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Video

How Evolution Works, Part 2

Published on August 16, 2015
  • Evolution
  • Evolutionary Creation
  • Fossils

Before You Read ...

Dear reader,

A new poll shows that for young adults in particular, belief in God is plummeting. From research, we know a primary driver behind a loss of faith among young people is the church’s rejection of science. To put it bluntly: Young people aren’t leaving the faith because of science, they’re leaving because they’ve been told to choose between science and God. That’s why BioLogos exists—to show that science and faith can work hand-in-hand. And although the challenge is clearly daunting, our work is having an impact!

As a nonprofit, we rely on the generosity of grassroots donors like you to reach those who are being told, “It’s God or evolution!” or “It’s God or vaccines!” or “It’s God or science!” In this urgent moment, we need your help to continue to produce resources such as this.

Give Now

Why give to BioLogos?

If you’re new to BioLogos, we encourage you to learn more about our work and the impact of your gift, and watch our video below. Your gift to BioLogos is tax-deductible!


This is the seventh video in a series of short videos to help introduce topics for those new to the Christianity and science conversation. See entire series.

Watch in Theater Mode  

Most critics of evolution accept microevolution but are skeptical of macroevolution—the claim that small changes can add up to big changes over long stretches of time. While the particulars of the mechanisms for such change are not all fully understood, there is very little disagreement among biologists that we now have powerful models of macroevolutionary transitions. These models make testable predictions and are continuously being refined by new evidence.

Whales provide a clear example of macroevolution. They are superficially similar to fish, but are, in fact, mammals! Darwin himself wondered whether whales had evolved from mammals on land, but he had no real empirical evidence for such a claim. Now we have impressive evidence.

In 1978 a 49 million year old skull was discovered that belonged to a land-dwelling wolf-like creature whose inner ear structure was curiously similar to that of modern whales. This led to a search for transitional forms, and very quickly a series of fossils spanning about ten million years was found that showed clear signs of increasing adaptation to life in water. The spine and legs were modified to allow for more efficient modes of swimming; nostrils moved toward the top of the skull, later becoming a blow hole; and hind legs eventually shrank to where they could no longer support the animals on land.

Many more fossils fit into this picture of whale evolution—more than 1000 specimens have been discovered in the Valley of Whales in what is now Egyptian desert. Remember these are not necessarily direct ancestors of whales today. That’s not how evolution works. More likely is that these represent related species that were evolving over millions of years. And taken together, they form an impressive picture of significant change in this lineage of mammals. This picture is not the result of wishful thinking or driven by unwarranted assumptions. It has emerged as the result of careful observation of evidence, which leads to the formation of hypotheses; these make predictions of future finds and are tested by observable evidence which is open to the scrutiny of others.

At BioLogos we see this interconnectedness of life as a testimony to God’s creativity. He worked through simple natural processes to fashion dinosaurs and daisies, weevils and warthogs, and human beings in his own image. He could have snapped his fingers to do this instantaneously, but both scripture and the natural world reveal that God delights in working through processes to accomplish his will. Evidence from the fossil record and also in the distribution and comparison of species supports the claim that he worked through evolution. And today we find even more persuasive evidence in genetics.


Related Videos

Francis Collins, founder of BioLogos
1. What is BioLogos?
2. Is God the Creator?
3. What about the Bible?
A botanical garden with beautiful and vibrant shades of green and blue
4. How Did God Create the Ingredients for Life?
5. How Old is the Earth?
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6. How Evolution Works, Part 1
8. What is Genetics?
What Happens to Christian Theology if Evolution is True?
9. What Happens to Christian Theology if Evolution is True?
10. What's the Point?
See all videos 

01/06

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