Evolution

According to Epicurus, the atoms and the void are indestructible. Epicurus says that it was by a definite arrangement and adjustment of the atoms as they came together that all formations have been produced, including the body itself.
Justin Martyr (c. 160, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 1, Page 173.

Man is not merely a rational animal, who happens to be capable of understanding and knowledge—as the croaking philosophers say.
Tatian (c. 160, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 2, Page 71.

Any person who sees a ship on the sea rigged and in sail, and making for the harbor, will no doubt infer that there is a pilot in her who is steering her. Likewise, we must recognize that God is the Pilot of the whole universe, though He is not visible to the eyes of the flesh, since He is incomprehensible.
Theophilus (c. 180, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 2, Page 90.

I cannot understand how so many distinguished men have been of the opinion that matter . . . was uncreated. That is, it was not formed by God Himself, who is the Creator of all things. Rather, they say that its nature and power were the result of chance . . . thinking that so great a work as the universe could exist without an architect or overseer.
Origen (c. 225, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 4, Page 269.

Celsus [a pagan critic] harbors a secret desire to discredit the Mosaic account of the Creation. It teaches that the world is not yet ten thousand years old, but, in fact, is very much under that.
Origen (c. 248, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 4, Page 404.

Let Celsus then say distinctly that the great diversity among the products of the earth is not the work of providence, but that a certain fortuitous concurrence of atoms gave birth to qualities that are so diverse. Let him say that it was due to chance that so many kinds of plants, trees, and herbs resemble one another. Let him say that no governing Reason gave existence to them and that they do not derive their origin from an understanding that is beyond all admiration. In contrast, we Christians feel grateful for these things, for we are devoted to the worship of the only God, who created them.
Origen (c. 248, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 4, Page 531.

It is false that [as Celsus claims] “in the beginning, men were captured and devoured by wild beasts, while wild beasts were very seldom caught by men.” . . . God did not subject men to wild beasts, but gave wild beasts to be a prey to the understanding of man . . . For it was not without the help of God that men acquired for themselves the means of protection against wild beasts and of securing the mastery over them.
Origen (c. 248, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 4, Page 533.

[Celsus] does his utmost to reduce the human race to a still lower position and to bring them to the level of the irrational animals.
Origen (c. 248, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 4, Page 535.

Celsus has also expressed his opinion that the narrative of the creation of man is “exceedingly silly.” . . . He makes the statements about the days of creation as his grounds for accusation . . . For some of them elapsed before the creation of light, heaven, sun, moon, and stars. And some of them elapsed after the creation of these things. I will only make this observation: Moses must then have forgotten that he had said a little before that “in six days the creation of the world had been finished”! And in consequence of this act of forgetfulness, he adds to these words the following: “This is the book of the creation of man, in the day when God made the heaven and the earth.” However, it is not in the least bit believable that after what he had said concerning the six days, Moses would immediately have added, without a special meaning, the words, “in the day that God made the heavens and the earth.”
Origen (c. 248, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 4, Page 596.

What greater injury can befall a man than that he should be unable—amid the order of the world—to see Him who has made it? And what worse affliction can come to anyone than the blindness of mind that prevents him from seeing the Creator and Father of every soul?
Origen (c. 248, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 4, Page 653.

For there are those who, giving the name of atoms to certain imperishable and most minute bodies that are supposed to be infinite in number . . . allege that these atoms, as they were carried along by chance in the void, all clashed fortuitously against each other in an unregulated whirl. They thereby commingled with one another in a multitude of forms. Entering into combination with each other, they gradually formed this world and all objects in it . . . This was the opinion of Epicurus and Democritus . . . How will we bear with these men who assert that all those wise . . . constructions are only the works of common chance? . . . But truly these men do not reflect on the analogies even of small, familiar things that might come under their observation at any time. For, from such things, they could learn that no object that has any value—and that is fitted to be serviceable—is made without design.
Dionysius of Alexandria (c. 262, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 6, Page 85.

When a house or a city is built, it does not take on its stones, as though some of them placed themselves spontaneously upon the foundations and other stones lifted themselves up to the various stories. Rather, the builder carefully places the skillfully prepared stones in their proper positions. In contrast, if the structure happens to give way, the stones are separated, cast down, and scattered about.
Dionysius of Alexandria (c. 262, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 6, Page 85.

Who can bear to hear it said that this mighty habitation, which is composed of heaven and earth and is called the “cosmos,” . . . was established in all its order and beauty by those atoms that hold their course—devoid of order and beauty? Or, that this same state of disorder has grown into this true cosmos of order?
Dionysius of Alexandria (c. 262, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 6, Page 86.

Truly we have here a most marvelous democracy of atoms, where friends welcome and embrace friends! Where all are eager to travel together in one domicile! By their own determination, some have rounded themselves off into that mighty luminary the sun! . . . Even though men like these may choose not to admit it, there is a mighty Lord who made the sun. And, indeed, these are miserable men, regardless of how righteous they may believe themselves to be. . . . Ο you blind ones, do these atoms of yours bring you the winter season and the rains, in order that the earth may yield food for you?
Dionysius of Alexandria (c. 262, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 6, Page 87.

How did that little seed of generation draw together the many atoms that were to constitute Epicurus? . . . How did it frame and adapt the many members and parts? . . . For of all these things, there is not one that is either idle or useless. Not even the smallest of them—such as the hair and the nails. They all have their function to perform. . . . Was Epicurus made, as they say, by the irrational multitude of atoms? No, the conjunction of atoms could not mold even an image of clay! . . . And if even these representations and models cannot be made without the aid of wisdom, how can the genuine and original patterns of these copies have come into existence spontaneously?
Dionysius of Alexandria (c. 262, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 6, Pages 88-89.

