.... Theistic evolution is the dominant position of serious biologists who are also serious believers.
That includes Asa Gray, Darwin's chief advocate
in the United States, and Theodosius Dobzhansky,
the twentieth-century architect of evolutionary thinking.
It is the view espoused by many Hindus, Muslims, Jews, and Christians, including Pope John Paul II. .......
..... There are many subtle variants of theistic evolution, but a typical version rests upon the following premises.

1. The universe came into being out of nothingness,
approximately 14 billion years ago.

2. Despite massive improbabilities, the properties of
the universe appear to have been precisely tuned for life.

3. While the precise mechanism of the origin of life
on earth remains unknown, once life arose,
the process of evolution and natural selection
permitted the development of biological diversity and
complexity over very long periods of time.

4. Once evolution got under way, no special supernatural
intervention was required.

5. Humans are part of this process, sharing a common
ancestor with the great apes.

6. But humans are also unique in ways that defy
evolutionary explanation and point to our spiritual nature.
This includes the existence of the Moral Law
(the knowledge of right and wrong) and the search for
God that characterizes all human cultures
throughout history.

If one accepts these six premises,
then an entirely plausible, intellectually satisfying and
logically consistent synthesis emerges:
God, who is not limited in space or time, created
the universe and established natural laws that govern it.

Seeking to populate this otherwise sterile universe with
living creatures, God chose the elegant mechanism of
evolution to create microbes, plants, and animals of all
sorts. Most remarkably, God intentionally
chose the same mechanism to give rise to
special creatures who would have intelligence,
a knowledge of right and wrong, free will, and
a desire to seek fellowship with HIM.
HE also knew these creatures would ultimately choose to disobey the Moral Law.

This view is entirely compatible with everything that
science teaches us about the natural world.
It is also entirely compatible with great monotheistic
religions of the world.

The theistic evolution perspective cannot, of course,
prove that God is real, as no logical arguement can
fully achieve that.
Belief in God will always require a leap of faith.
But this synthesis has provided for legions of
scientist-believers a satisfying, consistent,
enriching perspective that allows both the scientific
and spiritual worldviews to coexist happily within us.

This perspective makes it possible for
the scientist-believer to be intellectually fulfilled and
spiritually alive, both worshiping God
and using the tools of science to uncover some
of the awesome mysteries of HIS creation.