God and Evolutionary Accident: Compatible or Incompatible

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Associate Professor, Department of the Logic of Understanding Religion, Research Institute for Wisdom and Religious Research, Islamic Research Institute for Culture and Thought, Qom, Iran

Abstract

One of the main claims of evolutionary naturalists and the leaders of neo-atheism is the incompatibility of the evolution theory with the leading role of God in the process of life creation and biodiversity. They believe that the evolutionary theory puts a scientific end to theism. The main notion adopted by this group is the subject of “chance” and its position in the biological evolution process. Notwithstanding the accuracy or inaccuracy of the theory of evolution, the article at hand set out to explore the various meanings and applications of the concept of accident in biology to examine its logical relationship with the role of God in this regard. The study used document analysis and library research to collect data, and applied intellectual-analytical means to analyze the data. The results of the study indicated that none of the common applications of the term “accident” in biology in general and in the theory of evolution in particular has a conflict with the functioning of God in it; rather, what can lead to such a conflict is the philosophical understanding of accident. Moreover, some maximalist views in the explication of the evolutionary accident – that have no scientific support – can only imply the limitation of the role of God in this regard rather than its complete rejection.

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References

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Philosophy of Religion
Volume 19, Issue 3
October 2022
Pages 347-370

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