Human Origins and the Sanctity of Life

Genesis 2:7 describes God forming the first human from the dust of the ground and breathing life into him. Life therefore comes directly from God. Together, these teachings connect human origins with human value: because God gives life, it deserves care and protection.

Pikuach nefesh: putting the protection of life into practice

Pikuach nefesh is the Jewish principle of saving human life. When life is endangered, saving it takes priority over most religious laws. It turns belief in the sanctity of life into an obligation to act, rather than merely a statement that life is important.

For example, Shabbat is a holy day with restrictions on work. Nevertheless, a Jewish doctor may carry out life-saving treatment on Shabbat. Observing the usual restrictions must not prevent the doctor from protecting someone’s life. This does not mean that Shabbat is unimportant; it means that preserving life has greater priority in that situation.

The Talmud contains rabbinic discussions about Jewish law and its application. In B. Yoma 84b, the prescribed passage numbered 8–9 teaches: ‘One must remove debris to save a life on the Sabbath’. It praises eagerness to rescue and says that a rescuer need not obtain permission from the Beth din, a Jewish religious court.

The passage makes this duty concrete. A person should spread a net to rescue a child falling into the sea, even if the net also catches fish. A rescuer may break part of the side of a pit to make a step and pull a child out. If a door closes upon an infant, it may be broken to free the child, even though this produces chips of wood. These actions would ordinarily involve restricted work on Shabbat, but protecting the child’s life takes priority.

The repeated instruction is ‘the faster the better’. Saving life is not merely permitted: it is an urgent duty. The discussion also explains that even the possibility of danger to human life overrides Shabbat restrictions. A person should not postpone necessary help until Shabbat ends or wait in the hope that the danger will pass. Pikuach nefesh therefore gives practical expression to the sacred value of human life.

Darwin: evolution through natural selection

Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, setting out his explanation of evolution through natural selection. Evolution describes how living organisms change and diversify over many generations. It explains the development of life, rather than by itself explaining how the very first life began.

Individuals within a species vary. Some inherited characteristics are better suited to a particular environment than others. Organisms with these characteristics are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing those characteristics to their offspring. Over many generations, the characteristics become more common, and populations can change substantially.

Darwin’s studies of Galápagos finches provide a concrete example: different beak shapes are suited to different food sources. A beak that helps a bird obtain the food available in its environment can improve its chances of surviving and reproducing.

This is often called ‘survival of the fittest’. Here, fitness means suitability to the environment, not simply physical strength. The explanation applies to humans too: humans and other apes, such as chimpanzees, share common ancestors. Fossils and examples of adaptation provide evidence for evolution.

Dawkins and non-religious explanations

Richard Dawkins is a biologist and atheist who argues that natural selection explains the apparent design of living things without requiring God. Complex adaptations can develop through successive generations rather than being deliberately designed by a divine creator.

In The Selfish Gene, Dawkins explains evolution from the perspective of genes being passed on. The title does not mean that genes consciously make decisions or that people ought to behave selfishly. It concerns the continuation of inherited genetic information through reproduction.

Dawkins also challenges the claim that complexity requires a designer by asking who designed the designer. For him, introducing God does not solve the problem of explaining complexity. Humanists and atheists commonly accept evolution because of its scientific evidence and see no need to include divine action in the explanation.

Must evolution conflict with Judaism?

Jewish responses differ. Some Jews who read Genesis literally reject human evolution because it appears to contradict the direct creation of Adam and Eve. They may also argue that a struggle for survival seems difficult to reconcile with creation by a caring God.

Many other Jews, including Reform and Liberal Jews, accept evolution while maintaining that God is the creator. They understand Genesis as teaching about God, human dignity and purpose rather than giving a scientific account of biological development. On this view, evolution explains how life developed, while religious belief explains why life exists. This approach is called theistic evolution.

Whether evolution conflicts with Judaism therefore depends partly on how Genesis is interpreted. Evolution challenges a literal account of direct human creation, but it need not rule out belief that God creates through natural processes. Dawkins’s conclusion that God is unnecessary is an atheist interpretation, not a belief shared by everyone who accepts evolution.

Evolution and non-religious views

• Darwin, 1859: On the Origin of Species; inherited variation → different survival and reproduction → change over generations.
• Humans and other apes share common ancestors.
• Dawkins: natural selection explains apparent design without God; The Selfish Gene emphasises the transmission of genes.
• Humanists and atheists commonly accept evidence-based natural explanations.

Different Jewish responses

• Literal interpretation: human evolution appears to contradict direct creation in Genesis.
• Theistic evolution: God creates through evolution; scientific explanation and religious purpose can be compatible.