Science Sees the Light

  "Science Sees the Light" blared a recent issue of The New Republic. Scientists have taken a surprising new turn, the article said: They are openly discussing evidence that behind the existence of the universe is not blind chance but something that looks very much like purpose or design. The evidence for design comes from a variety of different fields, from astronomy to genetics, and it's exciting to see scientists begin to take that evidence seriously. But you really don't have to be a trained scientist to make the case for design. Some of the most persuasive evidence comes from everyday experience—things we take for granted, things you can point out to your neighbors. Take something as common as adoption. There's nothing unusual about the fact that couples are often willing to adopt a child. For example, in recent years tens of thousands of Chinese girls have been adopted by American couples, because in China daughters are less valued than sons. Couples that adopt these little girls cherish them just as much as they do their biological offspring. Yet, if Darwinism were true, such behavior would be very unlikely. Why? Because from a Darwinian perspective, all organisms, including human beings, are supposed to be driven by their genes to favor their own biological offspring. According to evolutionists, our behavior is shaped by natural selection so that we act only in our own genetic self-interest. In this theory, parents who adopt children who are genetically unrelated to them are not behaving the way their genes have programmed them to behave. They are not favoring the survival of their own genes. As biologist Jeffrey Schloss writes, “the practice of adoption poses a real puzzle to naturalistic evolutionary theory.” An American couple that adopts and raises a Chinese girl is helping her genes to survive, not their own. How then could this behavior have arisen by natural selection? This simple illustration is clear evidence that natural selection is not the whole story of human origins. It simply doesn't explain who we are or why we act the way we do. In fact, the practice of adoption is positive evidence that we were designed to be loving creatures who care for one another as children of God, whether we share immediate family ties, or genes, or not. Jeffrey Schloss developed this argument and many others in a new book edited by William Dembski entitled Mere Creation: Science, Faith, and Intelligent Design. The book includes essays by twenty-one authors, including my colleague Nancy Pearcey, all writing from different scientific and philosophical disciplines, arguing that naturalistic evolution simply fails to make its case. But as the example of adoption shows, you don't have to master the facts of astronomy or genetics to rebut naturalistic evolution. Even simple, ordinary human experience breaks the Darwinian mold and shatters the theory. And these are examples we can offer to our neighbors. It's encouraging that some scientists are beginning to see the light, not only about the origin of the universe or DNA, but also about the origin and purpose of human beings themselves. For the truth is only Christianity gives an adequate answer to the questions of where we came from and who we are. Only Christianity accounts for the way human beings actually behave.

02/4/99