| Evolution and the Creativity of God | 2005-08-26 21:50 14 comments |
 by Flemming FunchTom Atlee mentions The Great Story and the work of Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd in integrating science and religion into a bigger view of life, the universe and everything, where there's no conflict between evolution and consciousness. He's a former evangelical preacher and she's a science writer. Here's an article called "No more trivializing God!". Do you believe in life? Well, do you? This is an absurd question, yes? Of course! It simply doesn't matter whether we "believe in" life or not. Life is all around us, and in us. We're part of it. Life is, period. What we say about life, however, is another story. If I say, "Life is wonderful," or "Life's a bitch," or "Life's a jungle," you may or may not believe me, depending on your own experience and the stories you've heard from others. What we say about life - its nature, its essence, its purpose, its patterns - along with the metaphors and analogies we choose to describe it, are all open for discussion and debate. But the reality of life is indisputable. This is exactly the way that God can be understood, and is understood from the perspective of The Great Story - that is, from the perspective of those who see the science-based history of cosmos, Earth, life, and humanity in a sacred, meaningful way. And this is precisely why the question, "Do you believe in God?", is a non-starter. * * * Whatever earlier cultures may or may not have meant when they used the word "God" is not the issue here. Today, any understanding of God that does not at least mean "Ultimate Reality," or "The Whole of Reality," or "Reality as a Whole, measurable and non-measurable," is a trivialized, impotent, and inconsequential notion of the divine. There are, of course, other ways to speak about the whole of reality, but if "God" is not a legitimate proper name for that which transcends yet includes all other realities, then what is? This understanding of God makes questions like, "Do you believe or not believe in God?" moot. Like life, reality simply is - no matter what one's beliefs. What we say about reality, however, the stories and beliefs we hold about its nature, purposes, direction, and so forth, are wide open for discussion and debate. But that there is such a thing as "Reality as a Whole, measurable and non-measurable," and that "God" is a legitimate, proper name for this Ultimate Reality: surely, these assertions are undeniable. In fact, it could be argued that this way of understanding the divine is, in our day and age, the only understanding of God worthy of the name. How so? Because this God so clearly trumps all other gods! Whatever any person or tradition might say or think about God, the undeniable fact is: Reality Rules (to use more traditional language, "Reality is Lord)!" That which is fundamentally and ultimately Real always has the final word. Everything bows to it, with no exceptions. * * * Supernatural, otherworldly images and concepts of the divine notwithstanding, when "God" is understood foundationally as a sacred, proper name for "The Whole of Reality, measurable and non-measurable," everything shifts: Theists, atheists, agnostics, pantheists, and panentheists can recognize common ground and move beyond the quagmire of old disputes. When "God" is understood as certainly no less than the Whole of Reality, new possibilities open for ways of thinking about Intelligence and Creativity that can go a long way toward ending the war between evolutionists and those who espouse "Intelligent Design." Does "Reality as a Whole" exhibit, or evidence, intelligence and creativity? Of course! This is one of the most significant scientific discoveries (revelations) of the last few hundred years, and one that simply couldn't have been known (revealed) prior to telescopes, microscopes, and computers. Subatomic particles within atoms within molecules within cells within organisms within societies within planets and galaxies and so forth, like nesting dolls: Each level expresses its own unique form of intelligence and creativity. Stars create most of the atoms in the periodic table of elements. The Sun and Earth together created oceans and forests, dragonflies and dancers. Atoms bonded in partnership, such as hydrogen and oxygen, create water. "God," then is a proper name, a sacred name, for "that Ultimate Intelligence and Creativity which transcends and includes all other forms of intelligence and creativity." God is the only Reality that is not a subset of some larger, more comprehensive reality. This way of thinking sheds new light on traditional understandings of God's immanence and transcendence. As the largest "nesting doll," God - i.e., Reality as a Whole, measurable and non-measurable - embraces, includes, and is revealed throughout the entire cosmos and in all of life (is immanent and omnipresent). God is the great "I AM" of existence. Yet as the source and end of everything, God (the Whole of Reality) is also more than the material world (God is transcendent), and is revealed in what has been called the "quantum vacuum state," "Implicate Order," "Metaverse" and "Akashic Field," among other things. "Intelligent Creativity" is perhaps a more accurate and useful way of speaking about the nature of emergent complexity than is "Intelligent Design." Consider: there is no inherent conflict between "Intelligent Creativity" and a mainstream understanding of biological, cultural, planetary, and cosmic evolution. As well, the phrase "Intelligent Creativity" doesn't imply, as "Intelligent Design" does, a mechanistic understanding of the universe - that is, a presumption that the creativity at work in the cosmos necessarily stands outside the creation, in the way that, say, a clockmaker or engineer is quite distinct from the product each