Christianity in Evolution: An Exploration

by Jack Mahoney

Evolution has provided a new understanding of reality, with revolutionary consequences for Christianity. In an evolutionary perspective the incarnation involved God entering the evolving human species to help it imitate the trinitarian altruism in whose image it was created and counter its tendency to self-absorption. Primarily, however, the evolutionary achievement of Jesus was to confront and overcome death in an act of cosmic significance, ushering humanity into the culminating stage of its evolutionary destiny, the full sharing of God's inner life.

Previously such doctrines as original sin, the fall, sacrifice, and atonement stemmed from viewing death as the penalty for sin and are shown not only to have serious difficulties in themselves, but also to emerge from a Jewish culture preoccupied with sin and sacrifice that could not otherwise account for death. The death of Jesus on the cross is now seen as saving humanity, not from sin, but from individual extinction and meaninglessness. Death is now seen as a normal process that affect all living things and the religious doctrines connected with explaining it in humans are no longer required or justified. Similar evolutionary implications are explored affecting other subjects of Christian belief, including the Church, the Eucharist, priesthood, and moral behavior.

Genres: Christianity, Science, Religion

176 pages, Paperback

First published August 26, 2011

About the author

John Aloysius Mahoney was a Scottish Jesuit, moral theologian, and academic, specialising in applied ethics and business ethics.
Mahoney was principal of Heythrop College, London from 1976 to 1981, F. D. Maurice Professor of Moral and Social Theology at King's College, London from 1986 to 1993, and Dixons Professor of Business Ethics and Social Responsibility at the London Business School from 1993 to 1998. He was also Gresham Professor of Commerce between 1988 and 1993.

Reviews

[Paul Bruggink · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his introduction, Jack Mahoney describes this book as “a completed personal exploration of how Christian beliefs can be reassessed positively and instructively in an evolutionary context” (p. xiii) and that it is. Although he interacts almost exclusively with Roman Catholic doctrines, his book can be beneficial to any Christian who has accepted biological evolution as God’s process for creating life and is struggling with how to integrate that presupposition into their Christian faith.

Mahoney proposes that biological evolution could ultimately have a positive impact on our understanding of Christian doctrines. He describes how one might rethink the Image of God, Original Sin, the Fall, Atonement, the purpose of the Incarnation, and the Eucharist. “The theological challenge, then, becomes one of identifying a positive purpose for the death of Jesus, a purpose that, as I propose, is impressively provided by reflection on modern evolutionary theory.” (p. 91)

“More positively and fundamentally, an alternative reason for the incarnation is then required, and this is provided by an evolutionary theology that proposes that the motive for the Word becoming flesh was not to save humanity from any inherited congenital sinfulness; it was for Christ to lead and conduct the human species through the common evolutionary fate of individual extinction to a new level of living with God. Nor was this done by the offering of Christ as an expiatory sacrifice to placate an injured God; it was achieved by Christ freely confronting death and winning through to a new phase of existence to be imparted to his fellow humans in their evolutionary destiny to share fully in the life of God.” (pp. 14-15)

His suggested solution is that the purpose of Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection was primarily to teach altruism and to point the way to eternal life by the example of his life, death, and resurrection.

Mahoney concludes by saying, “This project will inevitably have involved mistakes, misunderstandings, and errors. My hope, however, is that the broad lines that I have developed here may prove basically acceptable and may encourage others to respond to the pope’s challenge, to consider how the Christian religion can provide a welcome to the scientific advance of human understanding and find generous room for it, making the Christian gospel appealing, attractive, and life-giving to modern generations.” (p. 168)

Mahoney’s constant interaction with historical and current literature is evidenced by 586 end notes in only 168 pages of text.

Whether you agree with him or not, Mahoney builds a case for his position. Theologians are going to be busy for a long time.

[Johnny Go · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provocative but controversial claims!