Evolution and Christianity

Came across interesting quote by John V Taylor which takes evolution seriously, and puts it into a Christian framework very firmly rather than on the margins - "For the hope that is set before him he endures the cross of all the waste and accident of the long unfolding." This is something I've been looking for some time; a theological and Christian (rather than deistic) picture of the cosmos, with the cross at the heart of it. Brilliant!

Let your mind dwell upon the scene of Christ's nativity, and you will find there is no need for any controversy between a slow evolution and a divine creation. When this kind of God sets about creating consciousness and freedom in all the persevering weakness of love, it will not be done quickly. This God is present and involved in each part of the process. His strength is the strength of the hills which slowly crumble and bleed their dust to make the fertile soil in which the grass can grow. Take any blade of grass between your fingers and gently stroke its frail silky ribbon. There is such delicate sensitiveness in that green tissue. It has taken millions and millions of years to make. So insignificant and so easily destroyed, yet without its invincible perseverance we and our kind could never survive. Stroke it gently, then, with wondering reverence and you will be very near to worshipping the God of Bethlehem. This God goes the way of every seed that falls into the ground and dies that new life may arise. This God suffers with every tingling nerve and no small bird falls but he falls with it. For the hope that is set before him he endures the cross of all the waste and accident of the long unfolding.

From "The True Image of God" in The Incarnate God by John V. Taylor (Continuum, 2003).