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Darwin, evolution, & religion

Darwin, evolution, & religion. What are the issues? 1. Challenges to the methods & nature of science Darwin’s theory is not a genuine scientific theory 2. Design arguments & the design of the universe. Darwin, evolution, & religion. 3. Evolutionary ethics

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Darwin, evolution, & religion

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  1. Darwin, evolution, & religion • What are the issues? • 1. Challenges to the methods & nature of science • Darwin’s theory is not a genuine scientific theory • 2. Design arguments & the design of the universe Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 1

  2. Darwin, evolution, & religion • 3. Evolutionary ethics • Does evolution entail an ethic of competition, struggle, & survival? • 4. Human dignity & the the soul • Does evolution from primates take away from the specialness of humankind? Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 2

  3. Darwin, evolution, & religion • 5. Biblical creation stories & evolution • Creation science or scientific creationism Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 3

  4. Darwin, evolution, & religion • 1. Is Darwin’s theory scientific? • The “only a theory” charge • The not well-confirmed charge Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 4

  5. Darwin, evolution, & religion • 2. Design arguments & the design of the universe • One reason for the shock of Darwin’s threat to the design argument is that this argument was immensely popular in England in the 19th century • William Paley’s Natural Theology (1802) • The tradition in England of clergymen-naturalists Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 5

  6. Darwin, evolution, & religion • And the form of the argument was based on living things • 3. Evolutionary ethics • Herbert Spencer (English, 1820-1903) & William Graham Sumner’s (American, 1840-1910) Social Darwinism • Laissez-faire in economics & social policy Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 6

  7. Darwin, evolution, & religion • Ethics of struggle, waste, competition, & survival • Critique: • The is-ought problem; the naturalistic fallacy • The problem of what to select in nature Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 7

  8. Darwin, evolution, & religion • 4. The challenge to human dignity • Problem of soul • Is Christianity compatible with a non-dualistic view of human nature? • Does dignity depend on origins? Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 8

  9. Darwin, evolution, & religion • 5. Stories of origins in Scripture & Darwin’s theory • Literalist vs non-literalist approaches toward Scripture • The current literalism goes back to the founding of the World’s Christian Fundamentals Society by William Bell Riley in Minneapolis in 1919 Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 9

  10. Darwin, evolution, & religion • Linked to George McCready Price’s earlier (1906) proposal that the fossil record was not sound evidence because of a cataclysmic flood • After the embarrassment of the Scopes trial in 1925, Fundamentalists change tactics. • Began defending what later became known as creation science or scientific creationism Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 10

  11. Darwin, evolution, & religion • In 1946, Henry Morris published a book defending special creation and flood geology • 1963 - founded the Creation Research Society; in 1972 renamed the Institute for Creation Research • New tactic: To give creation science time equal in schools to Darwinian evolution Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 11

  12. Darwin, evolution, & religion • Comments • Defenders of creation science accept the prestige of science in the modern world. Why? • Are the scientific challenges to Darwin’s theory valid? Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 12

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