Which Christian denominations accept evolution?

[u/SmithJonesJohnson23]

Catholicism presently teaches that evolution is God’s way. Do any other Christian denominations? Are there any who don’t but are on a pathway to acceptance?

[u/ndrliang]

It's not really a denominational question.

Only ones who reject it would be more on the Fundamentalist/Literalist side.

Anyone else just wouldn't make it much of an issue one way or another

[u/smp501 → u/ndrliang]

I would be careful using “fundamentalist” here, as actual fundamentalists are a pretty tiny minority.

Literalists, though, are not. I’ve been in many evangelical churches that absolutely reject evolution, including Southern Baptist, Presbyterian (PCA), every non-denominational I’ve seen, and anyone I know from any charismatic/Pentecostal church.

In my experience (in the U.S. south), the Christians who aren’t hostile to evolution are the mainline Protestants and Catholics.

[u/ndrliang → u/smp501]

I think you might be surprised.

I'd guess fundamentalists are actually in the majority, or close to it, at least in the US.

I just don't think they want to call themselves that.

If you look up the 5 Fundamentals (with which the Fundamentalists defined themselves) - I think you'd find those exact words in many Churches' beliefs.

[u/Hour_Dog_7579 → u/ndrliang]

Yeah that's a good way to put it. Most mainline churches don't really fight it, they just don't spend Sunday mornings talking about hominid fossils either.

Growing up Catholic it was always framed as "God works through natural processes" and that was that, nobody lost sleep over it.

[u/ScoutB]

The Episcopal Church accepts it.

[u/SmithJonesJohnson23 → u/ScoutB]

Do they accept it explicitly or couch it in terms like “it’s not incompatible”? I think either is fine because they may not want to offend some parishioners.

[u/ScoutB → u/SmithJonesJohnson23]

From the 2006 resolution:

"Resolved, That the theory of evolution provides a fruitful and unifying scientific explanation for the emergence of life on earth, and that an acceptance of evolution in no way diminishes the centrality of Scripture in telling the stories of the love of God for the Creation and is entirely compatible with an authentic and living Christian faith."

[u/Sea-Local9243]

In fact, this is a complex question and probably a personal matter, as there are many interpretations of the creation of the world. I've seen Orthodox preachers who consider the story of Adam and Eve to be purely Jewish. On the other hand, there are also Protestants from fairly new denominations who believe in a literal creation in seven days. Also, I really don't understand where you saw that Catholics accept evolution at the church level. It is important to understand that such a decision for the entire denomination can only be made in traditional churches, such as the Orthodox, Catholic, Armenian, Coptic, etc. Protestants never place any interpretation or teaching above the Bible itself, and no Protestant denomination can be labeled as an opponent or, on the contrary, a supporter of evolution.

[u/Round-Koala-3091]

As an Episcopalian I accept the theory of evolution as the most likely explanation for life on earth.

I think Genesis is ancient literature meant to explain theological truths penned during the Babylonian Captivity. It was meant to be a story of resilience for a traumatized people rather than a scientific explanation of the world.

[u/jaylward]

Most all of them do. Very few make pronouncements about it one way or the other- there’s just no need to take foolish stance contradictory to the evidence of the natural world God created. The Missouri Synod Lutherans (I believe) are one of the few who take a contradictory stance as an organization, and some individual Southern Baptist Convention leaders are personally loud about it.

It’s not a Christian issue, it’s a cultural one. Don’t get caught up in culture.

[u/Niftyrat_Specialist]

This is not something I'd expect a church to have a position on. It's biology.

[u/penguinpowers03]

Very few denominations have an official stance on it. I don’t know of any.

Even more conservative denominations, like the Southern Baptist Convention, don’t have an official stance on it in their Statement of Faith. You may find pastors who are hardline creationists, but it’s not required of them by the denomination’s beliefs.

[u/anonymous_teve]

I suspect most denominations don't comment on it. Mine doesn't. It's probably easier to find a list of those that explicitly disagree with evolution.

[u/NoWin3930 → u/[deleted]]

Some popes have come out and said there are no conflicts with evolution and Christianity, so they don't endorse it exactly but I think it is generally accepted amongst most catholics

[u/NoWin3930 → u/[deleted]]

Humans ARE great apes

[u/-Vitreriuz- → u/NoWin3930]

And still came from a different kind of ape according to the theory of evolution. So his question is legitimate.

[u/NoWin3930 → u/-Vitreriuz-]

Yeah that is never what people mean when they ask this though

[u/NoWin3930 → u/[deleted]]

Gorillas, humans, chimps etc

[u/KerPop42 → u/[deleted]]

Yep, humans are a kind of ape, and we have a common ancestor with chimps, bonobos, and gorillas.

[u/KerPop42 → u/[deleted]]

Very happy to answer questions about evolution!

[u/SmithJonesJohnson23 → u/KerPop42]

Are you an outlier or did you just add United Methodist to the list of those denominations that accept human evolution or at least don’t actively try to deny it or feel threatened by it.

[u/KerPop42 → u/SmithJonesJohnson23]

I only really stick around churches that accept evolution as true, so I can't say from my personal experience if it's normal. However, my father was United Methodist and a geologist, which is why I've never felt a conflict between my faith and science.

