Darwins disciple speaks out
by Michael Matthews, AiG-US
8 December 2003
Ernst Mayr, once called the worlds greatest living evolutionary biologist, has lost little of his fire. A revealing interview with The Scientist, simply titled Ernst Mayr, Darwins Disciple, shows how spry he continues to be at age 99.1 His comments are instructive for Christians concerned about the battle for biblical authority. Darwin, the most influential modern man
Mayr, a brilliant scientist who can read eight languages and has received numerous awards for his work, considers Darwin his hero. He told the interviewer why he esteems Darwin so highly: He had the greatest impact on the thinking of modern man.
Mayr is close to the mark. During an earlier speech at Stockholm, upon receiving the prestigious Crafoord Prize, Mayr put Darwins influence in perspective:
Great minds shape the thinking of successive historical periods. Luther and Calvin inspired the Reformation; Locke, Leibniz, Voltaire and Rousseau, the Enlightenment. Modern thought is most dependent on the influence of Charles Darwin.2
Atheists are religious, too
And how has Darwin shaped modern thought? Though The Scientist does not mention it, Mayr is an atheist (see A Whos Who of evolutionists). During the interview, Mayr admits something that his fellow atheistic biologists are not usually so candid about:
All of the atheists I know are highly religious; it just doesnt mean believing in the Bible or God. Religion is the basic belief system of the person. Mankind wants the answers to all unanswerable questions.
In Mayrs view, Darwin has supplied atheists with an alternative worldview that allows them to answer the great questions of life. As he wrote in his recent book, What Evolution Is (Basic Books, New York, 2001), Mayr has found an alternative to the worldview based on Genesis: We still treasure these [creation] stories as part of our cultural heritage, but we turn to science when we want to learn the real truth about the history of the world (p. 5).
In his interview, Mayrs words betray his zealotry against God. He lets slip how much he loathes Christians who build their understanding of world history on Gods Word. Asked whether science today is still affected by nonscientific beliefs, he snipped, Eighty percent of the South still rejects evolution.
In other words, Mayr thinks the Bible Belt in the southern United Stateswhere Darwin is still unpopularis the last great holdout of anti-science ignoramuses. Like Darwin (see Darwins real message: have you missed it?), Mayr is on a mission against Gods Word and Christians who dare to believe it.
Mistakes are common, but evolution never in doubt
Theres a lesson here, for Christians.
The debate is clearly not about a dispassionate evaluation of the facts. Atheistsand everyone else who advocates a history that stretches for millions of yearsare committed to a view of history that is contrary to the Bible. Their zeal has a religious component, even fervor.
Theres another lesson for Christians. Those who hold this preconceived bias wont admit that theyre driven by philosophical assumptions. Sure, they recognize that Christians start with assumptions: God is true and His written record (including a recent creation and worldwide Flood) is perfect. But they wont admit their own assumptions: God does not exist and everything we see today occurred by natural processes over millions of years. (For a discussion of religious/philosophical bias among men like Mayr, see Dare to question the materialist high priests.)
No new facts will convince the confirmed believer in this false history.
Mayr admits that hes made lots of mistakes over the years and his work is filled with speculation. Asked, Were you ever wrong? he answers, On many things. A good scientist goes beyond the data he has. In 1950, I published a paper on the evolution of man. On some things, I was not right, but you can propose these ideas and stimulate thinking.
Whats the solution?
The life of Ernst Mayr should give Christians pause about their strategy for reaching the culture and converting the lost. Here is a brilliant scientist and a keen intellect, who has kept up with the latest scientific research for the past eight decades, but in all that time he has not wavered in his zeal for evolution.
The problem is not his ignorance of the facts. This is a spiritual battle.
While it is vitally important that Christians answer the attacks on Gods Word and show how science is consistent with the Bible (1 Peter 3:15), we also must expose the foundational problem: mans corrupt heart. Like Pauls generation, modern man can see Gods eternal power and godhead in His creation, but they became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened (Romans 1:21; see Creation: Wheres the proof?). Sinful man willfully refuses to be accountable to His Creator.
If you believe in Gods Word, beginning with the very first verse, you have an exciting challenge before you. The challenge is both more difficult and simpler than you might imagine. More difficult, because it is impossible for the natural man to receive spiritual truth (1 Corinthians 2:14). Simpler, because it is a spiritual battle, and the Lord is greater than our spiritual enemy, the devil (1 John 4:4).
Its our job to give out the truth, to be armed and equipped so that we can give an answer (1 Peter 3:15), gently and respectfully. But it is the Lord who changes hearts as we follow that command, using the best available materials and arguments (2 Cor. 10:5).
References and notes
1. Bahls, C., The Scientist 17(22):17, 17 November 2003. Return to text.
2. Mayr, E., Darwins influence on modern thought, Botany online, , based on a 23 September 1999 lecture on receiving the Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Science. Return to text.
Available online at:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2003/1208mayr.asp
COPYRIGHT © 2004 Answers in Genesis
Only Theodor Dzhobansky and E.O. Wilson have contributed as much or more to evolutionary theory in the past century.
Happy birthday Ernst! Keep up the good work! :-)
How can you believe in an afterlife? Have you proven it with science?