Fascinated with science since his teen years in Puerto Rico, Nelson Rivera conducted research for his doctoral thesis to understand why many Christians view evolutionary biology as “such a menace.” Associate professor of systematic theology and director of the Latino Concentration at the Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia, Rivera shared some findings in a recent conversation with Mark Staples, reporting for The Lutheran. The Lutheran: Why do you think evolutionary biology remains such a lightning rod nearly 150 years after Charles Darwin wrote The Origin of Species? Rivera: Darwin’s writing gives wonderful attention to the significance of all kinds of creatures, including what so-called lower creatures–worms and barnacles–contribute to life. But while the church has long supported the sciences of astronomy, physics and mathematics, many Christians feel offended by evolutionary biology because it hits so close to home. Evolutionary biology touches a deep fiber in us when we learn that 98 percent of the genetic material in us is also found in a chimpanzee. The rest of this article is only available to subscribers. |
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 The Lutheran is the magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
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