Creationism - National Center for Science Education
Creationism - National Center for Science Education Creationism - National Center for Science Education
Philip Fothergill, a Catholic botanist at King’s College, England, though an evolutionist, was quite sympathetic to criticisms of Darwinism. He considered purely naturalistic evolution unsatisfactory, and argued that Darwinian natural selection was but a reflection of the naturalistic, mechanistic philosophy of the times. In Historical Aspects of Organic Evolution (1953), he quotes and discusses many of these anti- Darwinian scientists approvingly. Mentioning that he argued at length about evolution with creationist Douglas Dewar, he provides a list of the leading anti-evolutionist biologists. In Evolution and Christians (1961), Fothergill expands on his dissatisfaction with purely naturalistic evolution and the “deification” of natural selection. “It is right that any theory which seeks to prove that man is merely a product of evolution and nothing more should be combatted and exposed for all its fallacy,” he wrote. He presents evidence supporting evolution, but also presents criticisms and difficulties. Fothergill said he considered evolution the “penultimate” expression of all life, but man alone the “ultimate.” Fothergill’s last two chapters concern evolution from the Catholic viewpoint. He generally affirms Papal opinions regarding evolution, and discusses ways of reconciling these with evolutionary biology. Adam may have been the first true human, he speculated, or the first of his race with spiritual capacity. It was Fothergill who devised the hypothesis, mentioned above, that Adam could have passed on his fully human genetic complement by marrying his offspring. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, because of his enormous influence, is another Catholic “evolutionist” who deserves mention in a discussion of anti-evolutionism. Teilhard was a Jesuit priest who became an active and enthusiastic paleontologist; he was involved in the Piltdown excavations and the “Peking Man” excavations. He became a geology professor at the Catholic Institute, and director of the Laboratory of Advanced Studies in Geology and Paleontology in Paris, and spent his final years with the Wenner- Gren Foundation in New York. Teilhard was influenced by Bergson and German Naturphilosophie, and advocated a mystical view of all-embracing evolutionism, presented in an obscure poetic style in several books, especially The Phenomenon of Man (1955). Julian Huxley, grandson of Darwin’s champion T.H. Huxley, wrote a laudatory introduction to the 1965 English translation. (Like Teilhard, Huxley, who contributed to the Neo-Darwinian Synthesis, found cosmic significance in evolution. Huxley advocated a Religion Without Revelation in his 1941 book of that title: an evolutionary, secular humanism, a wholly naturalistic faith.) Teilhard posited an immanent progressive drive embracing the entire universe: evolution as the fundamental unifying process of everything. Through love, people grow closer; eventually humans will evolve into a single super-organism. This final destination of evolution is Teilhard’s “Omega Point.” People would retain their own individual souls, but would also merge into the world soul, which Teilhard somehow equates with Christ. Man thus becomes deified; transmuted with the divine cosmic center. “Man discovers that he is nothing else than evolution become conscious of itself,” explains Teilhard. Man’s brain “proves that evolution has a direction.” Teilhard apparently did not intend this as metaphor; he declared that his book was not to be read as metaphysics of religion, but “purely and simply as a scientific treatise.” The Catholic Church considered Teilhard’s view most unorthodox, and did not allow him to publish this book during his lifetime. Creationists vigorously condemn Teilhard as the chief inspiration and patron saint of theistic evolutionism (and often
accuse him, as already noted, of foul play in both the Piltdown and Peking Man affairs). Many secular evolutionists denounce him with equal vigor for his mystical evolutionismas-divineconsciousness (Medawar, for example, brands his work “philosophy-fiction” appealing to the half-educated, or to people “educated far beyond their capacity to undertake analytical thought”). Teilhard continues to have enormous appeal, though. Joseph Needham, the distinguished biochemist and embryologist who achieved even greater renown for his monumental study of the history of Chinese science, is president of the Teilhard Centre in England. Anthropologist Margaret Mead was a vice-president. In that organization’s Teilhard Review and Journal of Creative Evolution (1982) Needham decried the polarization between creation and evolution, and, quoting an ancient Chinese sage and citing Sir Andrew Huxley, irenically urged Teilhard’s views as reconciliation. Despite the presence of a number of Catholics in the creationist movement, who freely promote Protestant creation-science arguments and other fundamentalist concerns, many Protestants remain implacably opposed to Catholicism. Among the most persistent and vociferous anti-Catholics are Jimmy Swaggart and Jack Chick, both of them also highly effective anti-evolution propagandists. Swaggart’s state of Louisiana is heavily Catholic as well as a strong Bible-belt center, and he has gotten into serious trouble for continuing to insist that all Catholics are going to Hell unless they be born again. Chick produces comic-book style tracts and booklets which have an enormous circulation. Big Daddy? (1972), one of his cartoon booklets, is perhaps the most widely-distributed piece of anti-evolutionist literature ever. Chick is savagely anti-Catholic, and, besides the fundamentalist denunciations of Catholicism in his cartoon booklets, he publishes books