Posted on 12/18/2004 5:56:30 PM PST by PatrickHenry
Professional danger comes in many flavors, and while Richard Colling doesn't jump into forest fires or test experimental jets for a living, he does do the academic's equivalent: He teaches biology and evolution at a fundamentalist Christian college.
At Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill., he says, "as soon as you mention evolution in anything louder than a whisper, you have people who aren't very happy." And within the larger conservative-Christian community, he adds, "I've been called some interesting names."
But those experiences haven't stopped Prof. Colling -- who received a Ph.D. in microbiology, chairs the biology department at Olivet Nazarene and is himself a devout conservative Christian -- from coming out swinging. In his new book, "Random Designer," he writes: "It pains me to suggest that my religious brothers are telling falsehoods" when they say evolutionary theory is "in crisis" and claim that there is widespread skepticism about it among scientists. "Such statements are blatantly untrue," he argues; "evolution has stood the test of time and considerable scrutiny."
His is hardly the standard scientific defense of Darwin, however. His central claim is that both the origin of life from a primordial goo of nonliving chemicals, and the evolution of species according to the processes of random mutation and natural selection, are "fully compatible with the available scientific evidence and also contemporary religious beliefs." In addition, as he bluntly told me, "denying science makes us [Conservative Christians] look stupid."
Prof. Colling is one of a small number of conservative Christian scholars who are trying to convince biblical literalists that Darwin's theory of evolution is no more the work of the devil than is Newton's theory of gravity. They haven't picked an easy time to enter the fray. Evolution is under assault from Georgia to Pennsylvania and from Kansas to Wisconsin, with schools ordering science teachers to raise questions about its validity and, in some cases, teach "intelligent design," which asserts that only a supernatural tinkerer could have produced such coups as the human eye. According to a Gallup poll released last month, only one-third of Americans regard Darwin's theory of evolution as well supported by empirical evidence; 45% believe God created humans in their present form 10,000 years ago.
Usually, the defense of evolution comes from scientists and those trying to maintain the separation of church and state. But Prof. Colling has another motivation. "People should not feel they have to deny reality in order to experience their faith," he says. He therefore offers a rendering of evolution fully compatible with faith, including his own. The Church of the Nazarene, which runs his university, "believes in the biblical account of creation," explains its manual. "We oppose a godless interpretation of the evolutionary hypothesis."
It's a small opening, but Prof. Colling took it. He finds a place for God in evolution by positing a "random designer" who harnesses the laws of nature he created. "What the designer designed is the random-design process," or Darwinian evolution, Prof. Colling says. "God devised these natural laws, and uses evolution to accomplish his goals." God is not in there with a divine screwdriver and spare parts every time a new species or a wondrous biological structure appears.
Unlike those who see evolution as an assault on faith, Prof. Colling finds it strengthens his own. "A God who can harness the laws of randomness and chaos, and create beauty and wonder and all of these marvelous structures, is a lot more creative than fundamentalists give him credit for," he told me. Creating the laws of physics and chemistry that, over the eons, coaxed life from nonliving molecules is something he finds just as awe inspiring as the idea that God instantly and supernaturally created life from nonlife.
Prof. Colling reserves some of his sharpest barbs for intelligent design, the idea that the intricate structures and processes in the living world -- from exquisitely engineered flagella that propel bacteria to the marvels of the human immune system -- can't be the work of random chance and natural selection. Intelligent-design advocates look at these sophisticated components of living things, can't imagine how evolution could have produced them, and conclude that only God could have.
That makes Prof. Colling see red. "When Christians insert God into the gaps that science cannot explain -- in this case how wondrous structures and forms of life came to be -- they set themselves up for failure and even ridicule," he told me. "Soon -- and it's already happening with the flagellum -- science is going to come along and explain" how a seemingly miraculous bit of biological engineering in fact could have evolved by Darwinian mechanisms. And that will leave intelligent design backed into an ever-shrinking corner.
It won't be easy to persuade conservative Christians of this; at least half of them believe that the six-day creation story of Genesis is the literal truth. But Prof. Colling intends to try.
Christian Science is a cult. Is there some specific reason you guys are drawn to the cults for support?
