Part IV: Hard Questions on Science and Faith

This post is on Part IV of The Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith edited by William A. Dembski, Casey Luskin, and Joseph M. Holden (Eugene Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2021). It contains 11 of the book’s 48 chapters, each of which I’ll note the main idea of and/or summarize.

Chapter 38. Is Science the Only Means for Acquiring Truth? by David R. C. Deane opens by defining scientism as “the totalizing or exaggerated view that science is the only means for acquiring truth” and identifying three primary features of it: first, scientism is a “belief” or philosophy about science and not a demonstration of science; second, scientism is a belief about how we know (epistemology); and third, scientism’s claims about how we know guarantees certain conclusions about what we know (metaphysics). It then states and elaborates on three criticisms of scientism: Criticism 1: If the premise of scientism is valid, it is false by definition and consequently self-refuting. Criticism 2: If the premise of scientism is valid, it eliminates all knowledge outside the scope of science including that which makes science possible to begin with. Criticism 3: If the premise of scientism is valid, it conceptually reduces the existence of all things to their quantitative properties, including human beings. It concludes that science is not the only means of acquiring truth, that scientism is a worldview issue, and that scientists, philosophers, and theologians should work together to establish an integrated worldview. The author closes by proposing that the Judeo-Christian revelation contained in the Bible is capable of furnishing such a worldview.

Chapter 39. Is Theistic Evolution a Viable Option for Christians? by Jay W. Richards defines “God” and “evolution” and claims that theism is compatible with all senses of evolution except what he calls the “blind watchmaker” thesis, the idea that all organisms have descended from common ancestors solely through unguided, unintelligent, purposeless, material processes such as natural selection acting on random variations or mutations.” He asserts that it makes no sense to speak of God guiding an unguided process.

Chapter 40. Will Intelligent Machines Rise Up and Overtake Humanity? by Robert J. Marks opens by quoting how various top minds answer the question. It then examines three noncomputable human traits–sentience, understanding, and creativity; claims that various artificial intelligence dystopians argue outside their field of expertise; and identifies the danger of artificial intelligence and tells how they can be mitigated through proper design practices. It concludes, “If Ai becomes dangerous, it will be the fault of humans who develop and use AI. Following good ethics will likewise never be the responsibility of AI itself, but will always belong to those who write and test AI systems and to the end users (humans).”

Chapter 41. Can Panspermia Explain the Origin of Life? by Guillermo Gonzalez opens by identifying the four broad steps needed for panspermia (the theory that life on the earth originated from microorganisms or chemical precursors of life present in outer space and able to initiate life on reaching a suitable environment): (1) launch from an inhabited planet’s surface, (2) transit through interplanetary and/or interstellar space, (3) arrival at a habitable planet, and (4) colonization of the habitable planet. It then considers the steps in detail as applied locally to our solar system, concluding that Earth is the only inhabited planet in it, and then to other planetary systems, concluding that for the vast majority of stars panspermia is not a viable model for transferring life.

Chapter 42. Does the Multiverse Refute Cosmic Design? by Bruce L. Gordon defines multiverse (MTV) in physics and cosmology as Multiple Trials for Viability, explains the article’s task being “to evaluate the work of cosmologists and theoretical physicists who are trying to explain cosmological origins and fine-tuning in purely naturalistic terms,” and challenges the reader to “put on your thinking cap, grab some popcorn, and let’s get started.” I put on my thinking cap, grabbed a cup of coffee, and got started. Unfortunately that wasn’t enough, my lacking the background to understand much of the presentation. However I was impressed by it and certainly agree with its conclusion: “When the logical and metaphysical necessity of an efficient cause, the demonstrable absence of a material one, and the realized implication of a universe both contingent and finite in temporal duration are all conjoined with the fact that we exist in an ordered cosmos–the conditions of which are fine-tuned beyond the capability of any credible mindless process–the scientific points inexorably toward transcendent intelligent agency as the only sufficient cause and the only reasonable explanation.”

Chapter 43. What About Human Exceptionalism and Genetic Engineering? by Wesley J. Smith considers a success in, difficulties in, objections to, and ethics of CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats) and concludes “In summary, if we can learn how to safely and effectively engage in somatic gene editing to treat genetic diseases and disabilities via means of medical experiments, I think we should…. But germline genetic engineering and editing for purposes of enhancements or for eugenics purposes should be entirely beyond the pale.” It then considers how we should view the products of genetic engineering and the question of “upgraded” animals.