builds or invents. Although the metaphor of a mechanistic universe helped birth the scientific revolution and served ably during through the prime of the industrial revolution, scientists working today and in virtually all disciplines have moved beyond the constraints of a mechanistic worldview. Emergent evolution, self-organization, complexity sciences: these terms exemplify the shift from a mechanistic to a nestedly creative worldview. * * * Scientists speak of the universe unfolding according to natural law and species evolving by adapting to selection pressures within the environment. Theologians speak of the cosmos and all living creatures as coming into being as a result of God's will and God's grace. Only now can we begin to appreciate that these are different ways of speaking about the same process. To argue whether it was God, natural selection, or the self-organizing dynamics of emergent complexity that brought everything into existence is like debating whether it was me, my fingers moving on the keyboard, or the electrical synapses of my nervous system that produced this sentence. Of course, this way of understanding the divine begs the question: Does this "God" evoke humility, love, trust, adoration, reverence, or commitment? Is this a "God" anyone would want to worship, pray to, or devote one's life to serving? Of course! If we wish to have a meaningful relationship with "The Whole of Reality" (both that which we can see and measure and that which we cannot), it is natural to use personal analogies to describe the nature of this Ultimacy. The Creator, Mother, Father, King, the Lord God Almighty, The Triune God, Holy Wisdom, the Messiah, Buddha nature, Brahman, the Tao, Allah, Great Spirit, the Rock of Our Salvation, The All Nourishing Abyss, the Akashic Field: these are but a few of the countless images and metaphors used by people of different cultures and times to describe the nature of "Reality as a Whole" and our relationship to it. All such attempts to capture the essence of The Whole are legitimate. Most are helpful, and all are limited. Such are the deficiencies of human language. Spiritual practices that have served many and have stood the test of time, as well as contemporary psychological research, have this in common: They suggest, at their core, that the peace that passes all understanding, recovery from addiction, salvation from sin, ongoing transformation, personal empowerment, enlightenment, dwelling in kingdom of heaven, experiencing oneness with God - each of these can be found right here (and nowhere else!). How? Simply, get that you are part of The Whole, live with integrity, take responsibility for your life and your evolutionary legacy, listen to your heart to discern God's guidance, and love the Whole of Reality with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself. Prayer, from this perspective, is truly an intimate process, and one that even an atheist might embrace. Prayer is no longer the act of petitioning a far-off Supernatural Being to miraculously intervene in the world according to my desires or wishes. With an understanding of "God" as a proper name for Reality as a Whole, prayer can now be understood analogously as a cell in a body communicating (or in deep communion) with the larger body of which it is part. * * * There is a profound difference between "believing in a personal God" and knowing God intimately, that is, relating to Reality personally. "Believing in" God - that is, giving mental assent to the existence of a Supernatural Being - may or may not make a difference. Relating to Reality personally, that is, trusting that you are loved and accepted just as you are and that everything real in your life can be seen a gift and blessing in disguise, will always transform your life. * * * To sum up: (1) Because the entire universe is evolving and we're part of the process, and (2) because "God" cannot possibly be less than a proper name for "Reality as a Whole, measurable and non-measurable," then (to use traditional language) "knowing, loving, and serving God" really is our way into the future! It really is our destiny as a species. How does one "know, love, and serve God" in an evolutionary context? PERSONALLY, it means that nothing is more important than fulfilling your evolutionary mission! By listening, noticing what's real within and without, and pursuing the path where your own great joy and the world's evolutionary needs intersect, you truly glorify God; that is, you bless The Whole. COLLECTIVELY, as a species, "knowing, loving, and serving God" in an evolutionary context means, at the very least, re-organizing ourselves globally, nationally, regionally, and locally so that there are real and effective incentives for doing the right (just, ecological, evolutionarily beneficial) thing and equally effective disincentives against lying, cheating, dominating, polluting, or otherwise doing the wrong, or evolutionary harmful, thing. Humanity will realize its potential by evolving structures of governance at all levels that align the natural self-interest of individuals and groups with the wellbeing of the whole - that is, the whole of humanity as well as the larger body of life of which we are part. PRACTICALLY, this means putting in place laws, taxes, and moral incentives that ensure that individuals, corporations, and nation-states benefit when they benefit the Whole and are harmed when they harm the Whole. And the more they benefit or harm the whole, the more they benefit or are harmed, in turn. This process of aligning self-interest with the common good is the way evolution has brought forth (i.e., the way that God has created through time) increasingly complex, interdependent systems. And if we humans are to continue the process, this same pattern of whole-and-part is surely how we will do so in the decades to come. |