The Origin of Life (WJEC Eduqas GCSE Religious Studies): Revision Note

Religious views on the origin of life

Christian views on the origin of life

• Christians believe that life was created by God and that the two creation accounts in the book of Genesis explain the process of creation

  • Genesis 1 shows that humans are the peak of God’s creation, made last and in the image of God

• Genesis 2 teaches that Adam (man) was made first, before the animals. He was formed from the dust of the ground, and the breath of God gave him life, which is seen as God giving humans a soul

• Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden, and Eve (the first woman) was created from one of Adam’s ribs

• Because the Bible is the word of God, it contains truth for Christians about how life originated

• However, there are differing Christian interpretations about the origins of life

  • Creationists say that the word of God should be read literally and any theory that contradicts it is false, for example, the Big Bang and the theory of evolution (below)

  • More liberal Christians claim that it makes more sense to understand the Bible accounts as myths, not historical accounts

Muslim views on the origin of life

• The Qur’an teaches that Allah created and sustains all life 

  • Allah formed humans out of clay; he made Adam (man) and breathed life into him

  • Allah put Adam in paradise and made a woman as a companion for him

• Muslims believe that the Qur’an is a sacred text and is the revealed word of God

• This means that many Muslims are creationists: They take the Qur’an’s teachings literally and believe that life was made just as the Qur’an describes

• Theories that contradict the idea that Allah created and designed human life, such as the big bang or evolution, should not be accepted

• Other Muslims take a more liberal view and accept aspects of the scientific theories. However, they often reject the idea of evolution (below) as the Qur’an explains how humans were created so specifically, and evolution is viewed as incompatible with this account

The theory of evolution

• The theory of evolution is the scientific explanation of how different species develop and change over time

• It was first proposed by Charles Darwin in 1859 in his book On the Origin of Species

  • Darwin suggested that as the Earth cooled, conditions became right for the beginning of life

  • Simple single-celled organisms appeared in the sea and gradually evolved into more complex species

  • Some developed the ability to live on land, while others eventually adapted to fly

  • Individuals within a species vary because of the genes they inherit from their ancestors

  • There is a constant struggle for survival due to climate, food and habitat

  • Animals with useful characteristics are more likely to survive and reproduce

  • These successful traits are passed on to their offspring through a process called natural selection

• Darwin described this as the survival of the fittest

• Over millions of years, this process led to the formation of new species, and it explains why plants and animals are adapted to their environments

  • For example, Darwin studied finches on the Galápagos Islands and noticed that their beak shapes were suited to different food sources

  • Those with useful traits survive and reproduce

Religious attitudes towards the theory of evolution

Christian attitudes towards the theory of evolution

• Today, many Christians accept evolution as the best scientific explanation of how life developed

• These Christians believe that God is the creator, but evolution is the method he used to bring about life

• Science explains how life developed, while religion explains why life exists

• Liberal Christians claim that modern science can reveal how God created the world in a way that the writers of the Bible could not have understood

• The Catholic Church teaches that evolution is compatible with belief in God as long as God is seen as the giver of the human soul

  • Pope John Paul II said that there is “no conflict between evolution and the doctrine of faith” (On Evolution, 1996)

• There are different ways of interpreting the role of God in evolution

  • Theistic evolution is the belief that life originated through evolution, but that this process was guided directly by God

  • Natural evolution is the process of evolution as the scientists describe it. However, Christians claim that God laid down the laws by which evolution happened (and all laws of nature) before the universe even existed 

• Some Christians, often described as creationists or literalists, reject evolution either partly or wholly because it appears to contradict Genesis. They believe that:

  • God created each kind of species directly

  • God created humans “in His image” (Genesis 1:27) uniquely

  • Evolution does not allow for humans to have a special “God-given” soul

  • The theory of evolution undermines the authority of the Bible and the idea that human life has a special purpose. They see such views as an attack on their beliefs

Muslim attitudes towards the theory of evolution

• Many Muslims affirm that Allah is the Creator and accept aspects of evolution as a scientific description of the process of creation

  • They still maintain that human beings have a special status given by Allah

• Some Muslims accept parts of evolution, believing that Allah may have used natural processes to create life, but that humans are unique creations

• Creationist Muslims believe that the Qur’an gives the true account of how Allah created life directly

• They believe that Allah created Adam from clay and breathed life into him, so humans could not have evolved from other species

• The Qur’an teaches that Allah is the source of all life

• Because the Qur’an is believed to be the direct word of Allah, many Muslims reject any theory that appears to contradict it

• Like many Christians, many Muslims believe in Old Earth creationism: the idea that although Allah created all life, this happened over six long periods of time rather than six 24-hour days

• Even if they accept other aspects of evolution, Muslims often reject the idea of human evolution 

  • The Qur’an explains how Adam was created so specifically that evolution is viewed as incompatible with this account and is often linked with atheism

Humanist and atheist attitudes towards the theory of evolution

• Humanists and atheists accept evolution as a proven scientific theory supported by evidence

  • They argue that life developed naturally through chance and natural processes, without the need for a divine creator

• Richard Dawkins is a British biologist and atheist. He argues in his book The Selfish Gene that Darwin’s theory of evolution is a more logical explanation of how life on Earth was created than the religious creation stories

• Dawkins questions that if there is evidence of design in the world, giving an impression that it was created and designed, then who designed this designer?

• For Dawkins, the answer to the appearance of design in nature is natural selection, not a God-driven process

• He says that the body is simply a survival machine for the organism’s genetics. Over time, good genes will survive and bad genes will die out