accusing the Vatican and the Pope of of being agents of Satan and of masterminding all evil in the world. One of Chick’s comic books, for instance, The Godfather (1982), based on books by Alberto R. Rivera, describes the Vatican as having created and financed the Islamic religion, secret societies such as the Illuminati, and having masterminded for its own gain both World Wars—Nazism and communism alike being tools and creations of the Vatican, the “master of deceit” and “mother of harlots and abominations.” RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY: JEWISH AND ISLAMIC A number of orthodox Jews have joined Protestant fundamentalists in opposing evolution. Some 20% of Israeli students attend private religious schools, and the ultraorthodox often reject evolution. Though “scientific” creationism remains a fairly novel concept to orthodox Jews, and the Jewish creation-science arguments are mostly taken directly from Protestant sources, it has gained Jewish advocates. Even before the rise of modern creation-science some Jews voiced opposition to evolution using scientific arguments. Velikovsky, for instance, rejected natural selection and Darwinian evolution in his various books, and relied heavily on G.M. Price’s catastrophism. He attempted to provide quasi-naturalistic explanations for Old Testament events, thus taking them literally (though not quite supernaturally). 26 Philip Warsaw wrote a book Genesis, 26 Interestingly, Velikovsky started a monograph series while living in Palestine in the 1930s. The first monograph was written by Chaim Weizmann, the Zionist leader, who was also a respected biochemist (Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science was named after him). An earlier monograph series by Jewish
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accuse him, as already noted, of foul play in both the Piltdown and Peking Man affairs).<br />
Many secular evolutionists denounce him with equal vigor <strong>for</strong> his mystical evolutionismas-divineconsciousness<br />
(Medawar, <strong>for</strong> example, brands his work “philosophy-fiction”<br />
appealing to the half-educated, or to people “educated far beyond their capacity to<br />
undertake analytical thought”). Teilhard continues to have enormous appeal, though.<br />
Joseph Needham, the distinguished biochemist and embryologist who achieved even<br />
greater renown <strong>for</strong> his monumental study of the history of Chinese science, is president<br />
of the Teilhard Centre in England. Anthropologist Margaret Mead was a vice-president.<br />
In that organization’s Teilhard Review and Journal of Creative Evolution (1982)<br />
Needham decried the polarization between creation and evolution, and, quoting an<br />
ancient Chinese sage and citing Sir Andrew Huxley, irenically urged Teilhard’s views as<br />
reconciliation.<br />
Despite the presence of a number of Catholics in the creationist movement, who<br />
freely promote Protestant creation-science arguments and other fundamentalist concerns,<br />
many Protestants remain implacably opposed to Catholicism. Among the most persistent<br />
and vociferous anti-Catholics are Jimmy Swaggart and Jack Chick, both of them also<br />
highly effective anti-evolution propagandists. Swaggart’s state of Louisiana is heavily<br />
Catholic as well as a strong Bible-belt center, and he has gotten into serious trouble <strong>for</strong><br />
continuing to insist that all Catholics are going to Hell unless they be born again. Chick<br />
produces comic-book style tracts and booklets which have an enormous circulation. Big<br />
Daddy? (1972), one of his cartoon booklets, is perhaps the most widely-distributed piece<br />
of anti-evolutionist literature ever. Chick is savagely anti-Catholic, and, besides the<br />
fundamentalist denunciations of Catholicism in his cartoon booklets, he publishes books<br />
accusing the Vatican and the Pope of of being agents of Satan and of masterminding all<br />
evil in the world. One of Chick’s comic books, <strong>for</strong> instance, The Godfather (1982),<br />
based on books by Alberto R. Rivera, describes the Vatican as having created and<br />
financed the Islamic religion, secret societies such as the Illuminati, and having<br />
masterminded <strong>for</strong> its own gain both World Wars—Nazism and communism alike being<br />
tools and creations of the Vatican, the “master of deceit” and “mother of harlots and<br />
abominations.”<br />
RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY: JEWISH AND ISLAMIC<br />
A number of orthodox Jews have joined Protestant fundamentalists in opposing<br />
evolution. Some 20% of Israeli students attend private religious schools, and the<br />
ultraorthodox often reject evolution. Though “scientific” creationism remains a fairly<br />
novel concept to orthodox Jews, and the Jewish creation-science arguments are mostly<br />
taken directly from Protestant sources, it has gained Jewish advocates. Even be<strong>for</strong>e the<br />
rise of modern creation-science some Jews voiced opposition to evolution using scientific<br />
arguments. Velikovsky, <strong>for</strong> instance, rejected natural selection and Darwinian evolution<br />
in his various books, and relied heavily on G.M. Price’s catastrophism. He attempted to<br />
provide quasi-naturalistic explanations <strong>for</strong> Old Testament events, thus taking them<br />
literally (though not quite supernaturally). 26 Philip Warsaw wrote a book Genesis,<br />
26 Interestingly, Velikovsky started a monograph series while living in Palestine in the 1930s. The first<br />
monograph was written by Chaim Weizmann, the Zionist leader, who was also a respected biochemist<br />
(Israel’s Weizmann Institute of <strong>Science</strong> was named after him). An earlier monograph series by Jewish