‘It is impossible for a scientific discovery given by God to contradict a Word given by God. If therefore a scientific discovery, as distinct from scientific speculation, contradicts what we have believed by the Bible, it is not a question of error in God’s Word, but of error in our way of interpreting it. Far from “defending” the Bible against scientific discovery, the Christian has a duty to welcome thankfully, as from the same Giver, whatever light each may throw upon the other. This is the “freedom” of a fully Christian devotion to the God of Truth.’1
Objections not withstanding, the fact is that within the international scientific community the Theory of Evolution is the universally accepted working paradigm for the origin and development of life. To attempt to downgrade it as nothing but a ‘theory’ achieves very little. Evolution, as distinct from evolutionism (which is an ideological parasite), is as religiously neutral as Dirac’s unified field theory. If the theory is true (and the cumulative weight of evidence and the fruitfulness of the model are not to be dismissed lightly), then we would expect it to be compatible with biblical, evangelical belief. Many think this to be the case.2
