In a fatih-science forum I participate in, someone asked the following question:
Is it possible for a human being to ‘evolve’ into being a Christian? If so, are they more complex or simple (as a person) when they become a Christian than they were before?
Here is my response:
Interesting question. If anything is clear in the New Testament, it is that human nature is incapable of achieving salvation. Those who follow Christ and are saved do so only because of grace through faith, as a gift from God (Eph. 2:8-9). Moreover, IMHO, although people have free will, the Bible is also clear that God foreknows and elects those who are saved. I don’t know how to tie free will, foreknowledge and election together, but I do think the concepts of foreknowledge and election in the economy of salvation preclude an “evolutionary” view that would attribute salvation to random events acting on something inherent in human nature.
That said, the process of conversion often involves a slow movement towards faith. Those of us who are evangelicals like to emphasize moments of conversion, but sometimes such a single dramatic moment isn’t there. The Bible often speaks of the gospel using an agrarian metaphor — seeds are sown, they are watered, they begin to grow, and then at the right time they are harvested. But the proper view of this, I think, is not that a person is “evolving” towards salvation, but that God’s grace progressively takes root in that person.
As for whether a person is more “simple” or “complex” after conversion, I’m not sure what you mean by “complexity” here. It seems to me that the NT also is clear that conversion is a radical process: we are reconciled to God, partake in a “new creation” (I Cor. 4), and are given the Holy Spirit. I’m not sure “simple vs. complex” is the right paradigm. After conversion, we’re set on an utterly different teleology.