Darwin on Trial

by Phillip E. Johnson

Book Overview

Is evolution fact or fancy? Is natural selection an unsupported hypothesis or a confirmed mechanism of evolutionary change? These were the courageous questions that professor of law Phillip Johnson... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830813241
• ISBN13: 9780830813247
• Release Date: December 1993
• Publisher: InterVarsity Press
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Lawyer v. Darwin. Verdict: Guilty!

Modern biologists have been blinded from seeing the truth by their incessant examination of the physical world. For a century or so, Darwin's crackpot theory about The Origin of Species has passed muster with biologists with respect to the so-called "fossil record", alleged "radiochemical dating", and the discovery of some crazy deoxyriboneucleic acid and its subsequent "sequencing". But Darwin - who doesn't even TRY to defend his discredited theory these days - has no hope of standing his ground when confronted with Phillip E Johnson's prosecutorial majesty. And I'm sure that Johnson has presented the evidence even-handedly, in the interests of a fair trail. Perhaps Johnny Cochran's flashier style would have been more entertaining - "If everything in the billion-year-old fossil record doesn't perfectly fit, then you MUST acquit!" - but Johnson's logical arguments are mighty compelling, and certainly convinced me that evolution is a bunch of hocus-pocus. Alas, if only Darwin had gone to law school instead of the Galapagos islands, perhaps this whole debacle could have been nipped in the bud.

Darwinism's Unstated Philosophical Presupposition

In 1991, "Darwin on Trial" staked out new ground against Darwinism. Today some critics accuse it of outdated science. Still, every scientific claim awaits being outdated from its inception. Endless scientific points and counterpoints are the predictable future once the essential unfalsifiability of both young-Earth scientific creationism and Darwinism were noticed. Still, critics attacking Professor Johnson's science miss or ignore his central philosophical achievement: the radical unmasking of Darwinism's Achilles heel, atheistic naturalism.Science rightly embraces methodological naturalism. That is, observable natural phenomena demand natural explanations. Failure to attempt to propose theories and causes that remain within the boundaries of the natural universe abandons the very essence of physical science. Still, to employ an absolute presumption that only natural causes can possibly explain all phenomena embraces, not methodological, but metaphysical naturalism. In the case of Darwinism, an a priori commitment to atheistic materialism precludes all possibility of supernatural intervention in the cosmos. This constitutes philosophy, not science. Once committed to this philosophical posture, all changes in nature must flow from natural causes. If natural causes alone can account for the appearance of all new species, then naturalistic evolution becomes necessary. No matter the objection raised against evolution, the naturalistic presumption demands a naturalistic explanation. "Good science" demands debunking of all opposing evidence, and insistence that complete evolutionary explanations have already been given - or are on the way shortly. Hence, the uproar against Johnson for daring to point out this unstated philosophical presumption in Darwinism's smug claims, which masquerade in the guise of "pure natural science." In "Darwin on Trial," Johnson exposes the fallacy and implications of metaphysical naturalism, thereby revealing Darwinism's logical weaknesses with devastating force. The book best speaks for itself, provided we realize that Darwinians will always seek to regain lost ground by challenging the recency of Johnson's scientific data and examples. Essentially, they fail to escape Johnson's relentless philosophical and logical attack upon their exaggerated claims of certitude.Johnson tells us that he is "...not concerned in this book with addressing any conflicts between the Biblical accounts and the scientific evidence." (1991 hardbound edition, p. 14) Still, Darwinism has undermined Biblical belief, especially the Genesis account of Adam and Eve's origin. In my book, "Origin of the Human Species" (Sapientia Press: 2003), I demonstrate the compatibility of sound natural science with authentic Scriptural interpretation, including the historicity of Adam and Eve - and without recourse to young-Earth creationism. I cite "Darwin on Trial" to support my own exploration of evolution science's epistemological limitations, while showing tha

