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The conflict between creationists and evolutionists has raged ever since the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859. And yet, even as generations of Americans have fought and re-fought the same battles, the contours of the debate have in recent years shifted dramatically.
Tracking the dizzying rhetorical heights and opportunistic political lows of this controversy, Larry Witham travels to America's churches, schools, universities, museums, and government agencies to present creationists and evolutionists in their own unfiltered voices. We meet leading creationists and proponents of Intelligent Design such as Michael Behe; evolutionists such as Richard Dawkins; and theistic scientists who describe how they reconcile God and Nature.
Today, Biblical literalism is tempered by the Intelligent Design movement, which finds evidence of God's presence in nature's patterns. The once-dominant "young earth" school has been replaced by a creationism that conscripts the language of science to advance the creationist cause. Meanwhile, evolutionary scientists hesitate to point out gaps in their theories for fear that such self-scrutiny could serve as fodder for anti-evolution propaganda.
In an age marked both by a rising religious tide and daily scientific breakthroughs, Where Darwin Meets the Bible provides the standard account of this lasting conflict.
| Introduction : ways of knowing | 3 | |
| 1 | Darwin's legacy in America | 11 |
| 2 | The two books | 25 |
| 3 | Looking for boundaries | 42 |
| 4 | Hearts and minds | 57 |
| 5 | Nature alone : evolutionists | 74 |
| 6 | God and nature : creationists | 103 |
| 7 | Politics | 133 |
| 8 | Schools and textbooks | 147 |
| 9 | Higher education | 162 |
| 10 | Museums and sanctuaries | 179 |
| 11 | What natural scientists believe | 198 |
| 12 | The great debate | 212 |
| 13 | Media-eye view | 227 |
| 14 | The good society | 242 |
| 15 | Search for the underdog | 261 |
Anonymous
Posted December 27, 2002
This book covers the Intelligent design (ID) movement. ID basically argues that some intelligence is behind the creation of life, and natural forces cannot completely explain it. The movement includes everybody from theistic evolutionists to creationists (and everything in-between). The intelligent design movement has also grown enormously. For example, Dr. Johnson's books alone have sold a quarter of a million copies (page 69). Many mainline evolutionists have recognized that, in the words of University of Chicago Evolution Professor David Raup "Phil's done a superb job.... He's really done his homework. Its phenomenal the way he absorbed the field" (page 69). Where I teach (a state school) all of the science professors now accept ID, and most are creationists. Witham notes that the head of the anticreation and anti-intelligent design movement, Eugene Scott, to insure that all criticism of Darwinism is kept out of public schools, has found that the key to achieving this goal is the clergy. She concludes that it is not the scientists but the "mainline religious community" that has made the big difference in keeping evolutionary naturalism in the public schools (and all competing ideas out) (page 59). Once the population accepts a totally naturalistic explanation (the atheistic creation story) for all life and all reality, then God will die a natural death. He will be without a job and, not so much dead, as irrelevant to history and, by extension, to life today. Witham alludes to the fact that the problem is the science professors at Christian colleges train at secular colleges, then teach their evolutionary naturalism at Christian schools. I have seen so many fine young Christians lose their faith at a Christian college (and the Christian colleges seem proud of this!) and become disillusioned with life. If their supporters only knew this they would no longer support these schools. One situation Witham notes is Calvin College in Grand Rapid, MI. As a result of this problem the Agnostics sit back and "enjoy watching creationist implosions" (page 72). They do not need to do much to quash Christianity. The Christian colleges are doing it for them. Witham, as a good reporter, only tells the facts (and does he ever!) but the implications from these facts are clear. This book is a must read for all persons interested in this controversy.
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Overview
The conflict between creationists and evolutionists has raged ever since the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859. And yet, even as generations of Americans have fought and re-fought the same battles, the contours of the debate have in recent years shifted dramatically.
Tracking the dizzying rhetorical heights and opportunistic political lows of this controversy, Larry Witham travels to America's churches, schools, universities, museums, and government agencies to ...