Free Republic

The Fine Tuning of the Universe by Rabbi Mordechai Steinman with Dr. Gerald Schroeder An amazing array of scientists are bewildered by the design of the universe and admit a possibility of a designer. According to growing numbers of scientists, the laws and constants of nature are so "finely-tuned," and so many "coincidences" have occurred to allow for the possibility of life, the universe must have come into existence through intentional planning and intelligence.In fact, this "fine-tuning" is so pronounced, and the "coincidences" are so numerous, many scientists have come to espouse The Anthropic Principle, which contends that the universe...

The debate concerning intelligent design and evolution has revealed some confusion about the concept of religious faith. What constitutes religious faith? Traditionally, religious faith refers to a belief in a particular revelation, a specially delivered message, something we couldn't figure out by reason alone. Thus, the Jewish people have faith in the revelation they believe was given to Abraham and is contained principally in the Torah. Muslims believe in the message given to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel and recorded in the Quran. Buddhists believe in the revelation that came to Siddhartha Gautama and will lead them along the eightfold...

Last May, I had the pleasure of participating in the Kansas State Board of Education’s “evolution” hearings. Readers may recall that I contributed an essay, “Darwin or Lose,” to the “Darwin’s Last Stand?” issue (July/August 2004), in which I discussed how the use of courtroom-style litigation tactics by spokesmen for “mainstream science” has deformed the scientific debate over the origin of life and its diversification into the vast array of different species we see today. The hearings gave me an opportunity to see first-hand the use of such tactics. High-Profile Hearings The teaching of evolution became a high-profile issue in...