A Believer in Christ Teaches Evolution
- Cynthia Zager Godwin
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
May 2025
In this Edition:
A Believer Teaches Evolution
Genesis Contest – My Novel is an ACFW Semifinalist!!
Authors Helping Authors
A Believer Teaches Evolution
When I taught biology at a public high school, biology classes always included a unit on evolution. Even though I’m a follower of Jesus Christ, and don’t accept evolution’s worldview, I enjoyed teaching the subject. It resulted in some of the best class discussions ever.
I started off by telling my students it was not my job to tell them what to believe or how to think. That was up to them. However, the state of California would test them on the subject of evolution, and they needed to know it for the state test.
I started by having students look up some of the major worldviews:
Deism, Pantheism, Spiritualism, Theism and Naturalism.
(Shout out to John Turner who gave me the idea of looking up the -isms.)
The students got to work, and before long a question would arise. “Mrs. Godwin, spiritualism? Are you sure? The study of spirits, gods, ghosts, and demons? Is that right? Isn’t this a science class?”
I’d assure the student that he or she was on the right track. Then we’d discuss each definition and see if it worked from a scientific viewpoint.
Deism, the belief in a supreme being. This doesn’t work as a scientific worldview. Science can’t prove or disprove the existence of a supreme being.
Pantheism, everything in the entire universe is part of god. Think, the Force, from Star Wars. This viewpoint is out too. Beyond being way beyond the scope of science to examine the entire universe, science can’t prove or disprove 100% of anything.
Spiritualism, the study of spirits. Nope. “Ghostbusters” is a fun movie, and there’s some TV shows about ghost hunting, but science doesn’t possess a single instrument capable of studying and cataloguing spirits.
Theism, a personal God created the world and directs human affairs. This viewpoint is out too. I’d always get a few gasps after saying that. Science is incapable of proving or disproving the existence of God, personal or not.
Naturalism, everything can be explained by observing the natural laws that govern the universe.
Science has instruments that are used to examine the natural world such as microscopes, telescopes, thermometers, meter sticks, scales, mass spectrometers, etc. God, spirits, love, consciousness – all of these are beyond the realm of science to observe or measure.
"If you cannot measure it, then it is not science." Lord Kelvin
Kelvin was a physicist. The absolute temperature scale, measured in kelvins, was named after him. He also made major contributions to the second law of thermodynamics.
I’d explain that naturalism was the worldview I was going to use to teach the theory of evolution.
From time to time, when something controversial in evolution came up such as, does survival of the fittest apply to humans, my students would ask, “You’re teaching this from a naturalistic viewpoint, right?” And I’d say, yes.
We’d also discuss the difference between a scientific theory and a scientific law. A theory provides an explanation based on observations of the natural world. A theory is often broader than a law. A law is usually expressed mathematically and describes what happens under specific conditions.
For example, gravity is both a theory and a law. Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation describes the force that exists between one or more objects. Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity explains why gravity exists.
Is evolution a theory or a law? Evolution is based on large amounts of observable data about the natural world. However, there is no simple, universally applicable, mathematical equation that can be used to describe evolution. (Yes, there are Hardy-Weinberg equations for genetics, but those are specific to the study of genetics.)
Since I always referred to the theory of evolution, sometimes a student would ask, “Are there any alternative theories to evolution?” The answer was, since you asked, one of the alternative theories to the theory of evolution is the theory of creation, a personal God created the universe.
Since we were going to be studying Darwin’s theory of evolution, I thought it was important my students knew the complete title of his book. It’s usually shortened to: On the Origin of the Species. However, Darwin’s entire title is: On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.
The ‘favored races’ business brought up more questions and more discussion. As I said, the subject of evolution resulted in lots of excellent class discussions.
ACFW Genesis Contest - Semifinalist
I am beyond thrilled that my first science fiction novel (sorry, can’t mention the name until September) is a semifinalist in the American Christian Fiction Writer’s (ACFW) Genesis Contest for unpublished writers. I won’t find out if it placed in the top three until the annual ACFW conference in September.
I think all of us who write sometimes wonder if what we’re working on is any good. Will anyone read it? Am I wasting my time? Even if my novel doesn’t place in the top three, it’s a wonderful confirmation of my writing. Some complete strangers thought it was good. Imagine that!!
Authors Helping Authors
Our own Lady Lit, Susan Marie Graham, just published her first novel in a series of NINE based on the biblical fruits of the spirit. The Truth About Love is delightful, witty, and a fast read.
Dana is a single mom raising her hemophiliac son. She meets Ethan, a gentle man who's social anxiety is so great, he's talked himself into a life of bachelorhood.
That is – until he meet. Then Ethan needs coaching from his male friends on how to have a relationship with a woman. I loved the heartbreak and the humor!
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