It Is What It Is
The scientists of Brobdingnag in their language called Gulliver a relplum scalcath, that is, “something which could not be produced according to the regular laws of nature,” and which therefore could not possibly exist, even though it was standing right in front of them. Gulliver himself, stubbornly standing there, should have been the only argument needed for the absurdity of their classification.
Are there equivalents in contemporary scientific discourse? For instance, denial about the massive evidence for intelligent design and fine tuning? About the humanity of the fetus?
These questions I would offer for the enlightenment of scholars and the edification of mankind —were such a thing possible.
Donald T. Williams is Professor Emeritus of Toccoa Falls College. He stays permanently camped out on the borders between serious scholarship and pastoral ministry, between theology and literature, and between Narnia and Middle-Earth. He is the author of fourteen books, including Answers from Aslan: The Enduring Apologetics of C. S. Lewis (DeWard, 2023). He is a contributing editor of Touchstone.
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more from the online archives
24.1—January/February 2011
Ruminations on the Monstrous Envy of the Soul-Devouring State by Anthony Esolen
27.5—Sept/Oct 2014
The Culture of Death's Campaign Against the Catholic Church by Brantly Millegan
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