hold on to my Christian faith without denying that scientific understanding, curiosity, and the intellectual life are an important part of being human (and Christian). I wanted to recognize that science is part of an ever-continuing search for a fuller understanding of truth—a search that has at times overturned widely held interpretations of Scripture. Simply put, the study of the natural world can tell us something about God. We can in a certain sense “think God’s thoughts after Him,” as Kepler famously said. All the while, I was being called into ministry, which eventually led me to teaching at a classical Christian school. 

 I do not desire to be dogmatic about views of creation and want it to be clear that I do still have questions about it that will probably never be fully answered. Curiosity and humility are important tenets of classical Christian education. But I do believe that were it not for some calm, reasoned voices that were able to speak into these issues with love, clarity, wisdom, and humility, I may have ended up an atheist. These voices, primarily from the Old Earth Creation and Evolutionary Creation “camps” helped me to see a way forward in science and faith. Needless to say, I do not want my students (or my own children) to face what I faced. I want them to have tools with which they can understand Scripture and the natural world, and to be able to hold them together. 

 However, I’ve noticed within classical Christian education a visceral reaction at the idea of evolution or sometimes an old earth. It is too difficult to have these conversations. From students and families to colleagues to prominent speakers, the idea is given short shrift at times within CCE, leaving the impression that it is an unconscionable idea. While not everyone has this type of reaction, there seems to be a significant portion of the CCE population that holds to some sort of Young Earth or at least anti-evolution stance. Some of this visceral negative reaction to evolution is reasonable due to the theory’s misuse to justify past atrocities. It has been appropriated by atheists in attempts to show that God is not needed to explain the universe. Many Christians see it as an idea that is degrading to humanity. These things together often produce a scoffing dismissal of the idea of evolution altogether. 

 I see this as a major problem. If wisdom is being able to consider an idea without accepting it, then I think we have failed by not being able to consider this idea; or if we have considered it and found it wanting, then we have not given our students an opportunity to contemplate it, thus completing their wisdom. Besides, what if we should accept it because it is true and comes from the mind of God himself? I am not necessarily saying this is the case, but it is an invitation to humility. We must always keep in mind we may be wrong. 

 I think it is important for us to teach a range of views on this topic in our schools, but it seems most difficult to teach the evolutionary creation viewpoint for the reasons above. There are some important reasons we should allow ourselves to consider it more and teach this possibility in our classrooms.  

 For one, the natural world is a way in which God reveals himself. Psalm 19 tells us that “the heavens declare the glory of God” and Romans 1 says that God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” These words powerfully attest to the fact that if something is found to be true, we should pay attention. Why? Because something about God can be found there also. We have no problem grasping that there is a biological process by which we all come to be, namely, conception and childbirth, and at the same time saying that God made us. Why does God choose to make us through this process, rather than bringing us into existence ex nihilo? The process of childbirth tells us something about who God is. We can apply this same logic to concepts about cosmological and biological evolution. If they are found to be true—and it is possible that they are—we should pay close attention for what it may say about God. 

 Additionally, the theories of cosmological and biological evolution that are currently the working models for scientific understanding have vast explanatory power. These theories have not gone away for that very reason. Perhaps one day some other scientific understanding will come along and overturn them, but as for now, this is what we have. Interestingly, it was actually the study of cosmological evolution that helped confirm the biblical narrative of the universe having a beginning (prior to Georges Lemaître’s suggestion of the Big Bang—Lemaître was a Christian by the way—many scientists believed the universe to be eternal). Perhaps the most valuable things coming from a study of biological evolution is new understanding about human genetics and the diseases that are brought about by genetic problems. This is a promising medical field that could alleviate much human suffering. 

 Perhaps there are those among us who would like to see these theories replaced. If that is the case, then the students we teach need to first understand these theories because they are the working models. One can’t expect to go into a career as a scientist and simply scoff at or ignore these theories. If we want these theories replaced, let’s teach our students about them and not ignore them or give them a dismissive jeer. Point out the weaknesses or spots where more work needs to be done but do it with up-to-date information about where these fields currently stand. Read Christians who hold different viewpoints than your own. If we truly want our students to be able to speak with hope into our world, we should give them the tools to do so.