A superb introduction to the creation/evolution debate

Although most of his arguments are not new, Johnson brings the most important points together in a remarkably concise yet comprehensive format. He has a gift for summarizing the research in each field, then explaining and elucidating the implications of an issue, in just enough words to make it understandable.He points out the mind-boggling complexity of structures like wings and eyes, but does not dwell on these descriptions like some critics, for he realizes that nearly all informed people agree that living things are that complex. The Darwinian Richard Dawkins writes, "Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose," but insists that "Natural selection is the blind watchmaker, blind because it does not see ahead, does not plan consequences, has no purpose in view. Yet the living results of natural selection overwhelmingly impress us with the appearance of design as if by a master watchmaker, impress us with the illusion of design and planning."The premise that appearance can be misleading is not unreasonable. Scientists proved the appearance of the sun revolving around the earth to be an illusion. The problem, which constitutes Johnson's central scientific premise, is that there is no evidence that natural selection has the immense creative power Darwinians attribute to it. The Darwinian claim that the numerous theoretical difficulties with Darwinism are false is based not on scientific fact but almost entirely on pure speculation.Johnson is not a scientist, but his central thesis is philosophical. Darwinians insist that considering divine intervention is unacceptable because science is committed to purely natural explanations. The problem is, how do scientists know *a priori* that natural processes alone are sufficient to produce the diversity of life on earth? Some may argue that this assumption is well-grounded, but scientists do not have the exclusive authority to tell us whether a *philosophical* assumption is true or not.His scientific data are all from reputable scientific sources. To this date I have not seen a single valid criticism revealing a major inaccuracy in the data - and I have read many reviews of the book, some by prominent scientists. Stephen J. Gould's review tried to point out several minor inaccuracies, but he misquoted and distorted the book to make that point.Most of Johnson's factual premises are tacitly conceded by Darwinians themselves. One example: David Raup, an internationally renowned paleontologist, made some remarkable concessions in an essay supposed to *refute* creationism. He wrote the following: (1) Darwin wrote that if smooth evolutionary transitions were not found in the fossil record, his general theory would be in serious trouble. (2) More than a hundred years later, after a tremendous expansion of knowledge about the fossil record, the situation is more or less the same. "We may actually have fewer exampl

May be one of the most influential books of the century

Before I read this book, I would have regarded "evolution" as highly probable and bordering on fact. Not that I particularly wanted to believe it. Nor could I offer any reasons for it being true, except the usual vague arguments about "peppered moths" and the fossil record which I absorbed in High School. And which Johnson dismantles in his book. But as far as I knew, everyone believed (important word) in evolution so it must have been true. Looking back, I can't believe that I bought ridiculous notions like the concept of fetal-development-as-a-recapitulation-of-human-evolution or Cricks theory of Panspermia. What a hoot! But the joke was on me...In school, I majored in engineering because I thought it was the last bastion of truth. But what interested me most was what I now understand to be the philosophical assumptions of science. Johnson's lucid philosophical analysis of the debate regarding evolution/creation is a breath of fresh air. The philosophy of science should be mandatory in all schools of science and applied science. Many scientists quoted in the book cannot distinguish between science and philosophy. For example, Johnson quotes Carl Sagan's opening line to the "Cosmos" TV series: "the universe is all that was, is and ever will be." This is an example of one of the most important themes in the book: the assumption of philosophical materialism or naturalism among scientists. The creation/evolution debate as presented by scientists and in the media is grounded on an assumption of materialism/naturalism. Intelligent design is ruled out a priori. Once this is recognized, and once an open-minded reader compares the correlation of the physical data to theories of creation (intelligent design) and evolution (materialism), one can only conclude that the data overwhelmingly supports the theory of creation, broadly defined.Johnson's second most important contribution to the creation/evolution debate is his strategic refusal to advance specific creation scenarios. He recognizes that current scientific data points strongly away from evolution to creation. But strategically he realizes that before a debate can begin regarding the specific mode of Creation, evolution must be exposed for the intellectual fraud that it is and thoroughly discredited. That will take a long time.I think Phillip Johnson's book "Darwin on Trial" will be regarded as one of the most influential books of the century. But like most intellectual revolutions, it takes a long time before news of its arrival reaches the general public. But his "wedge" strategy to attack evolution seems to be the right strategy, and judging by the growth of the new ID movement, he seems to be right on the money.Thank you Phillip Johnson for your wonderful book. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free...