Chapter 44. How Should Christians Think About Origins? by Richard G. Howe shows how the doctrine of creation gives us our fundamental understanding of God, of the nature of the universe, of the nature of mankind, of mankind’s relationship to God, of mankind’s relationship to the universe, and of mankind’s relationship to mankind. It also lists numerous ideas that the Christian doctrine of creation repudiates.

Chapter 45. How Should We Think About the Age of the Earth? by David Haines identifies various views held by Bible-believing Christians on the age of the earth, discusses several mistakes to avoid in discussing the age of the earth, and gives a number of conclusions: “First, … it is absolutely necessary to distinguish … between the age of the universe, the age of the Earth, and the antiquity of the human race … Second, we must be willing to humbly consider the offerings of both biblical interpretation and the observations of the natural sciences … Third, Third, we can and must defend the creation, by divine fiat, of the entire cosmos and all that is within it … Fourth, the matters relating to the age of the Earth and the antiquity of the human species are not essential doctrines … Finally, the age question should not be used as a criterion for Christian fellowship nor as a test for biblical orthodoxy or inerrancy, as no one is denying the fact and historical nature of creation.”

Chapter 46. How Have Christians Helped to Advance Science? by Henry “Fritz” Schaeffer III describes chronologically several notable scientists from Francis Bacon to the present who were strong Christians.

Chapter 47. How Can We Make Sense of Natural Evil? by William A. Dembski, one of the book’s editors, suggests a solution for the presence of natural evil in the billions of years since the creation of the Earth according to Old-Earth creationists, that there were two creations–the creation of the Earth and the universe in which natural evil occurred, and the creation of the Garden of Eden in which it wasn’t allowed. To me, the proposal is a “having your cake and eating it” solution.

Chapter 48. Should Christians Embrace Human Enhancement Science and Technology That Extends Mental and Physical Limitations? by Miguel Angel Endara answers negatively, claiming that “The futuristic visions of transhumans are idols that, if they ever come to pass, would compromise the experiencing union with God. Breaking through the God-ordained mental and physical limits would disrupt not only the possibility of gaining moral and intellectual virtues, but also theological virtues.”

Part III: Science and Evolution

This post is on Part III of The Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith edited by William A. Dembski, Casey Luskin, and Joseph M. Holden (Eugene Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2021). It contains 13 of the book’s 48 chapters, for each of which I’ll note the main idea of and/or summarize.

Chapter 25. Did Life First Arise by Purely Natural Means (Abiogenesis)? by Walter L. Bradley and Casey Luskin (one of the book’s editors) identifies seven steps needed for the origin of life to begin and review the problem(s) that occur for each step. The steps are 1. Raw Materials; 2. Energy Source and Environment; 3. Monomers (a monomer is a molecule that can react together with other monomer molecules to form a larger polymer chain); 4. Polymers (a polymer is a substance consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits); 5. Clumping; 6. Completed Parts–the First Self-replicating Molecules); and 7. First Living Cell. They conclude that an intelligent agent is required for the steps to occur and for the production of the first living cell.

Chapter 26. What Are the Top Scientific Problems with Evolution? by Jonathan Wells considers the evidence for descent (the hypothesis that all living organisms are descended from common ancestor), focusing on homology (similarity of structure and position), fossils, and molecular phylogeny or evolutionary history, and for modification (the hypothesis that organisms have evolved by strictly unguided natural processes), focusing on natural selection, mutation, and speciation (the origin of new species). He concludes: “Homology has become circular reasoning. The fossil record remains at best inconclusive…, and molecular phylogeny is shot through with inconsistencies. Natural selection and mutation produce nothing more than changes within existing species. And the origin of species–Darwin’s central problem–remains unsolved.”

Chapter 27. How Does Irreducible Complexity Challenge Darwinism? by Michael Behe opens by telling about Charles Darwin and how he arrived at the theory of natural selection. It goes on to tell about the modern discovery of the elegant molecular basis of life and the difficulties that it poses for Darwinism. It concludes that the purposeful arrangement of the molecular parts demonstrates that “we are indeed fearfully, wonderfully, deliberately designed.”

Chapter 28. Can New Proteins Evolve? by Douglas Axe describes how proteins are formed from amino acids and concludes that it’s an all-or-nothing process, meaning that new proteins can’t evolve in the gradual steps imagined by Darwin.

Chapter 29. Does the Evidence Support Universal Common Ancestry? by Casey Luskin, one of the book’s editors, examines the case for universal common ancestry in biogeography (study of the distribution of organisms in time and space over Earth’s history), fossils, DNA and anatomical similarities, and embryology and concludes that none supports the Darwinian “tree of life.”

