While I have much disagreement with Phil Johnson, there is no doubt as to his
Christian faith. He has made that clear in many places. Unless something
has changed recently, he is a member of First Presbyterian Church of
Berkeley, a fine evangelical church (on the evangelical side of its
demonination, and probably the "moderate" side of Evangelicalism; it was the
one I attended during grad school in the mid-80's though I did not get to
know Johnson).
However, one has to doubt Johnson's integrity when he calls Jonathan Wells'
status as a Moonie "widely known." Has *anybody* on this list known that
prior to a few weeks ago? If people like Glenn Morton and Keith Miller don't
know, Johnson's claim is ridiculous. I used to have a stat mech professor
who, upon pulling out some obscure result to use in a derivation, would call
it "well known ... to those who know it well." Maybe it is widely known
within the Discovery Institute, but that hardly counts.
But Johnson has a point worth hearing when he says that, if the cause is
right, he should be able to work alongside anybody. That is always a tough
question -- do you accept help in what you perceive to be a good cause from
those opposed to THE Cause. After all, I and most of this list cooperate
with nonchristians in our jobs. Christians who care about environmental
stewardship have to walk the line in deciding whether to work together with
anti-Christian groups like Greenpeace with whom they might agree on some
issues. A few years ago there was an incident where the Christian Coalition
(I think some state chapter) took some flak for cooperating with Moonies who
share much of their political agenda. These are not always easy calls.
Where it would be clearly wrong would be if Steve Meyer's Center in Seattle
"sold" itself as a Christian movement when building support in the church,
raising money, etc. Then, having an organization where in reality being
against Darwinism was more important than being for Christ would be bearing
false witness. I am not familar enough with how they have billed themselves
within the church (though I note there is nothing explicitly Christian on
their Website) to make that call. One also has to wonder whether this was
hidden from the well-known Christians listed as Fellows of the Center for
Renewal of Science and Culture -- I know one of them somewhat well and, while
I have not discussed it with him, I find it hard to believe he would have
lent his name to an organization in which a Moonie played a leading role.
Dr. Allan H. Harvey, Boulder, Colorado
SteamDoc@aol.com