Perhaps you didn't know that when people refer to "capillary action," that said action is understood in terms of molecular attractions between water molecules which are themselves understood as electrochemical attractions between atoms which are themselves analyzed in terms of quantum mechanics, subatomic particles, etc. There is a leading edge of physics beyond which is a vast unknown, but the area you are insisting is a mystery ain't it. You are bludgeoning with your own willful ignorance. Again, the problem I have with creationism is not that you are doing it wrong but that you are doing it right.
Yes, I realize I'm not supposed to know you're a creationist. I haven't admitted being an evolutionist, either. I'll remove the mystery and announce it now. I have become an evolutionist. The creationists drove me to it last week.
If he thinks anyone learns anything by fighting tooth and nail against the accumulated scientific experience of mankind to date, then he has more faith than I do.
The only fair way is to give half the class time to science, and for the other half, the teacher sits there and shouts: "Hallelujah! It's a miracle!" over and over until the bell rings and the class ends.
No just ignoring you. I have a pet aversion to anklebiters.
[Ichneumon:] "Define "soul" as you are using it in this question, and I'll take a stab at it."
[Just mythoughts:] Hebrew word nephesh -soul- life as used "breath of life".
Ooookay... Could you be a bit more specific? This is so vague that it could mean any of the following (or something else entirely:
1. Oxygen metabolism.
2. Air-breathing.
3. "Vital principle".
4. Consciousness.
5. Self-awareness.
6. A form of "self" which allegedly persists after death of the body.
[they are completely obsessed with their flesh.]
"Do you actually believe this nonsense? Clue: If I were "completely obsessed with my flesh", why would I spend time posting on these threads, for example?"
[I have yet to read one offering by an self identified E describing the E's theory of the soul.]
Nonetheless, your failure to discover such discussions is hardly support for your insulting claim that evolutionists "are completely obsessed with their flesh".
Wait! You forgot he has to shout out the names of the various gods that he attributes each miracle to as well.
Zeus! Vishnu! Great Green Arkleseizure! BooBoo!
Wallace, they're a cult. They are categorized as a cult by no less than Dr. Walter Martin. They have been so categorized for a good many years. So, you don't have to explain that to them, I would think if they are honest, they already know it and are just hoping to color the argument by quoting cultists and pretending they're christians.
Yes. Let the children decide. It's the ID way.
Accuracy alert! There's attraction between the water molecules and the molecules of the sides of the capillary tube, said attraction being the original source of the lift. But adjacent molecules are pulled along by their attraction to those water molecules attracted to the sides. And so proceed.
Way OT...love your tagline.
Ooh! Ooh! Pick me!
This is the differnece between Christianity and those who model themselves after it - including many protestant sects. Those who are just playing religion, have no grounding, no understanding of authority for their beliefs and thusly don't understand or care about the impact of undermining said authority. The only authority to them is their clergy and feelings - that is cultic - not Christian.
...this coming from the guy who wrote a little later in this thread...:
Were "blacks" or "African-Americans" substituted for "fundamentalists" or "creationists," their rantings would be seen for what they are: bigotry. They would likley be banned from posting. Dr. Stochastic, Vade Retro, RightWingNilla, Central Scrutinizer, Dimensio, bert, and Junior are bigots.
There are multiple points of authority on this question, not the least of which is the Bible - which defines who and what Christians are. The cults have their own philosophies which they follow and they dab that in Christian imagery for their own twisted purposes - chief of which is to mislead people. Not unlike evolutionists - ya'll just don't try to pawn yourselves off as Christians - you just try to excuse your belief system by saying "well some christians believe it too".
Your tagline is not unlike your theory of the big bang. Nothing compressed and spun and blew up into a whole bunch of something and for some reason, none of the nothing or the new something had any clues about the laws of how something must act.
Has a good schizophrenic sound to it.
You might check your citation.
Or perhaps the creationists just don't see why such postings keep their postings from rising to the level of meaning.
What, you want to tell us that wasn't accurate. I mean, I think I've got one better than that from your own ranks in the community as published in a major magazine. Point being, ya'll just don't like it when the absurdity of your positions is either exposed blatently or enhanced for comic value. Essentially that is the belief - Nothing was all gathered together into a highly concentrated near infinatesimal region which was spinning and suddenly exploded into something.
I mean even with the enhancements for humor removed, It's still hilarious. You have no sense of humor.
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