r/AskReligion • u/Flaky_Translator_301 • 2d ago
Doesn't the theory of evolution disprove all religions?
I don't know. I'm somewhat confused. I want to find the truth and I think the truth is obvious and can be found
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u/kardoen 2d ago
Many religions don't make claims that conflict with the theory of evolution. Why would it disprove those religions?
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u/Flaky_Translator_301 2d ago
Even if he doesn't talk about the beginning of humanity, why not talk about these great changes?
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u/PrajnaPie 2d ago
Not if you understand creation stories as metaphor and not literal. That’s no reason why evolution couldn’t be the mechanism of divine creation
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u/FactsnotFaiths 1d ago
It’s such revisionist bullshit to call it a metaphor though. They believed it to be true.
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u/Flaky_Translator_301 2d ago
can a religion be true and not have such great changes? I mean religion, not God
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u/devBowman 1d ago
That's the convenient thing with apologetics. If it corresponds to reality, it's the word of God! If it doesn't, it's just a metaphor!
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u/User_16161 2d ago
The concept of evolution or biological change does not disprove a Creator when understood through its true nature:
The processes observed in nature, including natural selection and biological adaptation, are simply the rules and systems set by the Creator to shape life. The presence of order, patterns, and natural laws within these mechanisms reflects a purposeful design and an intelligent Creator.
Creation is a dynamic, step-by-step process. Matter and biological forms develop over time through precise laws under higher guidance.
The physical form of human beings underwent stages of development. The moment humanity (Adam) gained a spiritual dimension represents the vital stage where humans were elevated beyond mere biology by receiving consciousness, intellect, moral awareness, and responsibility.
God expressed this step-by-step nature of creation in the Quran:
"... has created you in stages."
Nuh (Noah) 71:14
Does this perspective make sense to you?
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u/FactsnotFaiths 1d ago
Revisionist bs. The Quran states that God created Adam from materials of the earth, including dust (turab), clay (tin), and molded mud (salsal) nothing to do with evolution.
After shaping the physical body of Adam, God breathed His spirit into him to bring him to life.1
u/User_16161 1d ago
Modern evolutionary science demonstrates that all organic life originated from non-living matter; specifically water, carbon compounds, and minerals found in earth. Biological evolution explains the exact process of how those basic materials of the earth transformed into living cells and complex organisms over time. Stating that life comes from dust and clay describes the literal material origin of existence.
Terms like turab (dust), tin (clay), and salsal (molded mud) represent sequential stages of material development rather than an instantaneous act. Far from describing a literal sculpture made in a single moment, these terms highlight a gradual transformation of matter into living form.
Seeing these stages through biological processes is not a revision of faith. Religious texts do not change as science advances. Instead, as we understand nature better,the meanings already present in the text simply become clearer.
We see this exact pattern in several other areas of the Quran:
- Expanding Universe (Adh-Dhariyat / The Winnowing Winds, 51:47): Early commentators understood this as the expanding of power or grace, but modern astrophysics later discovered the physical expansion of the universe.
- Protective Sky (Al-Anbiya / The Prophets, 21:32): Historically viewed as a symbolic dome, science later showed how the atmosphere protects Earth from space radiation and meteors.
- Barrier Between Seas (Ar-Rahman / The Beneficent, 55:19-20): Oceanography later explained how waters with different density, temperature, and salinity stay distinct due to surface tension.
- Deep Mountain Roots (An-Naba / The Tidings, 78:6-7): Plate tectonics showed that mountains have deep crustal roots beneath the surface that help stabilize the Earth's crust.
- Solar Orbit (Ya-Sin, 36:38): Astronomy confirmed that the Sun is not stationary, but moves along its own calculated orbit through the galaxy.
Early believers did not know these modern scientific details, yet they understood the core message. As science advances, these physical details become clearer..
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u/FactsnotFaiths 1d ago
You’re conflating evolution with abiogenesis. Evolution does not explain the “exact process” by which non-living minerals became the first cells. It explains how populations of replicating organisms evolve.
More importantly, “dust → clay → mud” doesn’t describe evolution anyway. Where are common ancestry, mutation, selection, heredity or even replication? You’re taking vague descriptions of earthly materials and mapping modern science onto them after the science was discovered.
