Sunday, June 22, 2008
Only a Theory
Kenneth Miller's newest book, "Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul" is a solid update to his earlier book "Finding Darwin's God". This new book dismantles Intelligent Design and recaps his experiences with the Intelligent Design trial in Dover, Pa. He also makes a more personal connection with the reader this time around. I enjoyed this book much more and would recommend it for anyone that maybe, like myself, was only taught a cursory reading of Evolution as a student, and also anyone unfamiliar with the misguided details of Intelligent Design. Evolution is the basis for all of modern biology and our most recent fossil and DNA discoveries confirm Darwin's now thoroughly tested assertions.
Miller makes the point that this battle is not going away anytime soon. Creationists are growing more vocal and continue to divide people of faith along the lines of this debate. This is about more than just a simple sticker on a text book. The future of science in America is at stake and the future of religion may also be in jeopardy. Miller does a wonderful job of responding to the ID movement's flawed logic. I also appreciated that he didn't venture too far into the area of theology where he might have been outside his area of expertise. Miller is a Christian and does make a heart felt appeal to the reader to reconcile faith and science. I agree that this reconciliation is both necessary and plausible.
8 comments:
Unfortunately church politics has often blurred the teachings in Genesis into accepting many unbiblical concepts. As Scripture does not always directly say something and some feel a need for it to speak directly to everything they project a more expansive view than is actually biblically presented…
There is however a Designer…
Livingsword,
I think (if I can try to speak for Dr. Miller) he might ask you...
Do you have a theory for how that so-called "designer" might have designed species? Could you in any way show that your own theory contradicts the current accepted theory of Evolution?
Hi Mike;
Perhaps a step back here would be helpful so we can unpack some words…
When I say Designer I am speaking of the Creator. If there is a Creator, this Creator is also the Designer. The Designer/Creator is God. God created everything and when He chooses to He intervenes with His creation…
Is that acceptable?
Livingsword,
Do you have a theory? What you are saying would be the equivalent of Darwin saying evolution is the view that "some force" is the reason why life consists of different species. If Darwin had stopped where you stop, we would never have heard of his name. When you say "there is a designer", that is not really saying anything of substance.
If you have another theory, then I'd love to hear it.
Mike;
I am presenting the theory that God created the universe (and perhaps limitless others), and that He chooses at times to intervene in His creation. Everything else fits under these overarching principals.
Possibly the entirety of the creation was marred at the Fall. The creation since the beginning has been adapting and evolving sometimes because of the original creation, sometimes because of the Fall and other times because God directly intervenes when He chooses to do so…
There are a plethora of areas of Scripture that allow for these kinds of theories and many others that do not militate against proven non-theoretical science.
Do species adapt and evolve? Yes. Did God create everything and is He still involved? Yes.
The challenge is that both church and science make more grandiose claims on the knowledge of creation than either can back up. The Bible simply does not tell us everything that people seem to want it to say. Science also makes claims that are at times more hypothetical; or theoretical than hard science.
Livingsword,
That is a beautiful story and I love it as a metaphor for our human condition. It is NOT a theory.
Science never makes a claim that it can't back up. If it does, then it isn't science. Evolution is a scientific theory for exactly the reason that it can and does backup what it claims.
Mike;
Thanks for the correction I will accept it as Livingsword’s beautiful story, right along Darwin’s beautiful story….
Do you really believe that science has NEVER made a claim it can’t back up?
I will admit that Christian scholars and theologians have done this, and so have scientists…
A theory is not established fact….
By the way you have realized I am not anti-Darwin haven’t you?
Livingsword,
Scientists may create a hypothesis that turns out to be false, but in order to have a scientific theory it must be backed by proof. If you have evidence that any accepted scientific theory is false, then you'll be a rich man. Feel free to clue me in.
Darwin didn't tell a story. He had a hypothesis, then he did research to prove it and allowed others to test it so it could eventually become an accepted theory. Since his day, the theory of Evolution has become one of the most tested theories in all of modern science. It is the cornerstone of biology.
You are right that a theory is not an established fact. A theory is a collection of established, tested, and accepted facts.
For example, it is a fact that an apple dropped on earth has been observed to fall towards the center of the planet, and the theories commonly used to describe and explain this behavior are Newton's theory of universal gravitation and the general theory of relativity.
The reason I'm making a big deal about this is because there is tremendous amounts of disinformation around the issues involving Evolution. The notion that it is "only a theory" is intentional false propaganda. A "theory" is the highest level of scientific achievement.
When you state emphatically "There is however a Designer...", are you prepared to back that up? What exactly is it you are suggesting?
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