Evangelicals Now
Christian news worldwide
magnifying glass Search archives
home Home check the archives Archives Subscribe Subscriptions Advertising Information & booking of classifieds Adverts Find a local evangelical Church Find a church for the search engines and extremely curious! About us Contact us Site Map
Printable
Version

Darwin's Nemesis

Philip Johnson and the Intelligent Design Movement

Chimps or chumps?

DARWIN’S NEMESIS
Philip Johnson and the Intelligent Design Movement
Edited by William A. Dembski
IVP. 357 pages. £14.99
ISBN 1 84474 128 1

According to a recent survey reported in October’s EN, 19% of UK students claimed to accept intelligent design (ID) as the basis for the origin of life; another 12% of the 1,000 students surveyed accepted creationism.

I actually wonder how much the 1,000 students surveyed really know about either ID or creationism! Maybe even take that a stage further — how much does the average person in the church know about what are essentially two distinct approaches to counteract the generally accepted position of Darwinian naturalism! Although many EN readers will be familiar with some creationist writing, I imagine that there are fewer who have given serious consideration to the strengths and weaknesses of the ID movement.

Five parts

This book is a series of 18 essays to celebrate the life and thought of Philip Johnson, the leading figure in the ID movement. Arising from talks given in April 2004 by Johnson’s allies (and a couple of critics) in ID, the essays have been arranged in several parts. Part I presents essays from colleagues who clearly show how their own thinking on origins was radically transformed by either meeting Johnson or reading his book Darwin on Trial. Part II addresses the controversy Johnson’s work has brought about — with a backlash from, on the one hand the Darwinian zealots such as Richard Dawkins (who said ‘it is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane’, p.123), and on the other those involved in Christian education. Part III is given over to the critics of ID (David Berlinski and Michael Ruse — the latter the author of the book Darwin and Design: Does Evolution Have a Purpose?). Part IV gets more into some in-depth science with one fascinating chapter on the complexity of the bacterial flagellum, a molecular machine displaying irreducible complexity — a key signature or hallmark of design. In Part V, we glimpse how Johnson was termed a creationist when he plainly wasn’t a creationist or certainly a young-earth creationist!

Not so watertight

This book will be hard going for many readers but persistence will pay off for the discerning, particularly for those who are involved in teaching (or studying) science in secondary or higher education. There is a constant attack from Dawkins and Co., who delight to vilify anyone not holding to Darwinian naturalism or evolutionary theory. This book says ‘hang on’ everything is not so watertight — just look at the complexity of life at all levels and you see order and design.

Who is the Designer?

But a note of caution; ID is nothing to do with the Bible or ultimately the God of the Bible. Johnson has always made it clear that his purpose has been to examine the scientific evidence on its own terms, being careful to distinguish the evidence from any religious bias that might distort interpretation of the evidence (p.66). It is not (p.98) ‘a religious doctrine about where everything came from but rather a scientific investigation into how patterns exhibited by finite arrangements of matter can signify intelligence’. So, in chapter 11, Jonathan Wells describes how, as a member of the Unification Church (Reverend Moon!), he became convinced of the conflict between theistic religions (among which he includes Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Unificationism and Zoroastrianism) and Darwinian evolution. Therefore, within the ID camp are thinking people from a wide background who challenge Darwinian evolution at the level of design. There is a lot of good stuff in this chapter as there is throughout the book and it is helpful for those who challenge evolutionary dogma to be able to use the ID approach in some situations.

However ultimately the question has to be addressed, Who is the designer? Can he be known? Yes, he can; for God has made himself known, not only in what we see around us but gloriously in the person of his Son; and it is by him that all things were created. But then you will need to read your Bible to come face to face with the one who is not only the Designer, but the Creator and Saviour.

David Back,
Professor of Pharmacology, University of Liverpool; member of Bridge Chapel, Liverpool