A Clear Definition

Many of the arguments between “evolutionists” and “anti-evolutionists” are useless, for one basic reason: they are usually not arguing about the same thing. Each one of them means one thing when he hears the word “evolution,” and the other means something else; and they argue in vain because they are not even talking about the same thing. Therefore, in order to be precise, I will tell you exactly what I mean by the word “evolution,” which is the meaning it has in all textbooks of evolution. But first I must show you that in your letter you have used the word “evolution” to mean two entirely different things, but you write as if they were the same thing. You have failed here to distinguish between scientific fact and philosophy.

a. You write: “The first chapters of the Holy Bible are nothing else but the history of creation progressing and being completed in time… Creation did not come into being instantly, but followed a sequence of appearances, a development in six different ‘days.’ How can we call this progress of creation in time if not evolution?”

I answer: all that you say is true, and if you wish you can call this process of creation “evolution”—but this is not what the controversy over evolution is about. All scientific textbooks define evolution as a specific theory concerning HOW creatures came to be in time: BY MEANS OF THE TRANSFORMATION OF ONE KIND OF CREATURE INTO ANOTHER, “COMPLEX FORMS BEING DERIVED FROM SIMPLER FORMS” IN A NATURAL PROCESS TAKING COUNTLESS MILLIONS OF YEARS (Storer, General Zoology). Later on, when you talk about the “evolved beast” Adam, you reveal that you believe in this specific scientific theory also. I hope to show you that the Holy Fathers did not believe in this specific scientific theory, even though this is certainly not the most important aspect of the doctrine of evolution, which more fundamentally is in error concerning the nature of man, as I will show below.

b. You say: “We all came into being by evolution in time. In our mother’s uterus, each one of us was at first one single-cell organism… and finally a perfect man.” Of course everyone believes this, whether he is an “evolutionist” or an “anti-evolutionist.” But this has nothing to do with the doctrine of evolution which is being disputed.

c. Again you say: “Adam was of which race, white, negro, red, or yellow? How did we become so different from one another when we are descendants of one single couple? Is this differentiation of man in different races not a product of evolution?”

I answer again: No, this is not what the word “evolution” means! There are very many books in the English language which discuss the question of evolution from a scientific point of view. Perhaps you do not know that many scientists deny the fact of evolution (meaning the derivation of all existing creatures by transformation from other creatures), and very many scientists state that it is impossible to know by science whether evolution is true or not, because there is no evidence whatever that can conclusively prove or disprove it. If you wish, in another letter I can discuss with you the “scientific evidence” for evolution. I assure you that if you look at this evidence objectively, without any preconceptions about what you will find in it, you will discover that there is not one piece of evidence for evolution that cannot equally be explained by a theory of “special creation.”

Please be very clear that I am not telling you that I can disprove the theory of evolution by science; I am only telling you that the theory of evolution can neither be proved nor disproved by science. Those scientists who say that evolution is a “fact” are actually interpreting the scientific facts in accordance with a philosophical theory; those who say that evolution is not a fact are likewise interpreting the evidence in accordance with a different philosophical theory. By pure science alone it is not possible conclusively to prove or disprove the “fact” of evolution.

You should also know that many books have likewise been written about “the difficulties of the evolutionary theory.” If you wish, I will be glad to discuss with you some of these difficulties, which seem to be totally unexplainable if evolution is a “fact.”