Theory of the Origin and the Evolution of Mankind: A Scientific Perspective

By Arsalan Geula

First presented at the Irfan Colloquia Session #93
Louhelen Bahá'í School: Davison, Michigan, USA
October 8–11, 2009
(see list of papers from #93)

    See also Part II
    The origin and the theory of evolution of man have received great attention and been the subject of an ongoing debate within the scientific and religious communities. The position of any of these two groups seems to be irreconcilable and has caused much disunity and even affected school curriculums.
    The Bahá'ís believe in the principle of the "Harmony of Science and Religion." Bahá'ís not only believe that the world and man were created by God, but also believe in the validity of "scientific findings." The Bahá'í Faith further teaches that science and religion each address different aspects of human reality namely the material and the spiritual.

    'Abdu'l-Bahá in His talks discusses many aspects of human reality (creation, the human body, evolution and souls).

    This presentation is given in two parts:

    Part I—Scientific section:
    • General theory of evolution.
    • Human evolution.
    • The Anthropic Cosmological Principle.
    • The evolution of humankind is the necessary outcome of universal laws, and not the result of aimless events. The "random selection" could be interpreted as a directional random selection by design to produce a higher organism: Homo sapiens. In other words the randomness was incorporated into the creative design of the universe.
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