Evolution Brings Us to God
February 28, 2025
Above: The cover of Within, by Martin Nowak (Angelico Press, 2025)
The Big Bang occurred 13.8 billion years ago. It gave rise to a universe, whose size we do not know. The observable universe, which is only a small fraction of the total universe is a sphere around us with a radius of 46.5 billion light years. The reason is that, in addition to light traveling, space itself is expanding. The observable universe contains some 1011 galaxies and 1022 stars. The current estimate is that it holds roughly 1020 earth-like planets.
A planet is earthlike, if it has the right distance from the star and if it is small enough not to be a gas giant. Gas giants, like Jupiter or Saturn, have atmospheres dominated by hydrogen. For the possibility of life, we require a more interesting chemistry, one that has a good concentration of carbon compounds. Most organic matter in the universe resides in molecular clouds, which are large nebulas where star formation occurs. A prominent example is the Orion nebula. But the conditions in molecular clouds are too unpleasant for the formation of complex organic molecules. Therefore, life as we know it, is expected to originate and reside on earthlike planets.
Our sun formed 4.567 billion years ago. Soon afterwards Earth and Moon were born. The latter originated when young Earth collided with another planet, the size of Mars. Our silent companion in the night sky is old — as old as one third the age of the universe. Our local habitat — the Earth-Moon system — is tiny but ancient.
Life too is ancient. The origin of life on Earth is thought to have happened about 4 billion years ago. There remains the possibility that Earth was fertilized by life which originated elsewhere. By 3.5 billion years we have definitive evidence for life on Earth. At that time, our planet was a world of prokaryotes. Not much has changed since then. If you wonder how many cells are there on Earth, you still need to count only the number of prokaryotic cells, which amount to 1030. The sum of all other cells taken is not more than pocket change in comparison. Note, there are more cells on Earth than stars in heaven.
Prokaryotes come in two flavors: bacteria and archaea. Both are simple cells without nucleus and without organelles. But even a simple cell is more complex than a star. In addition, there are eukaryotes, which are complex cells with a nucleus and with organelles. Bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes represent the three domains of life, the highest level of biological classification.
Eukaryotes evolved on Earth about 1.8 billion years ago. When our planet was young — less than 2 billion years of age — there was very little oxygen in the atmosphere. But in the Great Oxygenation Event, which occurred about 2.5 billion years ago the oxygen concentration rose 1000 fold. Soon after that event, one bacterium swallowed another and the resulting endosymbiosis was the ancestor of all eukaryotes. The bacterium which lived inside the other became the mother of all mitochondria, the true mitochondrial Eve.
A second mayor increase in the oxygen concentration happened about 800 million years ago. Afterwards, complex multicellularity evolved. Before that event, all life on Earth was microscopic. Only then did organisms emerge that you could see with unaided eyes. Three new kingdoms flourished: animals, fungi and plants. In the Cambrian explosion, which started 539 million years ago and lasted some 20 million years, all major animal phyla appeared. Bauplans (animal body plans) became complex.
We distinguish four eons of Earth history: the Hadean (4.567-4 billion years ago), the Archean (4-2.5 billion years ago), the Proterozoic (2.5 – 0.539 billion years ago) and the Phanerozoic (539 million years ago until now). The transition from the Hadean to the Archean is marked by the formation of the broken crust of our planet. A broken crust is thought to be essential for long lasting carbon cycles sustaining a biosphere. The Archean saw the origin of life. During the Proterozoic, the Earth was tectonically very active: supercontinents formed and broke into pieces. Oxygen levels rose from almost nothing to current values. The Proterozoic saw the endosymbiotic events (of cooperation) which led to higher cells. The exclusive reign of prokaryotes ended. The first three eons together constitute the Precambrian supereon. Finally, the Phanerozoic staged the evolution of complex life forms and witnessed the origin of human language. It is the present period.
But if we were to name the three most important events in the entire scientific narrative, we would arrive at the following list:
(1) The origin of the universe — giving rise to physics and via star formation to chemistry;
(2) The origin of life — giving rise to biology and to genetic evolution;
(3) The origin of human language — giving rise to all phenomena that come with humans and to non-genetic or cultural evolution. A human discovery, invention or idea spreads quickly by learning and does not have to wait for genetic reproduction. Evolution and learning in populations are mathematically very similar processes.
