A friend at the Virginia Council of Churches shared with me the recent issue of the Religious Herald in which John Klink wrote, “We must be careful not to let ourselves be deceived by the lies of the theory of evolution, which is falsely called science” [Herald, March 12].
As this year is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species, this is an excellent time to look honestly at the world and ask, “Does nature select?” That is the question Darwin answered in the affirmative, and it is one that all biologists would agree with today. For biologists of faith, that does not mean the rejection of God, nor of sin, death and salvation.
We are re-launching the “Life Sciences and Religion Community Forum” here at Virginia Commonwealth University, which is dedicated to enhancing the science-and-religion dialogue in central Virginia. We would welcome a deeper discussion of what constitutes data in science, how science works, the status of evolutionary theory and the like. Many of us involved in science are deeply religious people of various faiths as well, and would see some possibility of fruitful discussion with Mr. Klink and others on such topics. We particularly welcome the opportunity to address questions about whether science is limited to observable phenomena (or whether it can include inference), and the extent to which evolutionary theory can be said to be a “lie” or to be a very good model or explanation of how nature works.
Our website is www.vcu.edu/faithscienceforum and my personal contact information is jbcassel@ vcu.edu or (804) 628-1926. We would welcome invitations to come to local churches, or can set up a date and time to bring people together at VCU to discuss these topics with as much openness and mutual trust as possible.
J. Brian Cassel, Director
Life Sciences and Religion Initiative
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond