Rescuing Darwin

This is an interesting report, by Nick Spencer and Denis Alexander, about Darwin and evolution from a christian perspective:

http://campaigndirector.moodia.com/Client/Theos/Files/RescuingDarwin.pdf

"The project is managed and run by Theos, the public theology think tank, in partnership with the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion", says in the first page. In page 9 we read:

"In 2009, the evidence for evolution by natural selection is overwhelming, although of course the theory itself continues to evolve as new data come to light. The fossil record, although incomplete, firmly supports the theory, revealing impressive series of transitional forms. More recently, advances in genetics have hugely strengthened evolution, to the extent that, in scientific circles at least, it is now incontestable".

It's certainly refreshing to read christians saying that.

I warn you: the document is 72 pages long, but from what I've read so far it seems pretty sound. I wish all christians spent some time reading it - although I don't expect that any kind of evidence will convince any fundamentalist christian. Why the negativity? Keep reading...

"According to a recent, detailed quantitative research study commissioned by Theos and conducted by the polling company ComRes, only 37% of people in the UK believe that Darwin's theory of evolution is 'beyond reasonable doubt'. 32% say that Young Earth Creationism ("the idea that God created the world sometime in the last 10,000 years") is either definitely or probably true, and 51% say that Intelligent Design ("the idea that evolution alone is not enough to explain the complex structures of some living things, so the intervention of a designer is needed in key stages") is either definitely or probably true".

If scientists (and anyone who has the energy and the time to read the relevant literature) would agree that "the evidence for evolution by natural selection is overwhelming", then what is wrong with some christians?

I encourage you to read this document. It might come useful sometime...