Why Evangelize Evolution?

Last updated on: October 21, 2014 at 6:00 am by Michael Dowd

Why Evangelize Evolution? 2014-10-19T16:08:00-05:00 Michael Dowd

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I’m often asked, “Why do you evangelize evolution? What ‘good news’ does science offer?” The following is my typical response…

I used to be confused by many aspects of the world, including my inner world. Thanks to an embrace of big history as my creation story, I no longer am. I now have a depth of understanding that saints and sages down through the ages, including the biblical writers themselves, never imagined possible.

I used to struggle with temptations and what I considered “sinful habits” of thought and behavior, which often left me feeling guilty, resentful, or resigned. But since coming to appreciate the challenges of living with mismatched instincts in a world of supernormal stimuli, today I enjoy a freedom and peace and lightness of being that is unspeakably divine. For me, heaven isn’t something I’m holding out hope for after I die. It’s where you’ll find me 98% of the time, even in the midst of whatever happen to be the disruptions of the day.

When I was an idolater of the written word, I was filled with fear for family and friends—fear that they’d be tortured forever by an allegedly loving God for having the wrong beliefs. Later, my fear shifted to concern for the kind of world my grandchildren would inherit. Today, a joyful passion for life and a compulsion to leave a positive legacy have replaced fear. I’m now filled with easy acceptance and trust when I think about loved ones, expectant curiosity when I look to the future, and deep gratitude and peace when I think about my inevitable death and the death of those I care about.

When I was a Bible-centered Christian, I knew I had the right answers. If other people suffered, well…it was really their own fault. Today I feel compassion for those who struggle, and I am committed to doing everything I can to help bring about a just and healthy future for all. More, I’m motivated to do this not from a place of fear, but from a place of possibility and gladness that I’m related to everyone and everything and that I’m part of something emerging that is of planetary and cosmic significance.

All of this—gratitude, trust, and inspiration (replacing guilt, resentment, and fear)—all of this was made possible mostly just by having the eyes to see and ears to hear what God is revealing through science. It’s come from embracing the science-based history of physical evolution, biological evolution, and cultural evolution as my creation story, my sacred story—as the Great Story.

So the reason I evangelize evolution is twofold. I want others who are now confused or feeling guilt, resentment, resignation, or fear, to have for themselves the joy, peace, love, trust, and gratitude that comes from growing in right relationship to Reality, or “getting right with God.” And I want to spread the good news that billions of years of patterned cosmic and biological evolution (and cultural evolution) are on our side: propelling our species to move through this crisis of adolescence into maturity.

How inspiring to think that right now, through scientific and historical evidence, God is speaking volumes and is thereby faithfully and intimately addressing humanity!

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