Totally Natural Evolution (or not)

I think there is a need for a distinction between totally materialistic, naturalistic evolution and supernatural Creation at any level. The phrase "Totally Natural Evolution" is descriptive so I will use it in my blog. Since this term is a little long, I may use the nickname of "total-natural evolution" once in a while.

In articles and debates about evolution, there is a difference between micro-evolution and macro-evolution. Micro-evolution means that there can be small changes in the genes which occur randomly and lead to small changes in species, even to the point of causing a new species, genus, and perhaps family. Macro-evolution is the theory that there are changes, presumably quite large, that are needed for major changes in animals at a higher level (it goes up by order, class, phylum and kingdom).

Beyond total-natural evolution, we still need to distinguish an evolution that may happen if God intervenes at various levels.

For one thing, we can sort out those who do not accept the process of evolution at all from those who think evolution may have happened but not by chance. One can say, as I think most Intelligent Design advocates do, that micro-evolution can be totally natural evolution, but macro-evolution is not total-natural evolution, or at least up to now has not been proven to be so. Then there are those who believe God created man, the kinds of animals and plants from the start and no evolution was necessary. Perhaps they see some "simple" changes, such as the cat "kind" developing into tigers, lions and the like. These people believe in "Special Creationism" where God has created original beings in a direct supernatural way.

This all may sound confusing, but so do a lot of terms until we get used to them. The term "totally natural evolution" is meant to accompany the meaning of "random" as understood by laypersons as "happening by chance." The "random" and "chance" are understood as operating completely by the laws of physical and chemical nature as it is understood now and without supernatural intervention. I have noticed the meaning of the term "random" changes depending on who uses it: physicists, chemists, geneticists, theologians, philosophers. We need a common understanding of these words so everyone can communicate as clearly as possible about the complex questions of how biological life came to be.

Though total-natural evolutionists say evolution is in part by selection of the fittest, implying that selection eliminates chance, the selection depends on chance changes of the gene from mutation and other supposedly random mechanisms. They cannot escape from the premise that their type of evolution is completely based on chance.