Evolution and the Cosmic Drama

Abstract

According to Charles Darwin, the evolution of living species is the result of nature’s mindless combining of random variations and impersonal natural selection, with enormous spans of time. Is there any need then, as many Darwinian scientists and philosophers have asked, to look for supernatural “design” or divine oversight in the story of life on Earth. The mixing and simmering of only three natural ingredients—accidents, selection, and time—seems sufficient to account for the entire evolutionary stew. Can theology possibly add anything of significance to this most fertile naturalistic explanation of biological phenomena? After Albert Einstein, this article proposes, the long story of life needs to be situated within the much longer scientific story of a universe that is13.8 billion years old. In this larger cosmic setting the most relevant theological question is not so much whether living complexity points to a divine “intelligent designer,” but whether the emergent, awakening universe is carrying an indestructible meaning.