Chapter 30. Can Universal Common Descent Be Tested? by Paul Nelson considers universal common descent (UCD)–“All organisms on Earth, extant or extinct, share common ancestry from LUCA (last universal common ancestry)–and concludes “the molecular unity of life, UCD and LUCA’s original claim to fame, has been eroded away by unanticipated genetic finds.”

Chapter 31. Does the Fossil Record Demonstrate Darwinian Evolution? by Günter Bechly claims that the fossil record both contradicts the gradualist predictions of Darwin’s theory and shows that the available timeframes are much too short to allow the Darwinian mechanism of random mutations and blind natural selection to account for the necessary genetic changes.

Chapter 32. Do Fossils Demonstrate Human Evolution? by Casey Luskin, one of the book’s editors, presents the standard story of human evolution, which starts with the early homids and moves through the australopithecines into the genus Homo, and concludes that “even if we do share common ancestry with Neanderthals or erectus [both are members of Homo), this does not show we share ancestry with any nonhumanlike hominins.”

Chapter 33. Is Evolutionary Psychology a Legitimate Way to Understand Our Humanity by Denyse O’Leary considers the claim of evolutionary psychologists that Darwinian natural selection in a nonhuman or scarcely human past accounts for our minds, attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviour. She notes the considerable sympathy received by a 2020 article by Subrena E. Smith which argued from the vast change in human behaviour compared to the apparent lack of change in the behaviour of wild chimpanzees over millions of years indicates that human behaviour cannot be explained by evolutionary psychology.

Chapter 34. Does Darwinism make Theological Assumptions? by Cornelius Hunter claims that Darwin and his theory of evolution are not merely motivated or influenced by theology but that they incorporate, entail, and rely on theological positions. It concludes, “Students of Darwin need to understand that ultimately, evolution is not about scientific details. Ultimately, evolution is about God.”

Chapter 35. How Has Darwinism Negatively Impacted Society? by John G. West opens by observing that Darwinism fielded three ideas with significant consequences for humanity: humans are not unique, nature is the product of an unguided process, and the engine of progress in the history of life is mass death. Then it details the negative effects of Darwinism on several spheres of human life: racism, eugenics, abortion and infanticide, ecology, ethics, and belief in God.

Chapter 36. Do Scientists Have the Intellectual Freedom to Challenge Darwinism? also by John G. West opens by observing that modern Darwinist theory makes two main claims, all animals ultimately descended with modification from a common ancestor in the deep past, and the primary mechanism driving this evolution of life is an unguided process known as natural selection. Then it details how scientists who dissent from Darwinism are likely to face intimidation, discrimination, demotion, or even removal from their jobs (it lists several scientists who were so treated) and how censorship is imposed on criticism of Darwinism.

Chapter 37. Is Darwinism a Theory in Crisis? by Jonathan Wells summarizes some key insights in Thomas Kuhn’s 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions and applies them to the conflict between Darwinism and intelligent design. Wells concludes that recent events justify calling Darwinism a theory in crisis.

Part II: Science and Design

This post is on Part II of The Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith edited by William A. Dembski, Casey Luskin, and Joseph M. Holden (Eugene Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2021). It contains 12 of the book’s 48 chapters, for each of which I’ll note the main idea of and/or summarize.

Chapter 13. What Is the Evidence for Intelligent Design and What Are Its Theological Implications? by Stephen C. Meyer asserts that the information and information-processes systems in a DNA molecule indicate that intelligence played a role in the origin of DNA and point to an intelligent agent existing separate from the universe (God).

Chapter 14. Is Our Intuition of Design in Nature Correct? by Douglas Axe compares the probability of cookies and dragonflies just happening. Because (1) many things have to happen correctly for cookies to be made and (2) none of these things are apt to happen if someone doesn’t make them happen, we recognize that the cookies had to be made. The same goes for dragonflies, only more so because of their more sophisticated design.

Chapter 15. What Is Intelligent Design and How Should We Defend It? by Casey Luskin, an editor of the book, defines intelligent design, argues that it is based on science and not on religion, answers some serious objections to it, gives advice on responding to objections, and asserts its advantage over creationism and theistic evolution. Here is its definition of intelligent design: “Intelligent design is a scientific theory that hold that many features of the universe and living things are best explained by an intelligent cause rather than an undirected process like natural selection.”

Chapter 16. What Is the Positive Case for Design?, also by Casey Luskin, “elaborate[s] on how the case for design in nature uses positive arguments in multiple scientific fields, based upon finding in nature the type of information and complexity that, in our experience, comes only from intelligence–and explain[s] how these positive arguments are turning ID into a fruitful paradigm to guide twenty-first-century scientific research.” The scientific fields in which it presents positive cases for design are biochemistry, paleontology, systematics, genetics, and physics. The scientific fields in which it says ID is providing a paradigm for fruitfully guiding science are protein science, physics and cosmology, information theory, pharmacology, evolutionary computation, anatomy and physiology, bioinformatics, molecular machines, cell biology, systematics, paleontology, and genetics. I suspect that the article overstates the role of intelligent design as a guide in at least the second list.

Chapter 17. Why Does Intelligent Design Matter? by William M. Dembski, another editor of the book, concludes, “Intelligent design’s ultimate significance…is not as a tool of controversy for defeating views hostile to the Christian faith, but rather for getting at the deepest truth of nature–that it exhibits real intelligence. Intelligent design shows that nature is here on purpose and that we are therefore here for a purpose.” While that is true, intelligent design is also significant to me in that it supports the Christian faith.

Chapter 18. Have Science and Philosophy Refuted Free Will? by Michael Egnor endorses Thomas Aquinas’s definition of free will as freedom from constraint but not as necessarily entailing alternatives and presents evidence of its being supported by logic, metaphysics and physics, neuroscience, and social psychology.

Chapter 19. Can Materialism Explain Human Consciousness?, also by Michael Egnor, traces the history of the interpretation of the mind-brain relationship and considers dualism and materialism in modern neuroscience. Materialism entails the inference that the brain causes all aspects of the mind, without remainder, and dualism entails the inference that the brain causes some aspects of the mind, with remainder. He concludes that materialism limits our understanding to mere matter but that Thomistic dualism allows us understand not only matter and its relations but also abstract thought and purposes relevant to human acts.

Chapter 20. How Does the Big Bang Support Cosmic Design? by Brian Miller opens by telling how scientists came to realize that the universe had a beginning, a point referred to as the big bang at which all of time, space, matter, and energy came into being. It goes on to describe attempts to escape the conclusion of a beginning and their failures. It concludes by claiming, “The evidence that the earth had a beginning … points to the cause of the universe being an immaterial, infintely powerful, personal being that must exists outside the universe.”

Chapter 21. How Does Fine-Tuning Make the Case for Nature’s Design? by Hugh Ross describes several features of the universe that reveal such a high level of fine-tuning it seems that the universe has been shaped for human life by an omniscient, omnipotent personal being.

Chapter 22. Do We Live on a Privileged Planet? by Guillermo Gonzales presents the examples of our being able to observe rainbows, total solar eclipses, and stars from a book co-authored by him, The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery.

Chapter 23. How Do Solar Eclipses Point to Intelligent Design?, also by Guillermo Gonzales, expands on the example of total solar eclipses. It contains this summary: “How big the sun appears in our skies is tied to Earth’s habitability for complex life, as is the presence of a large moon in orbit around the earth. Put these together, and it means that the occurrence of solar eclipses on Earth is tied to our presence here.” It concludes, “A set of physical laws that links observers with total solar eclipses is what one would expect if the universe is designed for observers to experience beauty and engage in scientific discovery but not otherwise.”

Chapter 24. “How Does the Intelligibility of Nature Point to Design?” by Bruce L. Gordon explores the ontological question of why nature is ordered in such a way that it can be understood and the epistemological question of why the human mind is able to gain understanding of the natural order. The ontological preconditions are (1) that there exists an explanation for the way everything is, (2) that nature possesses a regular order, and (3) that since the causal structure of the natural world is not sufficient unto itself, it must be completed by something that transcends it. The epistemological condition for knowledge is that the intelligibility of nature to the human mind rests on the design of our cognitive processes. The article concludes that “the ontological and epistemological foundations of science are better served by theism than naturalism.”

Part I: Science and Faith

On August 27, 2022, I began a post thus: “On my wife’s and my recent wedding anniversary, our daughter, Shekinah, gave me a Chapters gift card, which I used in purchasing The Future of Open Theism by Richard Rice (Downer’s Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2020) and The Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith edited by William A. Dembski, Casey Luskin, and Joseph M. Holden (Eugene Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2021). A summary of the first of the two parts of The Future of Open Theism follows, and I plan to review the second part and possibly The Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith later.”

