No Credit for Christianity

A judge has upheld a ruling that textbooks that teach creationism and deny the teaching of evolution as "fact" does not teach critical thinking skills. Thus students should not receive credits for those courses.

The story as posted on Foxnews.com:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,402761,00.html

Romans 1:22 - 23:

"22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things."

I would like to have the judge visit the Creation Museum myself.

ID Column No Longer Expelled from Print

Appropriately on the release date of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, the Crossville Chronicle published my latest Seeing through the Hayes column, "Speaking heresy in a Darwinian culture," in the Friday, April 18, edition. The entire article can be found here.

The Darwinists have yet to flood my inbox with hate mail, but there's still the entire weekend for the article to reach them via the Web. I attempt to address some of their objections to my last column's brief critiques of Darwinian evolution.

In the opinion-editorial piece, I draw attention to the prior philosophical commitments to materialism and naturalistic reasoning that Darwinian proponents impose upon the scientific field. Through doing this, they are able to disregard any arguments or evidence that might point to design and yet seem justified in doing so. After affirming that Charles Darwin himself did not write much pertaining to the origin of life, I make note that his ideas would be taken further by his followers. From the article:

Still, Darwin held that natural selection left out the need for God. “The view that each variation has been providentially arranged seems to make Natural Selection entirely superfluous, and indeed takes the whole case of the appearance of new species out of the range of science” (Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, vol. 2, 6-7, 28, emphasis mine). With this statement, Darwin planted the seeds for the driving principle that would rule science in the following generations—propositions that aren’t naturalistic or materialistic should not be considered.

Looking at verbatim statements from several evolutionary authorities such as Richard Dawkins, I make this conclusion: "Evolutionary authorities forthrightly demonstrate evolutionary theory is not a scientific issue but a philosophical one."

The article goes on to distinguish between Darwinism as a worldview and evolution as a theory. I then transition to a positive affirmation of Intelligent Design theory, as stated in Nancy Pearcey's monumental book Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity.

As the Expelled film calls for the knocking down of the Berlin wall of naturalistic prejudice currently erected in science, I call for reform in a Darwinist-minded culture the same way Martin Luther called out the Catholic culture of the sixteenth century. Like that generation put blind trust in its clergymen, today's generation puts an unfounded confidence in our scientists and academics.

R.C. Sproul & Ben Stein: "Intelligent" Conversation

With the the release of the film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed coming nationwide on April 18, R.C. Sproul sat down for a conversation with Ben Stein, the narrator of the film and an avid supporter of the Intelligent Design movement. When two conservative intellectuals like these hold a discussion pertaining the implications of Darwinian thinking and its academic bias, you can't afford to miss out! The video works as a great overview for any of you who want to brush up on your apologetics in arguing against evolution (or just want clearer thinking on the subject). The video can be viewed above or here.

Here is an excerpt from the the Ligonier Ministries blog describing the video:

Many of you may recognize Mr. Stein as the teacher in the 1986 film, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but he is also a writer, public speaker, and political activist. Recently, he became deeply involved in a film project that challenges the neo-Darwinian scientific community and exposes their hostility to intelligent design and all those who believe in it. The producers of Renewing Your Mind caught up with Mr. Stein during a preview of his new film entitled Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. The movie opens nationwide April 18. (In this reviewer's opinion, the Stein/Dawkins face off at the end of the film is worth the price of admission.)

Ligonier was also sure to note the following:

It is important to note that during this free exchange of ideas, not all of the opinions expressed by Mr. Stein in the interview are the views of Ligonier Ministries. Christians should recognize that the argument from design does not necessarily prove the Genesis view of creation. We are not part of the Intelligent Design movement, but certainly share similar concerns for freedom of speech and inquiries into cosmology. Our foremost concern is to uphold the inerrancy and inspiration of the Bible and the authority of our Creator.

Don't let that discourage you from watching. This conversation provides an excellent overview of the philosophical and scientific reasons not to embrace Darwinian evolution as it's currently taught. Furthermore, Sproul mentions many of the same reasons for not holding to naturalistic materialism that he expounds upon in his introductory work on classical apologetics -- Defending Your Faith. At the clip's end, Ben Stein himself breaks into enthusiastic praise of Sproul's sharp wit and vast knowledge of Western philosophy.