Posted on 09/01/2003 5:46:19 PM PDT by Tribune7
Generations of American schoolchildren have been taught that Darwin's theory of evolution is the explanation for the origin of life -- regardless of what they might have learned in Sunday school. Yet according to law professor and author Phillip E. Johnson, this modern-day mantra of science classes is little more than a dogma of materialism. In his books "Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds," "Darwin on Trial," "Reason in the Balance" and others, Johnson defends the truth with the intellectual clout that earned him a prestigious seat at the University of California, Berkeley, yet with a humility that can only come from knowing the Creator one-on-one. Here, he talks candidly with "Decision" on the topic he is most passionate about -- dismantling Darwinism.
Q: The Ohio Board of Education recently ruled that public schools in that state can now discuss controversies surrounding the theory of evolution. Why do you think so many leading educators fought to keep such debate out of the classroom?
A: It's a good question. You would think the Darwinists would be glad to teach the controversy as a matter of educational policy. According to public opinion polls, most of the nation has serious doubts about the truth of the evolutionary theory. Why don't the educators want to address those doubts seriously? They are afraid to acknowledge that there are any doubts that matter. Real scientists, they say, believe without any doubt in the theory of evolution. But in Ohio we had petitions signed by dozens of well-credentialed scientists saying that this area of study should be opened up to freedom of thought. Science should not be committed to a dogma -- much less a dogma that is in serious trouble with the evidence -- but should freely acknowledge areas of doubt and should address them honestly.
Q: Through your books and lectures, you've become known as someone who has worked hard to bring together different factions of the creationist movement.
A: My policy is to concentrate on the first issue: What scientific evidence points toward or away from the need for a Creator? Does the evidence of science really show that Darwin's force of natural selection is so powerful that nature can do its own creating and that there is no need for God? That's the philosophical doctrine the Darwinists propose, but my colleagues and I have shown that it is not true. The evidence, as opposed to the scientific imperialism, points to the fact that natural selection has no creative power and that the Creator is very much needed. So if we concentrate on that issue first, then we can get to other issues that are somewhat divisive within the Christian world. I have done that by saying, "Let's be careful that we start with the correct Scripture."
(Excerpt) Read more at billygraham.org ...
However, I do think that the theory of evolution adequately explains the origins of species. The questions posed in the piece are irrelevent to the discussion because no alternative answer is given other than that "God did it", which is not a scientifically defensible answer.
Very good point.
The questions posed in the piece are irrelevent
Of course not. Suppose the scientific establishment declared as fact that all combustible material contained an odorless, weightless substance that disappeared during burning, and someone questioned it by asking why burning caused smoke.
And they were challenged to explain combustion without the existance of this substance. And they replied they couldn't but the conventional wisdom was still wrong.
There questions and comments would of course have merit and would be very important.
And they were challenged to explain combustion without the existance of this substance. And they replied they couldn't but the conventional wisdom was still wrong.
There questions and comments would of course have merit and would be very important.
It may have been the one put together by "Discovery Institute," a creationist (or perhaps ID) group. It's been the subject of a thread or two.
If it is your contention that the theory of evolution is wrong because the bible says so, then again, all well and good, but you haven't explained anything scientifically.
BTW, I favor school prayer and religion in our public lives, but I don't think it explains the "nuts and bolts" of the universe very well. Religion never built a TV set or a rocket or a medicine, but it is valid in immaterial things, such as morality.
More and more each year, Behe, Johnson, Dembski, and Meyer are turning from Darwinism to ID!
The same five or six guys are abandoning evolution in droves. It's a crisis! It must be so, because I read about it in a Jack Chick comic book.
And they were challenged to explain combustion without the existance of this substance. And they replied they couldn't but the conventional wisdom was still wrong.
There questions and comments would of course have merit and would be very important.
Whoops! I double tapped. I think a better analogy would be this:
Suppose the entire ground of the earth was burned. We didn't see it burn, but we can deduct that it did burn based on reason and scientific experiment. We use our knowledge of the natural laws of physics to do this. Some scientists may try to use what they know of the combustion process to come up with a theory of a large nuclear bombardment. Some may try to say it was a slow burning grass fire started by lightning. There are lots of theories, but we still know that the earth burned.
By observation we can say that the "mechanism" for the end result (scorched earth) was burning. The how or why is something that is in question. Scientists are restricted to the use of natural law for their answers.
Creationist should leave the science to real scientists and stop distorting the message of Genesis. They should spend more time witnessing to others about the beauty of salvation, and less time writing outrageous pseudo-scientific papers.
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