Did the Theory of Evolution Originate in the Bible?

 

Christian and Jewish fundamentalists alike, shun the theory of Evolution, and insist on debunking the science and philosophy behind the theory. The Creationists, as they are known, suggest that every living being was individually created from scratch, even though the Bible itself does not reveal the exact process by which life developed.

But beyond genetic evolution, there is a grander theory of evolution, which applies to war, politics, psychology, economics and even technology.

A recent report cites scientific research that the medieval Black death had health benefits for the survivors, who lived longer than their predecessors before the plague.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27293220

In fact, the CCR5 gene in humans, which is prominent in Europe, confers a high degree of immunity to the AIDS virus, and is believed to have resulted from several pandemics such as the Black death. This survival of the fittest concept, it seems, occurs in the Bible in various guises.

First, let as look at the creation story itself. The life begins in the lowest forms, and then progresses to higher forms. The “great monsters” of the 4^th day could easily refer to the dinosaurs, since we do not see many monsters nowadays, except the types who carry guns and bombs. At the end of the evolutionary chain, is man, or Adam and Eve.

The various great disasters, like the Flood, Sodom and Gemorrah and Tower of Babel, each have evolutionary themes, with mass extinctions and new ecosystems.

Even the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites is a survival of the fittest scenario, with the proviso of some type of ecosystem being kept in place -

Ex. 23: 29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you

The struggles between Joseph and his brothers, David and his enemies, Solomon and his brothers, were all evolutionary battles, and are often whitewashed by the religious censors, e.g. the Talmud.

The philosophy of evolution, is indeed inherent in religion, or at least Biblical religion. The Torah has a set of rules, but indulges us in much pleasure, and involvement in the world. What is counter-Biblical, is the “evolution” of new religions which add restriction upon restriction, and try to engineer conformity to books of man made rules, like the Shulchan Aruch. What this does is to create an Aspergers like personality, which sees repetitive actions and small irrelevant details as being all important, while destroying the God given humanity which was the focal point of the Torah.