Evolution by natural selection does not require any divine or supernatural intervention. For some people, the idea of evolution as the result of random events threatens their religious beliefs regarding creation. While some people simply reject the entire concept of evolution and science, others see ways in which evolution could be compatible with their religious beliefs.
Evolutionary biologist Massimo Pigliucci, in an entry in The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief, summarizes theistic evolution this way:
Theistic evolution comes as close to a completely materialistic view of the universe as is possible for a religious person: God exists and he did create the universe, but afterward events unfold through the action of natural laws (put in place by the Creator, of course). Evolution by natural selection, therefore, is the way God decided to have things work in the biological realm.
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For people whose religious beliefs are based on a creator-god who created all living things at one time just as they are today, the basic idea of evolution, including theistic evolution, is frightening and intolerable.
For others, the idea of evolution per se is not the real problem, but rather the idea that humans evolved in the same way as other species. For these people, theistic evolution—the idea that evolution and particularly human evolution—is part of a divine plan of creation makes evolution acceptable.
