Comments on: Both Sides of the Mouth http://telicthoughts.com/both-sides-of-the-mouth/ An independent blog about intelligent design Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:09:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: DonaldM http://telicthoughts.com/both-sides-of-the-mouth/#comment-4320 DonaldM Sat, 29 Oct 2005 22:59:24 +0000 http://telicthoughts.com/?p=336#comment-4320 William Provine's academic credentials notwithstanding, he mischaracterizes what Darwin "understood". Darwin was not out to show that God did not exist. Rather, Darwin couldn't conceive of how God, as then currently understood within the Christian church, and with which Darwin would have had some familiarity, could be the agent responsible for creating life as Darwin obeserved it to be. For Darwin, there were just too many "un God like" behaviors and systems in biology for him to accept that God (again, as understood within a particular Christian theology) would have had anything to do with the messiness of biological life as we actuallly observe it. Nature was just too red in tooth and claw for Darwin to believe or accept that the Divine hand of God could possibly be involved in bringing about what we actually observe in nature. The best work on Darwin's theodicy is Cornelius G. Hunter's "Darwin's God". Hunter did a great job with the historical analysis and thinking behind Darwin's theological point of view. Contrary to Provine, Darwin was not out to dismiss God of existence, but to dismiss God of the responsibility for creation. William Provine's academic credentials notwithstanding, he mischaracterizes what Darwin "understood". Darwin was not out to show that God did not exist. Rather, Darwin couldn't conceive of how God, as then currently understood within the Christian church, and with which Darwin would have had some familiarity, could be the agent responsible for creating life as Darwin obeserved it to be. For Darwin, there were just too many "un God like" behaviors and systems in biology for him to accept that God (again, as understood within a particular Christian theology) would have had anything to do with the messiness of biological life as we actuallly observe it. Nature was just too red in tooth and claw for Darwin to believe or accept that the Divine hand of God could possibly be involved in bringing about what we actually observe in nature.

The best work on Darwin's theodicy is Cornelius G. Hunter's "Darwin's God". Hunter did a great job with the historical analysis and thinking behind Darwin's theological point of view. Contrary to Provine, Darwin was not out to dismiss God of existence, but to dismiss God of the responsibility for creation.

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