It is dangerous to wholly disdain the literal meaning . . . particularly of Genesis, where the unchangeable decrees of God for the constitution of the universe are set forth.
Methodius (c. 290, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 6, Page 317.

There is no one so uncivilized and of such an uncultivated disposition, who, when he raises his eyes to heaven . . . does not understand from the very magnitude of the objects—from their motion, arrangement, constancy, usefulness, beauty, and temperament—that there is some providence and that the things that exist with such wonderful arrangement must have been created by some greater Intelligence.
Lactantius (c. 304-313, W), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 7, Page 11.

It is more believable that matter was made by God (because He is All-Powerful) than to believe that the world was not made by God. For nothing can be made without mind, intelligence, and design.
Lactantius (c. 304-313, W), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 7, Page 55.

If you had been brought up in a well-built and nicely furnished house, but had never seen a workshop, would you have supposed that your house was not built by some man, just because you did not know how it was built?
Lactantius (c. 304-313, W), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 7, Page 56.

I cannot omit here that some erring philosophers say that men and the other animals arose from the earth without any Maker.
Lactantius (c. 304-313, W), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 7, Page 59.

If nothing can be done or produced without design, it is plain that there is a divine providence, to which that which is called “design” peculiarly belongs.
Lactantius (c. 304-313, W), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 7, Page 61.

If there is no providence, how is it that the bodies of animals are arranged with such foresight? How is it that the various members are designed in a wonderful manner and each serve their own functions individually? . . . If there is no providence, why do rains fall, fruits spring up, and trees put forth leaves?
Lactantius (c. 304-313, W), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 7, Page 87.

If we all derive our origin from one man whom God created, we are clearly of one blood.
Lactantius (c. 304-313, W), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 7, Pages 112, 173.

Some [unbelievers] say that the first men spent a nomadic life among the woods and plains. Men were not united by any mutual bond of speech or justice. They had leaves and grass for their beds, and they used caves and grottos for their dwellings. Furthermore, they were prey to the beasts and stronger animals. Later, those who had either escaped (having been torn by beasts) . . . had recourse to other men. They begged protection from them. At first, they made their wishes known by nods. Then they tried the beginnings of conversation. By attaching names to each object, they, little by little, completed the system of language. However, when they saw that numbers alone were not sufficient protection from the beasts, they began to build towns . . . Ο minds unworthy of men, which produced these foolish trifles! . . . These things are by no means true. Men were not born from the ground around the world, as though sprung from the teeth of some dragon, as the poets relate. Rather, one man was formed by God. And from that one man all the earth was filled with the human race. . . . There were never men on the earth who could not speak (except for those who are infants).
Lactantius (c. 304-313, W), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 7, Page 173.

God completed the world and this admirable work of nature in the space of six days, as is contained in the secrets of Holy Scripture.
Lactantius (c. 304-313, W), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 7, Page 221.

Epicurus said that . . . the world itself was not ordered by any plan, art, or workmanship. Instead, he said that the universe was made up of certain minute and indivisible seeds.
Lactantius (c. 304-313, W), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 7, Page 264.

Those who do not admit that the world was made by divine providence, either say that it is composed of atoms coming together at random, or that it suddenly came into existence naturally.
Lactantius (c. 314, W), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 7, Page 265.

I cannot be prevented here from again showing the folly of Epicurus. For all the ravings of Lucretius belong to him. He is accustomed to say that animals are not produced by any design of the Divine Mind, but by chance. And in order that he can show this, he says that in the beginning of the world, innumerable other animals of wonderful form and magnitude were produced. However, he says that they were unable to be permanent, because either the power of taking food, or the method of uniting and procreating, had failed them.
Lactantius (c. 314, W), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 7, Page 287.

Epicurus saw in the bodies of animals the skill of a divine plan. However, that he might carry into effect that which he had imprudently assumed before, he added another absurdity to agree with the former. He said that the eyes were not produced for seeing, nor the ears for hearing, nor the feet for walking. Instead, these members were produced before there were the functions of seeing, hearing, and walking. So all the uses of these members developed after they had already come into being. . . . It is evident that he who has lost the main point itself of the truth must always be in error. For if all things are produced by a fortuitous meeting together of atoms, rather than by Providence, why does it never happen by chance that those first principles meet together in such a way as to make an animal of such a kind that it might rather hear with its nostrils, smell with its eyes, or see with its ears?
Lactantius (c. 314, W), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 7, Page 287.

Does it not occur to you to reflect and to examine in whose domain you live? On whose property you are? Whose is that earth that you cultivate? Whose is that air that you inhale and return again in breathing? Whose fountains do you abundantly enjoy? Whose water? . . . Ο greatest, Ο Supreme Creator of things invisible, . . . you are truly worthy—if only mortal tongue may speak of you. All breathing and intelligent nature should never cease to feel and to return thanks.
Arnobius (c. 305, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 6, Page 421.

Of those who have given themselves to philosophizing, we have heard that some deny the existence of any divine power. Others ask daily whether there is [a God] or not. Still others would construct the entire fabric of the universe by chance accidents and by random collision [of atoms]. They fashion it by the flowing together of atoms of different shapes.
Arnobius (c. 305, E), Ante-Nicene Church Fathers – Vol. 6, Page 421; extended discussion: Vol. 6, Pages 84-89, 187-188.