12 Quotes on Evolution and Intelligent Design

 

12 Quotes on Evolution and Intelligent Design

 

Biochemists and biologists who adhere blindly to the Darwinism theory search for results that will be in agreement with their theories and consequently orient their research in a given direction, whether it be in the field of ecology, ethology, sociology, demography (dynamics of populations), genetics (so-called evolutionary genetics), or paleontology. This intrusion of theories has unfortunate results: it deprives observations and experiments of their objectivity, makes them biased, and, moreover, creates false problems.  - P. P. Grasse

It is futile to pretend to the public that we understand how an amoeba evolved into a man, when we cannot tell our students how a human egg produces a skin cell or a brain cell!  - Dr Jérôme J. Lejeune

Darwinism was an interesting idea in the 19th century, when handwaving explanations gave a plausible, if not properly scientific, framework into which we could fit biological facts. However, what we have learned since the days of Darwin throws doubt on natural selection's ability to create complex biological systems - and we still have little more than handwaving as an argument in its favor.   - Dr. Colin Reeves

There is a kind of religion in science . . . every effect must have its cause; there is no First Cause. . . . This religious faith of the scientist is violated by the discovery that the world had a beginning under conditions in which the known laws of physics are not valid, and as a product of forces or circumstances we cannot discover. When that happens, the scientist has lost control. If he really examined the implications, he would be traumatized. As usual when faced with trauma, the mind reacts by ignoring the implications—in science this is known as "refusing to speculate"—or trivializing the origin of the world by calling it the Big Bang, as if the Universe were a firecracker. - Robert Jastrow

It is absurd for the Evolutionist to complain that it is unthinkable for an admittedly unthinkable God to make everything out of nothing, and then pretend that it is more thinkable that nothing should turn itself into anything.   - G. K. Chesterton

If the solar system was brought about by an accidental collision, then the appearance of organic life on this planet was also an accident, and the whole evolution of Man was an accident too. If so, then all our present thoughts are mere accidents—the accidental by-product of the movement of atoms. And this holds for the thoughts of the materialists and astronomers as well as for anyone else’s. But if their thoughts—i.e. of materialism and astronomy—are merely accidental by-products, why should we believe them to be true? I see no reason for believing that one accident should be able to give me a correct account of all the other accidents. It’s like expecting that the accidental shape taken by the splash when you upset a milk jug should give you a correct account of how the jug was made and why it was upset.  - C.S. Lewis

No wonder paleontologists shied away from evolution for so long. It never seemed to happen. Assiduous collecting up cliff faces yields zigzags, minor oscillations, and the very occasional slight accumulation of change — over millions of years, at a rate too slow to account for all the prodigious change that has occurred in evolutionary history. When we do see the introduction of evolutionary novelty, it usually shows up with a bang, and often with no firm evidence that the fossils did not evolve elsewhere! Evolution cannot forever be going on somewhere else. Yet that's how the fossil record has struck many a forlorn paleontologist looking to learn something about evolution. - Niles Eldredge

As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter.  - Max Planck

The general approach for those who don’t believe in a Creator, the argument or theory is an equation: Space + Time + Chance = Everything. How can, in what in reality is, 0 + 0 + 0 = everything!? The space did not cause matter to come into existence, nor did time. Neither can chance influence or create events. Can being come from non-being… spontaneous generation of matter from nothing? Can chance actually do anything or cause something to happen? No. Chance is only the likelihood of something occurring. There must first come “cause” before an effect can occur.   - Jack Wellman

It is so obvious that we live in a world in which a fantastic amount of logic, of rational lawfulness, is at work. We are aware of a large number of laws of physics and chemistry and biology which, by their mutual interdependence, make nature work as if it were following a grandiose plan from its earliest beginnings to the farthest reaches of its future destiny. To me, it would be incomprehensible that there should be such a gigantic master plan without a master planner behind it. This master planner is He whom we call the Creator of the Universe . . . One cannot be exposed to the law and order of the universe without concluding that there must be a Divine intent behind it all.   - Werner von Braun

We have only to see a few letters of the alphabet spelling our name in the sand to recognize at once the work of an intelligent agent. How much more likely, then is the existence of an intelligent Creator behind human DNA, the colossal biological database that contains no fewer than 3.5 billion "letters" - the longest "word" yet discovered?   – John Lennox

I am absolutely convinced of the lack of true scientific evidence in favour of Darwinian dogma. Nobody in the biological sciences, medicine included, needs Darwinism at all. Darwinism is certainly needed, however, in order to pose as a philosopher, since it is primarily a worldview. And an awful one, as George Bernard Shaw used to say.  - Dr. Raul Leguizamon

Comments

[Jon]

In all humility, I find it very funny that my spell-checker changed "discipline" to "disciple"

[Jon]

Mark's point about your misuse of quotations is well-put. I would go further however; if there were any shred of evidence to support creationism/ID it would have made global news!
I have no intention whatsoever of causing offense, belief in the existence of a god is every person's right. However it is inappropriate to seek to undermine an important scientific disciple which has been factually proven beyond all rational contestation. If you have a valid counter-theory to put up against one of the most robust, validated and evidence-based theories of the last two centuries then produce your evidence, get it peer-reviewed and validated. Otherwise this is simply an example of appropriating any quote which reinforces a pre-modern era belief that the existence organic life requires a deity.

[Robert]

How was this dishonest? The title matched the content. Arguing against the quotes of 12 brilliant men of recent history seems a bit haughty.

[Mark]

It would be far, far more honest if whoever assembled these quotes would distinguish between the following ideas:
- common ancestry (there is PLENTY of evidence for this--especially since the human genome project was completed in 2003).
- Evolution (a powerful model for explaining how one species changes into another over time)
- Natural selection (Darwin's theory about how evolution works)
- Naturalism (the idea that the physical universe is all that there is).

As it stands, these quotes are misleading. Of course Christians must oppose naturalism and naturalist explanations for life. But that does not exclude the first three points above, and it certainly does not change the fact that there is overwhelming evidence for a common ancestry. Frankly, if you don't know the difference between the four ideas above, you should not be talking about evolution at all.

Forgive my frankness; I love Jesus, and I'm certainly not a liberal theologian--I believe in a literal, physical resurrection, etc.--but I am very, very sick of Christians being dishonest and ignorant when it comes to evolution. Biologos.org is an example of an honest approach, in my view.