Evolving Grace...

I found myself frequently thinking about the processes of human evolution today. My knowledge on the topic of evolution is limited to a college Biology class and many discussions with friends who are biology majors, but I've learned enough to know the basics of evolutionary theory.

I was thinking in particular about how our evolutionary history affects most, if not all, aspects of human behavior. For example, a couple of weeks ago I heard a feature on the BBC on stress. The gist of the program was that the feeling of stress has its origins as a basic competitive advantage; people that had a higher sense of stress were more capable of surviving in the wild than those who did not, were able to reproduce more, etc (the basic notion of survival of the fittest). In other words, the idea of stress they discussed was born directly out of the need for self preservation. If you had a healthy sense of stress, and as a result were more aware of animals that might try to eat you when walking through a wilderness, you would have had a better chance of surviving. If such an animal appeared and your stress levels increased to the point that you were forced to run away and escape or be eaten, your chances of survival would again be greater, and survival is basically the name of the game.

So this is one example of how evolution has affected our emotions and behavior. There are countless other examples of how the process of evolution has shaped us. What I was thinking about today was the basic evolutionary notion to compete. Everyone (and everything) in the world must compete in some sense for resources that enable survival. The question I was thinking the most about today was whether this desire to compete is our most basic instinct. If it is, doesn't the concept of competition stand in direct opposition to the heart of the gospel?

Christ called his followers to be self-effacing not self promoting, give away all they had and follow him, consider others better than themselves, etc. These behaviors would put most people at a competitive disadvantage. If the world order was shaped by evolutionary forces, did Christ come to undo the scientific processes by which the world was created?

I think there are a couple of ways (among others) this question could be taken. One way is to reject the concept of evolution completely as unfounded scientific theory that should not be taken seriously. Another way is to reject one of the premises that lead to the question, like maybe that Christ didn't actually teach his followers to behave in the way I've outlined, or that those behaviors are not actually a disadvantage. The third way, and the way I'd answer, would be that yes, Christ did come to undo many of the natural processes of evolution. In fact, I would say that many of the evolutionary impulses that shape our behavior are also the basis of our sinful nature.

John Calvin's notion of depravity was that humans are basically selfish, which caused our sin. We'd rather love ourselves than something or someone outside of us. Isn't that the basis of survival, as evolution would explain it?

To be continued...