Evolution is achieved through natural selection exactly as you described. Bacteria ‘develop’ resistance to drugs through the same process, by exposure to the drug, some survive to continue the specie with the new ability passed to future generations. It is no different here.
Where I part with evolutionist and where they dread to thread is the Origin of Life. That, I believe is a divine process. Physical substances are organized to contain the divine force: LIFE.
Just MHO on the origin issue.
Actually, scientists who study pure evolution don’t usually study the actual origin of life. They study genetic change in populations that already exist. The study of the origin of life is called Abiogenesis (or the study of...).
I don’t think you DO part with the evolution folks on the origin of life.
From what I remember from school, evolution doesn’t try to explain where life came from at all. It just tries to explain how life changes over time.
Even when scientists do think about the origin of life (NOT evolution), I remember hearing about an experiment with electricity zapping molecules that formed protein chains(?) that scientists said could be a precursor to life.
The scientists also said that DIDN’T mean there was no God, because God may have put the beginnings of life into the universe and zapped them into being.