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Mere Creation: Science, Faith and Intelligent Design
Excellent Book
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First published September 1, 1998
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About the author
William A. Dembski
51 books118 followersA mathematician and philosopher, Dr. William Dembski has taught at Northwestern University, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Dallas. He has done postdoctoral work in mathematics at MIT, in physics at the University of Chicago, and in computer science at Princeton University. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago where he earned a B.A. in psychology, an M.S. in statistics, and a Ph.D. in philosophy, he also received a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Chicago in 1988 and a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1996. He has held National Science Foundation graduate and postdoctoral fellowships. He is the recipient of a $100,000 Templeton research grant. In 2005 he received Texas A&M’s Trotter Prize.
Dr. Dembski has published articles in mathematics, engineering, philosophy, and theology journals and is the author/editor of over twenty books.
His most comprehensive treatment of intelligent design to date, co-authored with Jonathan Wells, is titled The Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence in Biological Systems.
As interest in intelligent design has grown in the wider culture, Dr. Dembski has assumed the role of public intellectual. In addition to lecturing around the world at colleges and universities, he is frequently interviewed on the radio and television. His work has been cited in numerous newspaper and magazine articles, including three front page stories in the New York Times as well as the August 15, 2005 Time magazine cover story on intelligent design. He has appeared on the BBC, NPR (Diane Rehm, etc.), PBS (Inside the Law with Jack Ford; Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson), CSPAN2, CNN, Fox News, ABC Nightline, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Dr. Dembski has published articles in mathematics, engineering, philosophy, and theology journals and is the author/editor of over twenty books.
His most comprehensive treatment of intelligent design to date, co-authored with Jonathan Wells, is titled The Design of Life: Discovering Signs of Intelligence in Biological Systems.
As interest in intelligent design has grown in the wider culture, Dr. Dembski has assumed the role of public intellectual. In addition to lecturing around the world at colleges and universities, he is frequently interviewed on the radio and television. His work has been cited in numerous newspaper and magazine articles, including three front page stories in the New York Times as well as the August 15, 2005 Time magazine cover story on intelligent design. He has appeared on the BBC, NPR (Diane Rehm, etc.), PBS (Inside the Law with Jack Ford; Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson), CSPAN2, CNN, Fox News, ABC Nightline, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 18, 2024
A COLLECTION OF ARTICLES ON "MERE" (i.e., "basic") CREATION
Editor William Albert Dembski (born 1960) is a key figure in the "Intelligent Design" movement, who is a professor at the Southern Evangelical Seminary and a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute. He has written/edited many other books, such as 'The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance through Small Probabilities,' 'Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between Science and Theology,' 'The Design Revolution: Answering the Toughest Questions About Intelligent Design,' 'Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing,' 'Tough-Minded Christianity: Legacy of John Warwick Montgomery,' etc.
This 1998 collection contains essays by persons such Jonathan Wells, Michael Behe (author of 'Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution'), J.P. Moreland, William Lane Craig, Hugh Ross (author of 'Creation and Time: A Biblical and Scientific Perspective on the Creation-Date Controversy'), Robert C. Newman (author of 'Genesis One and the Origin of the Earth'), Philip E. Johnson, etc. Most of the essays center on some aspect to the concept of Design.
Dembski says in his own introductory essay, "for C.S. Lewis, 'mere Christianity' signified the essentials of Christianity---what minimally one must hold to be a Christian... Mere creation, then, is a theory of creation aimed specifically at defeating naturalism and its consequences." (Pg. 13-14) He adds, "Christians are not deists. God is not an absentee landlord." (Pg. 15)
He suggests that "This fear of falsely attributing something to design only to have it overturned later has prevented design from entering science proper. With precise methods for discriminating intelligently from unintelligently caused objects, scientists are now able to void Kepler's mistake." (Pg. 16) He asserts that "We can know that something is designed without knowing the ultimate or even proximate purpose for which it was designed." (Pg. 18)
He argues, "intelligent design is incompatible with what is typically meant by theistic evolution. Theistic evolution ... is no different from atheistic evolution, treating only undirected natural processes in the origin and development of life... If God purposely created life through Darwinian means, then God's purpose was to make it seem as though life was created without purpose." (Pg. 20) In a later essay, he admits, "Another difficulty is that detecting intelligent causes requires background knowledge on our part. It takes an intelligent cause to know an intelligent cause." (Pg. 106)
Michael Behe states in his essay, "The idea of Darwinian molecular evolution is not based on science. There is no publication in the scientific literature---in journals or books---that describes how molecular evolution of any real, complex, biochemical system either did occur or even might have occurred. There are assertions that such evolution occurred, but absolutely none are supported by pertinent experiments or calculations. Since there is no authority on which to base claims of knowledge, it can truly be said that the assertion of Darwinian molecular evolution is merely bluster." (Pg. 183)
Somewhat uneven as a "collection," this book will nevertheless be of great value to anyone interested in Intelligent Design, the Creation/Evolution controversy, or scientifically-oriented Christian apologetics.
Editor William Albert Dembski (born 1960) is a key figure in the "Intelligent Design" movement, who is a professor at the Southern Evangelical Seminary and a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute. He has written/edited many other books, such as 'The Design Inference: Eliminating Chance through Small Probabilities,' 'Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between Science and Theology,' 'The Design Revolution: Answering the Toughest Questions About Intelligent Design,' 'Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing,' 'Tough-Minded Christianity: Legacy of John Warwick Montgomery,' etc.
