Blacknad: "From single-celled bacteria through to humans. Hasn't there been a progression of complexity? How could you have humans if there was no history of lifeforms becoming ever more complex?"
Although the increasing complexity of life forms is a result of adaptation through Darwinian evolution, does it necessarily follow that the adaptation always requires increased complexity? Black moths can evolve into white moths and vice versa, without increased complexity. Bacteria, still extant after billions of years, adapt to changes in the chemical environment, but does that change require increased complexity? Perhaps it does (someone here might know), but if so, the increase must be, erm, microscopic
I think its true to say that a culture reflects its religion, and a religion reflects its culture. There's no doubt in my mind that Christianity, as an aspect of culture, does evolve and adapt. Am I wrong in thinking that even the papacy has been responsible for some adaptations? Christianity adapts to cultural changes and to new cultures. Incidentally, for that reason, taken as a world-wide whole, I think it does actually increase in complexity.
