Science & Christianity: Evolution

Darryl from Insight, the Kingston Churches Schools Work shares some Christian thinking about the Theory of Evolution. This video would be useful for a Secondary RE lesson on Science and Religion or Christian attitudes on Creation.
We speak from a Christian perspective on behalf of the Churches of Kingston Upon Thames and we hope that this will be a helpful introduction to the concept of Science and Religion for your pupils. This is part of a series on Science & Christianity which could be run as a special event in your school. We would be happy to answer your student’s questions in person or by video call at the end of the session. Alternatively, you could interview a minister or representative from your local church after the session.

Key themes:

The Bible states that God created the world and all the different species of plants and animals but the atheist claim is that life developed naturally without God. This has massive implications for the human race. Either we are made in the image of God or we are just another animal. Although some Christians believe that God uses evolution as a tool to create animals, the concept of natural selection attempts to remove the necessity of having a Creator. In the end, the discussion boils down to this question: Is there a God or not? For Christians, belief in a Creator provides a satisfying solution to the origin of life. Life comes at the command of someone powerful outside our world. Without a Creator, we are still left with the question of how life started in the first place? Philosophically, how can something that is dead, come to life on its own? This process is not clearly understood. Scientists have created DNA in a lab by copying a pre-existing design but they have not yet created an artificial cell. Even if they could, we would still need to show that this could happen naturally without a mind to control it. Until this is more clearly understood, atheists appear to be demonstrating faith or belief in the idea that there is no Creator, while Christians are demonstrating faith in the idea that there is a Creator. The most important thing for a Christian is not evolution but being with God forever in Heaven. God makes this possible through faith in Jesus Christ, even if we don’t understand evolution.

For further reading try: https://www.bethinking.org/search?q=evolution

Speak Life Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJjwJMzkkVyXg3BNGUMcT0g