Understanding Christian Perspectives

9:39

14 Mar 2018

Evolution

Shabir Ally

Ilyas Ally

Ilyas Ally and Shabir Ally discuss Christian understandings of creation/evolution as presented in two books:  Darwinism Defeated? (1999) and Adam and the Genome (2017).

The elder Ally suggests that the “creative evolution” that he has been discussing over the past three segments, is a “more glorious” kind of evolution or creation than just God creating animals and people individually.  He uses an example of Legos either needing to be built or springing fully formed from their package. (Those who watch many videos on evolution may be reminded of #AtheistLogic’s Lego video, although it does not coincide with the way Ally has constructed the metaphor.)

This a segment from the Canadian TV show, Let the Quran Speak.  The original air date is not known.  It is part 4 of the series; the first, second and third segments may be found on the Portal as well.  The organization which sponsors the show is Islamic Information & Dawah Centre International in Toronto.

Evaluation:

Islam:  There is little here about Islam, other than the implicit suggestion that somehow understanding a Christian position has some implication for Muslims.  One must also keep in mind that Christians, like Muslims, hold a very wide variety of ideas, from strict literalists of a particular (usually English) version of the Bible to those who permit wide interpretive latitude.

Science:  Much of the science here is presented in an overly simplistic way.  The construction that all science is about disproving things flies in the face of the idea that models are constructed based on available evidence.  By challenging whatever is not yet well established, one continues to either support or revise the model.  It is not, as Shabir Ally suggests, an all or nothing proposition.

History:  There is insufficient historical material on which to base an evaluation.