This 1998 collection contains essays by persons such Jonathan Wells, Michael Behe (author of 'Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution'), J.P. Moreland, William Lane Craig, Hugh Ross (author of 'Creation and Time: A Biblical and Scientific Perspective on the Creation-Date Controversy'), Robert C. Newman (author of 'Genesis One and the Origin of the Earth'), Philip E. Johnson, etc. Most of the essays center on some aspect to the concept of Design.
Dembski says in his own introductory essay, "for C.S. Lewis, 'mere Christianity' signified the essentials of Christianity---what minimally one must hold to be a Christian... Mere creation, then, is a theory of creation aimed specifically at defeating naturalism and its consequences." (Pg. 13-14) He adds, "Christians are not deists. God is not an absentee landlord." (Pg. 15)
He suggests that "This fear of falsely attributing something to design only to have it overturned later has prevented design from entering science proper. With precise methods for discriminating intelligently from unintelligently caused objects, scientists are now able to void Kepler's mistake." (Pg. 16) He asserts that "We can know that something is designed without knowing the ultimate or even proximate purpose for which it was designed." (Pg. 18)
He argues, "intelligent design is incompatible with what is typically meant by theistic evolution. Theistic evolution ... is no different from atheistic evolution, treating only undirected natural processes in the origin and development of life... If God purposely created life through Darwinian means, then God's purpose was to make it seem as though life was created without purpose." (Pg. 20) In a later essay, he admits, "Another difficulty is that detecting intelligent causes requires background knowledge on our part. It takes an intelligent cause to know an intelligent cause." (Pg. 106)
Michael Behe states in his essay, "The idea of Darwinian molecular evolution is not based on science. There is no publication in the scientific literature---in journals or books---that describes how molecular evolution of any real, complex, biochemical system either did occur or even might have occurred. There are assertions that such evolution occurred, but absolutely none are supported by pertinent experiments or calculations. Since there is no authority on which to base claims of knowledge, it can truly be said that the assertion of Darwinian molecular evolution is merely bluster." (Pg. 183)
Somewhat uneven as a "collection," this book will nevertheless be of great value to anyone interested in Intelligent Design, the Creation/Evolution controversy, or scientifically-oriented Christian apologetics.
October 14, 2011
this book is not an easy read. I recommend if your new to ID science to start with something else.
I will read this as 5 different books, each part separated by lighter reading (most relevant authors):
- Parts I & II - Introduction to Design Theory (by Stephen Meyer, Will Dembsky, Walter Bradley)
- Part III - Biology (Michael Behe)
- Part IV - Philosophy (J P Moreland, Del Ratzsch, William Lane Craig)
- Part V - Astronomy (Hugh Ross, David Berlinski)
I will read this as 5 different books, each part separated by lighter reading (most relevant authors):
- Parts I & II - Introduction to Design Theory (by Stephen Meyer, Will Dembsky, Walter Bradley)
- Part III - Biology (Michael Behe)
- Part IV - Philosophy (J P Moreland, Del Ratzsch, William Lane Craig)
- Part V - Astronomy (Hugh Ross, David Berlinski)
January 22, 2017
As an adherent of neither intelligent design nor creationism, I was nonetheless impressed by the level of scholarship and the professional, mature attitude of all articles in this book save two. I even learned a great deal about evolution, ironically.
December 12, 2008
some of the essays were way too technical is areas I have littel expertise...but in other areas I was able to get some good out of the reading
Read
December 28, 2017An old collection of articles in diverse areas. I should have read this book several years ago, but I confess I always put it aside.
It is not an easy read, because the articles come from different areas, and some are very specialized. But there are lots of stimulating ideas. Essays range from biology to astronomy going through philosophy, mathematics. What they all show is that materialism is broken philosophy reigning in science not by virtue of what it has demonstrated, but because "they" want it to be true, no matter what.
It is twenty years since this book was written and the conference behind it took place. Materialism is still reigning, but last year we saw how the Royal Society hosted a conference questioning the Darwinian dogma and looking for a possible replacement. I think ID has had everything to do with such state of things, even if it is not yet acknowledged by the public. ID is not young earth creationism, and its criticisms of Darwinian theory have reached the highest levels of science. Therefore, even though nobody is going to say so in the academic world, ID and the Discovery Institute have been foundational on raising doubts about Darwinism... the very doubts producing that even the Royal Society is looking for an alternative that better explains the evidence. Because Darwin was unable to do it.
It is not an easy read, because the articles come from different areas, and some are very specialized. But there are lots of stimulating ideas. Essays range from biology to astronomy going through philosophy, mathematics. What they all show is that materialism is broken philosophy reigning in science not by virtue of what it has demonstrated, but because "they" want it to be true, no matter what.
It is twenty years since this book was written and the conference behind it took place. Materialism is still reigning, but last year we saw how the Royal Society hosted a conference questioning the Darwinian dogma and looking for a possible replacement. I think ID has had everything to do with such state of things, even if it is not yet acknowledged by the public. ID is not young earth creationism, and its criticisms of Darwinian theory have reached the highest levels of science. Therefore, even though nobody is going to say so in the academic world, ID and the Discovery Institute have been foundational on raising doubts about Darwinism... the very doubts producing that even the Royal Society is looking for an alternative that better explains the evidence. Because Darwin was unable to do it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews