When someone asks the question “do you believe in evolution?” the premise behind the question usually means that if you do, then you must not believe in God. The problem with the question is that it doesn’t address the real issue of origins.

The creation/evolution debate tends to be surface-based discussions about method. Such as… At what level does evolution happen? where is the distinction of species? how does evolution relate to the Biblical creation story? while all of these are good discussions, the challenge from the God-believer against evolutionary scientific claims should not be about the method of evolution, but about the purpose of evolution.

The pro-darwinist will often state that evolution is not just about random mutation, but is a purposeless process; it is evolution by chance or by accident. This I believe, is outside the bounds of science. There is no experiment or objective evidence in science that shows purposelessness. There is no scientific data that describes the reason why one organism evolves into another organism.

The real question about origins is to ask ‘what is responsible for life?’

Is life a result of a purposeless beginning or process, or does life result from something purposeful? The answer comes from a place of faith, by both the theist and the atheist. Not from science. Therefore, the atheist cannot, nor shouldn’t appeal to science for a blind-evolutionary claim.