Evolution from Creation to New Creation: Conflict, Conversation, and Convergence

by Martinez Hewlett, Ted Peters

With theological and scientific expertise, Peters and Hewlett provide a careful and balanced analysis of the wide spectrum of debate between religious faith and biological evolution. Sensitive to the nuances of current, often contentious, argument, the authors clearly distinguish the major players and offer their own constructive theological vision.

Genres: Religion, Theology, Science

Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

Reviews

[Andy Zell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evolution from Creation to New Creation: Conflict, Conversation, and Convergence by Ted Peters and Martinez Hewlett is a useful book on the topic of theistic evolution. The two authors (one a theologian, the other a scientist) offer a helpful guide to the landscape of Christian approaches to origins. They critique the young earth creationist and the intelligent design positions, but in the most fair and serious way I’ve ever seen. They treat those who hold those positions with the utmost respect as fellow Christians (it’s a marked contrast to books I’ve read by Karl Giberson and Kenneth Miller). Curiously, they don’t spend any time with old earth/progressive creationists. The best part of the book is where they detail the spectrum of beliefs in the theistic evolution camp. They analyze various thinkers in five areas: (1) deep time, (2) natural selection, (3) common descent, (4) divine action, and (5) theodicy (i.e. an attempt to answer why a good God would allow evil and suffering). Afterwards, they present their own model that avoids some of the pitfalls they see in the other positions. For example, most of the other thinkers used some version of the free will defense to answer how God could allow evil. The problem they see with a free will defense is that it requires God to relinquish interacting with creation, which then makes evolutionary processes random and purposeless. Most theists would like to avoid that conclusion. Their approach is novel, by contrast, but it too is rather unsatisfying. They view creation as both an initial point in time (creatio ex nihilo) as well as an ongoing process (creatio continua) that is not yet complete until the “new creation” of a redeemed creation. In their reading, the “very good” declaration of Genesis is from the standpoint of the new creation, looking back on the whole history of creation (seems like a stretch). They admit that they, like Job, don’t know why suffering and death are part of the creation at this time. So, it’s still a mystery. Regardless, the book is a handy reference for the various positions within theistic evolution. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in the debate on creation and evolution.

[Paul Bruggink · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good overview of the spectrum of debate between science and the Bible. It covers the various flavors of Darwinism, social Darwinism, scientific creationism, intelligent design and theistic evolution by two theistic evolutionists, one (Peters) a professor of systematic theology and the other (Hewlett) an emeritis professor of biology and medicine.

The authors present each view positively, then offer their critiques, clearly labeling their opinions as opinions.

Their treatment of theistic evolution is particularly good, in that it clearly labels and systematically discusses the spectrum of flavors of theistic evolution, from reluctant acceptor (B. B. Warfield) to enthusiastic supporter (Theilhard de Chardin), along with the views of six others (Kenneth Miller, Arthur Peacock, Denis Edwards, John Haught, Robert John Russell and Philip Hefner) in between. The authors conclude the book with their own "Constructive Proposal." The book includes extensive notes, a glossary, an index and a scripture index.

I highly recommend it to Christians seeking to better understand the pros and cons of each viewpoint, particularly theistic evolution. Unfortunately, there is virtually no discussion of Old Earth Creationism and Progressive Creationism, which is why I gave it only four stars.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I often read books that I think might be valuable to friends who are interested in learning more about a topic. I chose this one in the hope that it would bring clarity to evolutionary theory and the controversy that swarms around it. The book is hard to read straight through because the authors spend most of it rehashing other people's ideas, which does not make for the most engaging reading. As such, it makes a more valuable reference work. Their chapter on "scientific creationism" is quite enlightening, and their final chapter on "theistic evolution" is highly recommended.

For those who want to sink their teeth into evolutionary theory, my standard recommendation is to read Richard Dawkins "Selfish Gene," followed by select chapters from Lindberg and Numbers' "God and Nature."