Natural Selection
- Details
- Written January 2009
A divine presence settles on us
Above worm and bird, wombat and beetle
In the world of transmutation [1]
Closely observed by explorer Darwin,
But still not the fittest, nor the most likely
Among the elect - just an ordinary me
Knowing the Spirit that gives true identity
Allowing humble origins blend into equality,
Making imperfect sense of reformer Calvin
On the journey of transformation
As we prepare for a future without the Beagle [2]
That proceeds somewhere beyond Galapagos. [3]
So while evolving species flourish in phylogeny [4]
Creation is crowned with human sovereignty. [5]
January 2009
After visiting the Darwin Big Idea Big Exhibition at the Natural History Museum,
London, and thinking of Calvin's theology of unconditional election and predestination in his 'Institutes of the Christian Religion' alongside Darwin's theory of evolution outlined in 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection'
[1] The altering of one species into another
[2] The ship on which Darwin travelled
[3] The islands in the Pacific where Darwin made many important observations - the name means: 'enchanted islands'.
[4] The evolutionary development and history of a species or higher taxonomic grouping of organisms
[5] What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour. (Psalm 8:4-5)