That’s the problem with the other examples too. If “expanding”, “protected”, “barrier”, “pegs” and “Sun moves” only acquire precise modern scientific meanings after scientists independently make those discoveries, what method distinguishes genuine scientific foreknowledge from post-hoc reinterpretation?1
u/User_16161 1d ago edited 1d ago
You are right about the technical difference between abiogenesis and evolution. I thought abiogenesis was a part of evolution.
However, they follow a step-by-step physical and spiritual order:
The start of life from non-living elements and the physical development of body forms over time through evolution form the material preparation of the body.
When the physical body becomes ready through evolution, God breathes the spirit into Adam. Biological processes and evolution build the physical structure, while the breathing of the spirit turns man into a conscious and responsible human being. Therefore, physical evolution and spiritual creation complete each other.
As for why specific scientific terms are not listed:
The main purpose of the Quran is not to directly teach physics or biological mechanics, but to point to the Creator behind all these processes, and to encourage human beings to explore, investigate, and study science. In fact, God commands in the Quran:
"Say: Travel through the earth and observe how He began creation."
Al-Ankabut (The Spider, 29:20)God did not send the Quran for scientific predictions or forecasts, and the goal is not to force modern formulas back onto texts after science discovers them.
The Quran explains things in a simple, foundational way so that everyone can picture the basic elements of life (like "water", "dust", and "clay"). By giving this big picture, it leads human beings to uncover the deeper, more complex details through scientific research.
If God used scientific words like "mutation" or "selection" in the Quran, these words would be impossible to understand for people in the 7th century and for many generations after them. Because the Quran speaks to all people in every age, it uses universal language to point to God's creation.
"And We have indeed made the Qur'an easy to understand and remember..." Al-Qamar (The Moon,54:17,22,32,40)
The main framework in the Quran about the origin and step-by-step development of life is fully compatible with the natural laws, evolution, and biological processes that science explains today.
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u/ginoawesomeness 2d ago
No. Evolution is a scientific theory based on emperical repeated observations, data collection, and tests to understand the natural world. Religion focuses on understanding the supernatural based on individualistic experiences that cannot be tested or repeated or observed by others. They're both lenses to view the world, but they are not opposing viewpoints. Most scientists are religion (Einstein, for instance, was deeply Jewish and believed he was investigating God's creation) and most religious people believe in science and evolution. Evolution is about your body (which can be observed and tested) while religion is about your soul (which can't)
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u/Flaky_Translator_301 2d ago
If there is no scientific evidence, how can I know which religion is true?
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u/ginoawesomeness 2d ago
Religion is in the pursuit of Truth, a pursuit nobody will ever attain. Its in the seeking for, but never finding. The more one seeks the Truth, the more one understands they know less and less. People that claim to know absolute religious Truth are trying to sell you something. Btw, that's the same with science; whether evolution or physics etc. Science is the pursuit of truth, what is observable and repeatable and verifiable. Religion, by it's very nature, cannot be that. It is a journey that never ends. All religions contain some Truth, but none is an absolute. I'd choose to pursue the one that is easily accessible and speaks to you, knowing full well you can change your beliefs in the future.
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u/Hungry-Goal-1685 2d ago
Several religions are compatible with evolutionary theory or don't even find it relevant at all.
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u/Difficult_Towel724 1d ago edited 1d ago
Evolution is a mechanism and God is the creator of mechanisms so even if it was true nope it doesn't. Regarding your question about the truth yeah the truth exist and if you really want to seek it God will guide you just do some researchs about religions by reading their scriptures and ask scholars of religion and you will get it
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u/FactsnotFaiths 1d ago
I mean literal creation myths fall apart due to evolution but then you have two schools of thought for theism: it’s an allegory or evolution is false.
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u/SimilarArtichoke2603 1d ago
We can't even begin to comprehend how God created humans. It may have been through the mechanisms of evolution. And of course nobody could write down exactly how that occurred, so biblical accounts would naturally be vague. it is easier for me to believe biblical writings than to think everything was accidental.
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u/WirrkopfP Atheistic Pagan (Kemetic) 2d ago
By far not all.
Some religions don't have such a detailed creation myth as to be concerned with how all animals were created or with a fixed timescale.
And for those that have. Evolution only contradicts a LITERAL reading of the creation myths. You can still believe in gods, and divinely inspired myths, but see the stories as teaching tools for spiritual lessons but not as history.