Evolutionary creation claims that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit created the universe and life through an ordained, sustained, and design-reflecting evolutionary process.
This view of origins fully embraces both the religious beliefs of biblical Christianity and the scientific theories of cosmological, geological, and biological evolution.
It contends that the Creator established and maintains the laws of nature, including the mechanisms of a teleological evolution. In other words, evolution is a planned and purpose driven natural process.
The most important word in the term evolutionary creation is the noun “creation.”
These Christian evolutionists are first and foremost thoroughly committed and unapologetic creationists.
They believe that the world is a creation that is absolutely dependent for every instant of its existence on the will and grace of the Creator.
The qualifying word in this category is the adjective “evolutionary,” indicating simply the method through which the Lord made the cosmos and living organisms.
This view of origins is often referred to as “theistic evolution.”
However, such a word arrangement places the process of evolution as the primary term, and makes the Creator secondary as merely a qualifying adjective.
Such an inversion in priority is unacceptable to me and other evolutionary creationists.
Intelligent Design in Nature
To explain their view of origins further, evolutionary creationists are also quick to point out to fellow Bible-believing Christians that their approach offers an expanded and more robust understanding of intelligent design in nature.
This version of the design argument for God’s existence appeals to more physical evidence than that proposed by young earth creation (divine
interventions created the entire world in six literal days six thousand years ago; e.g., Henry Morris, Ken Ham) or progressive creation (divine interventions introduced origin of living organisms at different times through six geological periods over 4.5 billion years of earth history; e.g., Hugh Ross).
At one level, evolutionary creation is in full agreement with these anti-evolutionary positions in that design is evident in nature’s current structures and operations. For example, consider the most complex structure known—the human brain. This organ is an electrical circuitry marvel with trillions of synaptic connections, and incredibly much of it develops in the womb beginning from only one fertilized egg. The structure, function, and embryological development of the brain offer a breathtaking level of elegant complexity that few deny reflects the work of an Intelligent Designer.
At another level, evolutionary creation moves beyond the anti-evolutionary positions to argue that intelligent design is also expressed in the processes and mechanisms of evolution. The evolutionary intelligent design argument underlines the majesty, foresight, and rationality mirrored in the natural processes that created the universe and life across the eons of time.
According to this position, the declaration of God’s glory in the creation extends beyond the manifestations seen today to include the incredible self-assembling character of the natural world during the distant past.
More specifically, design is evident in the finely-tuned physical laws and initial conditions necessary for the evolution of the cosmos through the Big Bang, and design is also apparent in the biological processes necessary for life to evolve, including humans with their incredibly complex brains.
Therefore, evolutionary creation offers a wider and stronger design argument than the traditional formulation presented in young earth creation and progressive creation by having an evolutionary component.
This position also predicts that as the evolutionary sciences advance, research will reveal a Creator with unimaginably more power, planning, and splendour than previously believed in earlier generations. To the surprise of many, evolutionary creationists enjoy a greater and more complete intelligent design argument for God’s existence than their anti-evolutionist Christian brothers and sisters.