The classical formulation of evolution — as conceived by Darwin, Wallace and a few others — recognized two main forces: mutation and selection. Mutation generates new types. Selection chooses between types. Selection is based on competition: those that reproduce faster in time and space outcompete the slower ones. Classical evolution is ruthless: only the strong survive. The result is a merciless struggle for proliferation. This narrow interpretation of evolution gave rise to misguided worldviews and even led to world wars.
My own work over the last 36 years was devoted to a phenomenon called cooperation. Cooperation means that organisms help each other. Cooperation can occur between replicating molecules, between cells, multi-cellular organisms and of course between humans. A cooperator pays a cost for a recipient to get a benefit. A defector or cheater pays no cost and generates no benefit. We are in the world of game theory discovered by John von Neuman and Oskar Morgenstern and brought into biology by John Maynard Smith, Karl Sigmund, and others.
Cooperation is as old as life itself. In my research I have argued that cooperation is needed for an origin of life, for the emergence of the first cell, of eukaryotes, of multi-cellular organisms, of social insects, of human language. Cooperation is the master-architect of biological complexity. Whenever we reach a higher level of biological organization, cooperation is crucially involved.
At the outset, cooperation is opposed by natural selection. Why should you pay a cost to help others who are competitors in the struggle for survival? Cooperation needs specific mechanisms to be chosen by natural selection. In 2006, I proposed that there are five such mechanisms: direct reciprocity, indirect reciprocity, spatial selection, group selection and kin selection. Mechanisms are interaction structures in a population that allow cooperation to prevail over defection. Direct reciprocity is based on repetition. Indirect reciprocity is based on reputation. Spatial selection means cooperators thrive in clusters. Group selection means that groups of cooperators outcompete groups of defectors. Kin selection is based on kin recognition and enables cooperation between close genetic relatives.
Cooperation gives a silver lining to the theory of evolution. Our ancestors were not only those that survived in the fierce competition, they were also those who were best at cooperating. Evolution is not only competition. Cooperation is a fundamental principle too. Thus, I have argued, evolution is based on three fundamental principles — mutation, selection and cooperation — instead of two.
If it were not for cooperation, it would be strange to ask of humans, who are the products of evolution, to look out for each other. Cooperation is a preparation for agape, for love, for sacrifice. For sure, saints do more than just cooperating, but cooperation is a beginning.
In my recent book, Within, published by Angelico Press, the female protagonist asks a male companion: Does evolution bring us to God? She asks the question when they are sitting on a patio. Before them is the ocean of Truth (mentioned by Newton), behind them is an infinite library (which differs from Borges’s library of Babel in that books make sense), beyond the library is a garden of Forms, which slopes into a mountain range. Somewhere in those mountains we find a monastery. She asks the question twice. Does evolution bring us to God? She receives two answers.
The first answer: From the origin of life, evolution on Earth has led to bacteria, archaea, plants, fungi, animals. Among animals, evolution has brought forth hominids. As soon as hominids had language, they became spiritual beings, they raised their voices in praise of God. Homo sapiens ought to be called Home spiritualis. From our beginnings we have searched for God.
Evolution has equipped us with a trait that sets us apart from all other animals: this trait is human language. Using the tools of language and its thought processes, we promptly turn to God and ask questions about God. We wonder about the world and about us in the world. Empirically we conclude: evolution has brought us to God.
As soon as we have language, we encounter abstract objects, we discover the eternal realm. We query transcendence. We ask philosophical questions. We wonder about God. It is a historical fact of empirical science that evolution has brought us to God.
If we take into account the multitude of earthlike planets in the universe and if we think of origin of life and evolution as natural processes, we may conclude that in many places of the universe, language-enabled life has raised its voice in praise of God. Therefore, the stars become fertile sparkles of light, which seed the universe with prayer. Evolution brings life to God. The forces of physics and biology cooperate to bring about individuals who turn to God.
