It’s death, Jim, but not as we know it!

DARWIN, CREATION AND THE FALL
Theological challenges
Ed. by R.J. Berry & T.A. Noble. IVP (Apollos). 208 pages. £9.99
ISBN 978-1-84474-381-0

This is a collection of essays written by theologians and scientists, all of whom oppose ‘creationism’ and are committed to an evolutionary view of origins. All are evangelical Christians, and in these essays they attempt to reconcile evolution with biblical revelation.

R.J. Berry surveys Darwin's theory in the light of biblical teaching. He suggests that perhaps at some point in human evolution from the apes, God set us apart as homo divinus — biologically identical to homo sapiens, but spiritually distinct (p.61). He questions whether there was an historical Adam, or Fall as described in Genesis. At any rate, the ‘death’ which results from the Fall is to be regarded as spiritual separation from God, not physical death which obviously was necessary for the evolutionary process up to that point.