How and When Did People Start to Believe in Evolution?

How and when did people start to believe in evolution?
(Arianna, grade 5)

Thanks for your question, Arianna!

The idea of evolution—the belief that our world and everything in it happened on accident over millions of years—has been around for a long time. In fact, philosophers were talking about it as early as the third and fourth centuries BC. By the 1850s, evolution was widely accepted by scientists. In 1859, a man named Charles Darwin published a book called On the Origin of Species that further promoted evolutionary ideas.

Eventually, even some Christians began to believe in evolution. They started inventing ideas for ways to try to fit evolution into Genesis, the first book of the Bible.

However, we know that evolution is based on man’s ideas, not on the Bible. The Bible comes from God and is true from the very first verse in Genesis. The first chapter talks about how God created plants, animals, and humans (Genesis 1).

No matter what some scientists (or even your textbooks at school) say, it is important that we think about everything with a biblical worldview—with the Bible as our starting point.

Do you have a question about God’s Word or his world that you want us to answer? Is there a topic you want to learn more about? Ask your parents to help you submit your question today! We’d love to hear from you!