The second answer is: As life originated in the ocean after the stardust had settled, so life emerges in the truth of unfailing mathematical laws. The process of evolution points to an underlying reality, thereby rebutting a worldview which relies on matter alone. The term evolution refers to the mechanistic process that causes living systems to change over time. The basic principles of the process are astonishingly simple, but from this simplicity emerges enormous complexity. The laws of evolution are mathematical objects. Biology rests on mathematics as do physics and chemistry. This is the amazing beauty of the material realm: as atoms and stars follow the unchanging laws of nature, which are mathematical objects, so do living organisms.
It is via mathematics that evolution brings us in touch with underlying eternal reality, with an absolute truth. The fundamental laws of evolution are abstract objects which reside neither in time, nor in space, nor in matter. But they are followed by populations, which are firmly instantiated in time and in space. Whenever we study the wonders of evolution, we observe everlasting, unchanging principles in action, we are led to the realm of underlying timeless reality, we are led to something that is intrinsically divine. We are led to God!
. . . there is grandeur in this view of life.
In summary, the affirmation “Evolution brings us to God” has two different meanings: (1) it is a historical fact of empirical science that evolution on Earth has led to humans, who are spiritual, who turn to God; (2) understanding that evolution instantiates unchanging mathematical principles (laws of nature) supports a world view where material processes are guided by an immaterial, atemporal truth. Therefore, understanding how evolution (or science in general) works constitutes a cosmological argument for a theistic worldview.
An important qualification is required at this point. I do not suggest that evolution or physics, or chemistry could ever provide a complete description of what it means to be human. My book Within is really devoted to this question: What is a human being? What is within us?
The book is structured in seven movements. In movement three, a group of students stand before the woman, who is their teacher, and ask her what they ought to think about the concept of soul. Calmly she gives them an overview that begins with Atman, continues with Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Leibniz and touches on Kant. But when the students want to know her opinion she replies:
i accept all approaches which are inspired by love
which spring forth from a pure heart
but to satisfy your curiosity i am happy to explicate:
the human person is a compound of body and soul
we are corporeal and spiritual beings willed by God
the human body is animated by a spiritual soul
which refers to or defines our innermost aspect
by which we are created in the image of God
the human body shares the dignity of the Incarnation
and therefore the whole human person is intended
to become a temple of the Spirit in the body of Christ
made of body and soul the human person is a unity
the elements of the material world are in our body
may we bring them to perfection by raising our voices
in praise and in love freely given to the Creator!
we must not despise our bodies but we are obliged
to regard them as good since God has made them
and will lovingly raise them up on the last day
the soul makes the material body a living human body
the union of spirit and matter forms one nature in us
the soul is created and willed by God to be immortal
it does not perish when it leaves the body at death
it will be reunited with the body at resurrection
When one of the students asks her about the heart, she answers:
the spiritual tradition of the Church emphasizes the heart
as the depth of our being where we decide for or against God
According to the admirable teaching of the Church, the spiritual soul of every human being is immediately and directly created by God. Many material objects are created by God indirectly as a consequence of secondary causes. But neither the human soul, nor any Platonic form, nor any abstract, eternal object arises as a consequence of material processes. Science studies those secondary causes. But in the wider perspective all secondary causes ought to be traced back to primary and final causes. Thereby, everything that exists originates from and finds its purpose in the Love of God. The purpose of our life is to find God by Love. There is grandeur in this view of life.
[MARTIN NOWAK is Professor of Mathematics and Biology at Harvard University. He is a leading researcher in the areas of theoretical and evolutionary biology. He has proposed that cooperation is the third fundamental principle of evolution, alongside mutation and selection. His work has helped to create fields such as evolutionary dynamics, virus dynamics, mathematical oncology, and evolution of cooperation. He has published more than 500 papers and six books, including Beyond and Within, which is are offered by Angelico Press. Before coming to Harvard in 2003, he held professorships at the University of Oxford and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He received numerous awards. For many years, Martin has also been working in the domain of Science and Religion. In 2015 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology at Berkeley. He is a member of the Society of Catholic Scientists.]
Links:
https://sites.harvard.edu/martin-nowak/
https://angelicopress.com/products/within-martin-nowak
https://angelicopress.com/products/beyond-martin-nowak
https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1133755
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/opinion/17brooks.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/books/review/book-review-supercooperators-by-martin-a-nowak.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/science/31prof.html
https://firstthings.com/first-words/
https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM