[asa] RE: How big a deal is homology?

In his ASA talk last summer, Francis said that he wasn't much worried
about ID as a threat to science. He was more concerned about it as a
threat to theology, simply because he predicts that the "evidence"
presented by ID advocates (e.g. the "scientific" conclusion that the
bacterial flagellum could not have evolved without specific intelligent
design) will not hold up.
 
If ID advocates didn't claim that bacterial flagella, etc. "require" a
designer, then Collins might call ID BioLogos!
 
If progressive creation advocates accepted the genetic continuity
between forms of life on this planet, I think Collins would call
progressive creation BioLogos too. If, however, progressive creation
means no genetic link between different "kinds," then I think Collins
would ask: how did those different "kinds" (e.g. hippos vs. whales, apes
vs. humans) accumulate the same rare large-scale insertions of
transposable elements in the same places, independently? Sure, God
could choose to do that, just as God could choose to create two
different moons with identical crater patterns by sending identical
meteors crashing into both moons - just to fool us, I guess :)
 
Chuck
________________________________

Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 12:55:13 -0400
From: "David Opderbeck" <dopderbeck@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [asa] How big a deal is homology?

--Snip--

        "A Christian who is convinced that his theology requires a God
who separately creates at least at the level of "kinds" is then
empistemically justified in rejecting Collins' evidence for "evolution"
and instead placing it into a framework of progressive creation. It is
possible, and I would argue, justifiable, to take such a stance without
necessarily claiming that the "gaps" in naturalistic explanations
"require" or "prove" that there is a God. Looked at this way, Collins'
proofs aren't very compelling at all.
        They're just a body of empirical data that can be interpreted
differently in accordance with different presuppositions."
________________________________

        Charles (Chuck) F. Austerberry, Ph.D.
        Assistant Professor of Biology
        Hixson-Lied Room 438
        Creighton University
        2500 California Plaza
        Omaha, NE 68178
        Phone: 402-280-2154
        Fax: 402-280-5595
        e-mail: cfauster@creighton.edu
        Nebraska Religious Coalition for Science Education
        http://nrcse.creighton.edu

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Received on Thu Mar 29 15:05:48 2007