1. Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 1 Darwin, evolution, & religion zWhat are the issues? u1. Challenges to the methods & nature of science yDarwin’s theory is not a genuine scientific theory u2. Design arguments & the design of the universe

2. Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 2 Darwin, evolution, & religion u3. Evolutionary ethics yDoes evolution entail an ethic of competition, struggle, & survival? u4. Human dignity & the the soul yDoes evolution from primates take away from the specialness of humankind?

3. Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 3 Darwin, evolution, & religion u5. Biblical creation stories & evolution yCreation science or scientific creationism

4. Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 4 Darwin, evolution, & religion z1. Is Darwin’s theory scientific? uThe “only a theory” charge uThe not well-confirmed charge

5. Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 5 Darwin, evolution, & religion z2. Design arguments & the design of the universe uOne 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 uWilliam Paley’s Natural Theology (1802) uThe tradition in England of clergymen- naturalists

6. Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 6 Darwin, evolution, & religion uAnd the form of the argument was based on living things z3. Evolutionary ethics uHerbert Spencer (English, 1820-1903) & William Graham Sumner’s (American, 1840-1910) Social Darwinism yLaissez-faire in economics & social policy

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

8. Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 8 Darwin, evolution, & religion z4. The challenge to human dignity uProblem of soul uIs Christianity compatible with a non- dualistic view of human nature? uDoes dignity depend on origins?

9. Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 9 Darwin, evolution, & religion z5. Stories of origins in Scripture & Darwin’s theory âLiteralist vs non-literalist approaches toward Scripture âThe current literalism goes back to the founding of the World’s Christian Fundamentals Society by William Bell Riley in Minneapolis in 1919

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

11. Darwinian evolution & religion ~ slide 11 Darwin, evolution, & religion äIn 1946, Henry Morris published a book defending special creation and flood geology ä1963 - founded the Creation Research Society; in 1972 renamed the Institute for Creation Research äNew tactic: To give creation science time equal in schools to Darwinian evolution

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