Evolution and Sin

Years ago, [my wife Joy] and I watched an interesting interview with the late Stephen J. Gould. He was "an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science" who taught at Harvard University. We really liked him even though we disagreed with his views on evolution. The documentary was titled "A Glorious Accident." In it, the documentarian asked about evolution and morals. To his surprise, Gould stated that morals don't come from evolution. "Morals are just not a theme." I was reminded of this as I read my friend Tom Gilson's post, "Why Would Christianity Today Try Twisting the Bible to Fit Evolution?" It is a valid question. In the middle of dealing with the scientific problems of evolution, Tom raises the problem of sin:

"That’s a problem already, and it gets even worse. Historic, orthodox Christian doctrine includes a firm belief in humans’ original innocence, in full, unrestricted fellowship with God. Our first parents messed that up through disobedience to God, and since then, every human being is born with a sin nature. We don’t acquire it by some corrupted set of genes, and we don’t acquire it by learning. The one true and sufficient reason we have a sin nature is because we’re humans, descended from Adam and Eve.

“This is not a minor problem. There is no mechanism within naturalistic evolution to account for the origin of sin, and I would suggest there is no mechanism within theistic evolution to account for it either. Is the drive to wed evolution and theism by Christianity Today and some well-known Christian leaders little more than a renewed attempt to make alliances with non-Christians by agreeing to call them Christian if they will call Christians "smart"? Perhaps.”

https://mailchi.mp/1b98641c18c6/the-road-well-traveled?e=169825fd77