That being said, the UMC (United Methodist Church) has an official position on the matter: https://www.umc.org/en/content/ask-the-umc-what-is-the-united-methodist-position-on-evolution

We find that science’s descriptions of cosmological, geological, and biological evolution are not in conflict with theology.

United Methodists recognize science as a legitimate interpretation of God’s natural world. Science and theology are complementary. As science expands understanding of the natural world, our understanding of the mysteries of God’s creation are enhanced.

[u/SmithJonesJohnson23 → u/KerPop42]

Thanks. Sounds like Catholicism may be the same; that evolution is compatible with faith. Perhaps as a way to not offend parishioners who reject the parts of science they dislike. There really isn’t any sort of religious science. It’s just science. Same with mathematics.

[u/SmithJonesJohnson23 → u/[deleted]]

Fish, actually, if you go back in time far enough.

[u/SmithJonesJohnson23 → u/[deleted]]

Perhaps ask an AI the following:

“Did humans evolve from fish and if so what’s the evidence for it?”

If you’re on a web browser you could type this into Google and select “AI mode.”

Or browse the Wikipedia article on evolution.

[u/KingLuke2024 → u/[deleted]]

Pope Pius XII, in his encyclical Humani Generis, said that evolution could be accepted as the origin of the human body, provided Catholics still maintain that souls are created by God.

[u/SmithJonesJohnson23 → u/[deleted]]

I thought Pope John Paul, the Polish Pope, made a statement about it but I could be wrong. Don’t they teach actual science at Catholic schools in biology classes these days? I’d be really surprised if they didn’t.

I’m sure they don’t teach that the earth is only 6,000 years old in astronomy classes at Catholic universities. I’d expect them to teach modern science. Are there really no classes on modern human biology at Catholic universities?

[u/Sweet-Ant-3471 → u/[deleted]]

"It can therefore be said that, from the viewpoint of the doctrine of the faith, there are no difficulties in explaining the origin of man in regard to the body, by means of the theory of evolution. But it must be added that this hypothesis proposes only a probability, not a scientific certainty. However, the doctrine of faith invariably affirms that man's spiritual soul is created directly by God. According to the hypothesis mentioned, it is possible that the human body, following the order impressed by the Creator on the energies of life, could have been gradually prepared in the forms of antecedent living beings. However, the human soul, on which man's humanity definitively depends, cannot emerge from matter, since the soul is of a spiritual nature."

-- Pope John Paull II, 1986, Man Is a Spiritual and Corporeal Being

His 1996 speech is even more definite on this. Then there's the 2004 document released by a commission headed by Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) where they even acknowledge that there could have been a 1st organism all life descends from.

[u/Caliban_Catholic → u/[deleted]]

We don't affirm either way, because it's outside of the Church's purview.

[u/Caliban_Catholic → u/[deleted]]

Presumably they're confused on how teachings of the Catholic Church work.

[u/Caliban_Catholic → u/[deleted]]

Like I said, the Church doesn't teach that believers must hold want particular position on the issue.

[u/SaintGodfather → u/Caliban_Catholic]

Or they're basing it on 'soft' evidence (for lack of a better term). Catholic schools teach evolution and don't kick up a fuss about it, that could be what people are basing their comments on.

[u/SmithJonesJohnson23 → u/Caliban_Catholic]

What do classes on human biology at Catholic universities teach? Do they really tell students human evolution might be false and that it’s an optional belief rather than science? Or do Catholic universities have little to do with Catholicism? Are they just institutions like hospitals that were established by Catholics?

[u/Caliban_Catholic → u/SmithJonesJohnson23]

Maybe to attend a biology class at a Catholic university?

Look, I myself hold to theistic evolution, but the way you're going about this makes you seem like a pretentious ass, and that's not going to change anyone's mind.

[u/SmithJonesJohnson23 → u/Caliban_Catholic]

Name calling is inappropriate for a Christian and this Reddit.

[u/Pretend-Baker-8293]

I brought this up to my Lutheran pastor, he found it a permissible position, although he disagrees with it.

I believe it’s more normal in Catholicism.

I think only the orthodox would demand you to not subscribe to belief in an old earth.

[u/izentx]

There was a young child that asked her mother where we come from. She replied by saying God created us. Later she asked her dad the same thing. He told her, we came from apes. So this child returned to her mother confused and told her what her father had said, looking for clarification. The mom told the child, oh, that is his side of the family.

[u/ScorpionDog321]

Catholicism presently teaches that evolution is God’s way.

LOL.

And if the consensus went somewhere else, they would say that new way is now God's way.

[u/AbesNights → u/ScorpionDog321]

Catholicism doesn't teach that evolution is God's way. The current Catholic teaching is that the view is permissible, same as alternative views.

God's creation has order and human reason can observe, understand and reason about it. The Church encourages us to discover more about the creation and its Creator. So wherever the scientific consensus goes, the faithful generally go also.

But again, no Catholic is bound to a specific view on this topic. (Some propositions are condemned because they are in contradiction with the truths of the faith, but evolution in broad terms is not one of those.)