Book contents
- Understanding Evolution
- Series page
- Understanding Evolution
- Copyright page
- Reviews
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface: There is More to Resistance to Evolution than Religion
- Acknowledgments
- 1 The Public Acceptance of Evolution
- 2 Religious Resistance to Accepting Evolution
- 3 Conceptual Obstacles to Understanding Evolution
- 4 Charles Darwin’s Conceptual Change
- 5 Common Ancestry
- 6 Evolutionary Processes
- 7 Evolutionary Theory and the Nature of Science
- Concluding Remarks
- Summary of Common Misunderstandings
- References
- Figure Credits
- Index
2 - Religious Resistance to Accepting Evolution
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 September 2020
- Understanding Evolution
- Series page
- Understanding Evolution
- Copyright page
- Reviews
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface: There is More to Resistance to Evolution than Religion
- Acknowledgments
- 1 The Public Acceptance of Evolution
- 2 Religious Resistance to Accepting Evolution
- 3 Conceptual Obstacles to Understanding Evolution
- 4 Charles Darwin’s Conceptual Change
- 5 Common Ancestry
- 6 Evolutionary Processes
- 7 Evolutionary Theory and the Nature of Science
- Concluding Remarks
- Summary of Common Misunderstandings
- References
- Figure Credits
- Index
Summary
Contemporary evolutionary theory emerged historically in a Christian religious context. Therefore, in this book I focus on the contrast of evolutionary theory with notions of creation and design in nature within the Christian worldview. Predominant in this case has been the argument from design. According to this argument, if nature seems to exhibit design, it is because it is God’s creation. Therefore, this design stands as evidence for his existence. A well-known argument of this kind was developed in detail by William Paley, who believed that the complexity and perfection of the natural world, documented by its empirical study, were the most powerful arguments for the existence of God. Paley lived at a time when empiricist philosophers, such as David Hume, had expressed skeptical arguments about this. Hume considered, for instance, that the imperfections that existed in nature did not comply with the idea of design. But Paley argued to the contrary, and tried to show that the existence of God could be confirmed based on the study of nature.
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- Information
- Understanding Evolution , pp. 23 - 41Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020