Science & the Christian Faith
Two Views
Johnson’s Scientific Method Flawed
by Raymond E. Grizzle
I am writing in response to the review by Brian McDonald of Phillip Johnson’s book Darwin on Trial in the Fall 1994 issue of Touchstone (Vol. 7.4). As an evangelical Christian who is also a scientist (Ph.D. in Biology from Rutgers University, 1988), I would like to offer a view of Johnson’s book that differs substantially from McDonald’s view.
Johnson has been preaching a message about the philosophy of science and biological evolutionary theory that is in my opinion simply inaccurate. He has been criticized in print by philosophers and scientists, but he seems only to acknowledge those who agree with him. Based on his recent essay in Christianity Today (October 24, 1994), I see that he has heeded little if any of the advice of his critics. Johnson has made some valid points, but the science he describes is not the science that I was taught and that I currently practice. Furthermore, I consider the core of his overall argument to be seriously flawed.
Johnson’s overall message is one that many Christians have tended to more or less uncritically accept. In essence, he is preaching the centuries-old view that science (and in the last 100 or so years, particularly biological evolutionary theory) is by design anti-Christian. I believe he seriously misunderstands the nature and practice of both science and science education.
I will use one group of statements from Johnson mentioned by McDonald (p. 26) in his review to describe my major point of disagreement:
He [Johnson] defines evolution narrowly to mean “Darwinism.” He does this because “Darwinism,” in however modified a form, is what scientists mean when they use the word “evolution.” Darwinism is the view of evolution taught in the . . . universities of our land. It is important to understand this because Darwinism means “. . . fully naturalistic evolution, involving chance mechanisms guided by natural selection” and hence utterly incompatible with any broadly Christian view. . . .
Johnson is correct when he indicates that biological evolutionary theory and Darwinism are essentially synonymous for most scientists. He is also correct when he points out that Darwinism can be defined broadly as “. . . fully naturalistic evolution. . . .” It is not mentioned above, but perhaps Johnson’s most important point is that some atheistic scientists wrongfully try to use science to defend their metaphysical beliefs. I agree. The last phrase above (“[Darwinism is] . . . utterly incompatible with any broadly Christian view.”) is McDonald’s paraphrase of what appears to be the basic belief from which Johnson constructs his overall argument. Such a conclusion is a tragic mistake.
Acceptance of biological evolutionary theory as a scientific explanation for development of life on earth is not compatible with some interpretations of the early chapters of Genesis. This is an important point to admit. It most certainly, however, is compatible with Christian belief generally. Christian theologians of many persuasions have produced a voluminous literature on the general compatibility of evolutionary theory and Christian belief.
Johnson has apparently arrived at his mistaken notion of the incompatibility of Darwinism and Christianity because he incorrectly concludes that the naturalistic bent of modern science is equivalent to a philosophical naturalism that denies the existence of God. Some scientists are philosophical naturalists, but such a view is not pushed upon young scientists as the only option. In fact, most science courses I have taken did not even deal with philosophical aspects. And we were also more or less left on our own when it came to integrating science with other disciplines like religion. Furthermore, most scientists I have interacted with are not philosophical naturalists. I suspect that atheistic scientists are in the vast minority for the scientific community generally.
Johnson also seems to think that Darwinism’s naturalistic perspective is some philosophical fatal flaw that will allow dismissing it as valid science. If this conclusion were justified, then Johnson has also discovered a fatal flaw for science generally because all of science today is “fully naturalistic.” It had been moving in this direction since the time of Francis Bacon and Galileo Galilei in the 1500s when Charles Darwin (in the 1800s) completed the transition for biology that astronomy and geology had made earlier.
Phillip E. Johnson is Professor of Law (emeritus) at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of Darwin on Trial, The Wedge of Truth, The Right Questions (InterVarsity Press), and other books challenging the naturalistic assumptions that dominate modern culture. He is a contributing editor of Touchstone.
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