Religious Minds in the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis

The study of evolutionary biology at contemporary universities unfolds through the lens of the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis (MES). Historically, this constitutes the official marriage of classical Darwinian evolutionary biology and modern genetics, so that one cannot be studied without the other. In addition, a genetic lens is always applied to evolutionary biology, and genetics is understood evolutionarily. The founders of the MES included three prominent figures who were church-attending believers. This fact is often overlooked and unappreciated, especially by extremists on both sides of the creation vs evolution debate in the West. Herein, I examine the faith commitments and publicly expressed views of Theodosius Dobzhansky, Sewall Wright, and Ronald Aylmer Fisher. I also explore the implications of their understanding for the competing narratives, and why these figures are not more commonly known in the science and religion dialogue.