EVOLUTION AND SPECIAL CREATION

The logical relationships between the ideas of evolution and of specia l creation are explored here in the context of a recent paper by Alvin Plantinga claiming that from the perspective of biblical religion it is more likely than not that God acted in a ''special'' way at certain crucial moments in the long process whereby life developed on earth. I argue against this thesis, asking first under what circumstances the Bible might be thought relevant to an issue of broadly scientific con cern. I go on to outline some of the arguments supporting the thesis o f common ancestry, and argue finally that from the theistic perspectiv e, special creation ought to be regarded as, if anything, less rather than more likely than its evolutionary alternative.