Theological claims in textbooks

David Campbell (bivalve@mailserv0.isis.unc.edu)
Mon, 1 Dec 1997 21:04:37 -0400

Many textbooks claim that evolution proves that there is no oversight to
the origin of life, including ourselves (atheism of the filled gaps). I'll
try to track down some quotes tomorrow. Most make inaccurate claims about
the relevant Biblical teachings: "one of the fundamental tenets of
Christianity-that all life originated from a divine creation and was
consequently immutable" [Pough, Heiser, and MacFarland, 1989, Vertebrate
Life]; "in the Western world complete faith in the scriptural account of
the Creation stifled thinking about evolution" [Levin, 1975, Life through
Time], etc. I have only seen one biology text that actually set forth an
evolutionary view of religion (i.e., it started with household idols and
advanced to monotheism) (about mid-1930's publication date; more details
after I can look it up).