Evolution and atheism (Introduction)

by dhw, Sunday, February 17, 2013, 13:17 (4298 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: One can study and accept evolution and also believe in God:-http://www.thestate.com/2013/02/14/2633087/hughes-stop-treating-evolution.html-It is called theistic evolution and the idea makes sense.-Charles Darwin: "I see no good reason why the views given in this volume should shock the religious feelings of any one." (Origin of Species, 'Recapitulation and Conclusion', p. 497 my edition). The Rev. Charles Kingsley wrote: "...it is just as noble a conception of the Deity to believe that He created a few original forms capable of self-development into other and needful forms, as to believe that He required a fresh act of creation to supply the voids caused by the action of His laws." (quoted by Darwin on page 498). -I must have cited these comments a dozen times, and I could offer a dozen more from Darwin himself to the same effect. Of course theistic evolution makes sense, and although I remain agnostic on the subject, while you, David, consider evolution to have had a God-given goal, neither of us has ever questioned the compatibility of evolution and belief in a god. Unless someone comes up with proof that the mechanisms for life, evolution and consciousness were able to assemble themselves by accident, the question of origins has to remain wide open. For me, this is a dead horse undergoing another flogging, and Coyne, Dawkins and all their ilk are simply wearing its blinkers.