From the July/August, 2007 issue of *Touchstone*

They Are A-Changin’ by Phillip E. Johnson

They Are A-Changin’

I do not believe that the editors of the New York Times purposely design their newspaper to please me, but during this spring, the contrast between two stories gave me much delight. On April 15, the brilliant columnist David Brooks provided an essay titled “The Age of Darwin.” Brooks was referring, not to Darwin’s original theory of how favorable variations spread through pre-existing populations, but to the ambitious gene-centered Darwinian worldview of today, which aspires to explain virtually everything we do as a direct or indirect product of variations in the genes we have inherited from pre-human ancestors.

Brooks gives a summary review of modern intellectual history: “Once the Bible shaped all conversation, then Marx, then Freud, but today, Darwin is everywhere.” He notes that “scarcely a month goes by” when Time or Newsweek doesn’t have a cover story telling us that something we had once attributed to choice is actually controlled by our genes, be it diet, sexual orientation, or religion.

For instance, the November 13, 2006 cover article of Time consisted of a debate titled “God versus Science.” Time’s introduction to that debate observed that “brain chemists track imbalances that could account for the ecstatic states of visionary saints or, some suggest, of Jesus.”

THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:

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.

calling all readers

Please Donate

"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand

"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor

Support Touchstone

• Not a subscriber or wish to renew your subscription? Subscribe to Touchstone today for full online access. Over 30 years of publishing!

personal subscriptions

Purchase Print &
Online Subscription

Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!

RENEW your print/online
subscription

Purchase
Online Subscription

Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives including pdf downloads for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!

RENEW your online subscription

gift subscriptions

GIVE Print &
Online Subscription

Give six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for the reduced rate of $29.95. That's only $2.50 per month!

RENEW your gift subscription

Transactions will be processed on a secure server.

bulk subscriptions

Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.

kindle subscription

OR get a subscription to Touchstone to read on your Kindle for only $1.99 per month! (This option is KINDLE ONLY and does not include either print or online.)

Your subscription goes a long way to ensure that Touchstone is able to continue its mission of publishing quality Christian articles and commentary.