I posted a summary of the second part of The Future of Open Theism on September 5, 2022, and with this post I begin a review of The Comprehensive Guide to Science and Faith. It contains four parts–Part I: Science and Faith, Part II: Science and Design, Part III: Science and Evolution, and Part IV: Hard Questions on Science and Faith. I plan to make a post on each part. This post is on Part I, which contains 12 of the book’s 48 chapters. In it I summarize the opening chapter and note the main idea of each of the other chapters.

Chapter 1. What Are Science and Faith–and Are They Compatible? is by William A. Dembski, one of the book’s editors. He opens by claiming that modern (not medieval or ancient) science and classic, orthodox faith are obviously compatible provided that a person takes a minimalist approach to both. He then identifies what each is, defining science as “a sustained and systematic inquiry into nature” and describing faith as a “think for yourself” belief in “Christ, who purchased us with his blood.” Next he addresses the question of truth in science, concluding that science is a fallible enterprise and thus needs to keep its options open and be willing to discuss alternatives and opposing views. He goes on to encourage us to test both science and faith; to go minimalist in each, going with the best-established science and the core doctrines of Christianity; and to give each their due and see them as mutually reinforcing each other. He closes by emphasizing that a lived faith is “faith not in an idea or proposition, but in a living person.” My dominant impression is that Dembski considers avoiding conflict between science and faith is more important than arriving at truth.

Chapter 2. How Do We Understand the Relationship between Faith and Reason by Joseph M. Holden and Christopher T. Haun maintains that God speaks to us both through our observations and reasoning about His creation and through a few messengers whom he validated through miraculous signs and fulfilled prophecies. Thus reason and faith should work together.

Chapter 3. Has Science Refuted Miracles and the Supernatural by Richard G. Howe demonstrates that science hasn’t refuted the supernatural or miracles because it hasn’t refuted the existence of God, who makes the supernatural and miracles possible.

Chapter 4. Is Christianity at War with Science? by Michael N. Keas refutes these myths about the history of science: 1. The Dark Myth: Christianity produced 1,000 years of anti-science “Dark Ages”; 2. The Flat Myth: Church-induced ignorance caused European intellectuals to believe in a flat earth; 3. The Big Myth: A big universe is a problem for Christianity; 4. The Demolition Myth: Copernicus demoted us from the cosmic centre, and thereby destroyed confidence in a divine plan for humanity; and 5. The Skeptic Myth: The main heroes of early modern science were skeptics, not believers in God.

Chapter 5. Does Science Conflict with Biblical Faith? by David Haines concludes that “a closer look at the historical development of the natural sciences (in their relationship with theology), at the apparent doctrinal conflicts, and at the very nature of both scientific and theological explanation reveals that the most appropriate way of relating them is to say that they interact and collaborate.”

Chapter 6. Did Christianity Help Give Rise to Science? by John A. Bloom shows how Christianity fostered early science and claims that the modern tension between science and Christianity is generally between materialism and Christianity, both religious views, rather than between science and Christianity.

Chapter 7. Can a Christian Be a Scientist (and Vice Versa)? by David Haines and Frank Correa claim that belief that the cosmos was created by God encourages scientific inquiry and consider several Christians who were prominent scientists.

Chapter 8. What Is the Biblical and Scientific Case for a Historical Adam and Eve? by Fazale Rana presents the Biblical evidence for the traditional theological view of Adam and Eve, critiques alternative theological views of Adam and Eve, and gives scientific evidence for a primordial human pair and for the timing of that pair.

Chapter 9. On Science and Scientism: What Insights Does C.S. Lewis Offer? by Terry Glaspey shows how C. S. Lewis appreciated science but questioned scientism.

Chapter 10. How Has Evil Been Done in the Name of Science? by Richard Weikart illustrates evil things that have been done by the Nazis and others by application of racial scientism.

Chapter 11. How Can We Use Science in Apologetics? by Jay W. Richards defines natural science, two bad ideas that travel under its banner – scientism and materialism, and apologetics and presents some evidence from natural science that is useful in apologetics: 1. a cosmic beginning, 2. fine-tuning, 3. the correlation of life and discovery, 4. origin of life, 5. biological forms, and 6. the origin and practice of science itself. It claims that together the six lines of evidence confirm that the universe is the result of purpose and design.

Chapter 12. What About the Historical Relationship Between Christianity and Science? by H. Wayne House surveys early and contemporary conflicts between Christianity and science and concludes: “Science and theology will both benefit from a willingness of scientists and theologians to shed dogmatism and be willing to listen to each other, to recognize that the physical universe is not absolute and is not all that is, and that both parties have much to learn from each other.”