Evolution in Religion

It goes without saying that Man’s understanding of God is limited. Religion matches the knowledge of Man. Ancient Religions were shaped and limited by man’s Knowledge of the World and Nature at the time. The World's religions have evolved over time because man’s understanding has grown over the centuries and millennia of civilization. Religious beliefs had to evolve as various scientific discoveries have become undeniable, such as the movement of the planets around the sun. Religion had to move away from the idea that the Sun and stars revolve around the earth. The solar centered reality of the solar system changed Christian understanding of Heaven and Earth. It changes the perspective of where Heaven is. 

When religion has to reconcile with science or culture in order to survive, it can sometimes form breakaway religions. An example of this is with Martin Luther Born in 1483. He started the dissension from the Catholic Church by teaching his doctrine of Justification - His belief was God's act of declaring a sinner righteous—was by faith alone through God's grace. Referring to the writings of Paul in the New Testament. Soon after that Queen Elisabeth formed the Church of England.

Another example was in 1936, the founding of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Joseph Smith was born 1806 In Sharon Vermont. At the height of the age of enlightenment. A lot of scientific and cultural revolutions happened between Martin Luther and Joseph Smith. One big one was the discovery of the New World and its inhabitants, the Native Americans, Mayan, and Inca. Also the enlightenment brought about a better understanding of basic human rights. Joseph Smith saw the many religions from Catholic to Protestant, to Luthoren, and even the beliefs of the Native Americans. When Joseph was 14 He pondered and prayed to God who was right. That is when he had his famous vision of God and his son Jesus Christ where he was told to join none of them. The Restoration began. The restored Gospel reveals the promise of eternal families in God’s Kingdom.

But Joseph Smith was born twenty years too early because in 1849 a naturalist named Charles Darwin turned the scientific and religious World upside down with his theory of evolution. World Religions today are still trying to grapple with the fallout. How does one reconcile the creation story with evolution? 

This need for reconciliation of science, culture and religion is accelerating today during the information and “Mis-information” age. So much has been discovered about the world, the Cosmos, life DNA, and society has changed a lot in the last 170 years since Darwin, or 200 years since the first vision.

So Why is it necessary to somewhat reconcile science, culture, and religion? What needs to be reconciled? The separation of Science and Religions can cause rifts in culture. 

It would be no surprise to anyone if I said that in the last few years the United States has become more and more divided. A lot of that has to do with the divisiveness of Donald Trump. But Donald Trump came into power because of an already widening cultural divide between people who are religious and people who believe in science. We need both science and religion in order to understand our place in the cosmos. Science and religion, when they can come together, compliment each other. But the rift between cultures of the religious and the non-religious has grown to a point where it is causing tribalism and prejudice. 

Religious institutions have been the cause of cultural injustices throughout history. But Science has a negative side too.

I discuss Darwin and how evolution fits into the creation story in another essay. But I want to mention here that Darwin’s discovery of evolution and Natural Selection inadvertently revealed the root of the dark side of nature and of Man. “Survival of the Fittest.” Man’s natural instinct of survival of the fittest is the root of all that is evil and corrupt in the world. It is the cause of wars and contentions, greed, fear, and hate, and the ultimate sin of killing. But individually Survival of the fittest is an illusion because our bodies all return to the great Earth from which it came. Survival of the fittest manifests in society, and over generations. I am not sure Darwin realized what he discovered. We call it Science, Nature.

But the Nature of God and the Soul makes “Survival of the Fittest” Irrelevant, because the Soul is eternal. Science and Religion are really trying to explain and understand  the same thing; Nature. But there are some things that science can’t explain, yet. What is Consciousness? What is the Soul? We need science, but we also need religion, and need to try and reconcile Science and religion to some degree in order for human cultures to come together in harmony.

In some ways The Native American beliefs are more in harmony with Nature and science than Christianity. Basically they believe in a Great Spirit. But they also believe that each animal has a spirit. When they hunt for food and catch their prey, they pray to the animal spirit and thank the animal for giving it’s life to provide nourishment for their people. Joseph Smith tried to combine the Native American culture with Christianity. But maybe we need to go the other way. Combine Christianity with some of the beliefs of Native Americans.

Once we realize that the Soul is eternal and what that means for our relations with one another, and can recognise the source of corruption and injustices in society, including in various religions, we can make a change, and reconcile one with the other. Whether one is more religious or more scientific, we can find a middle ground, where humanity is found. We can find Evolution in Religion.