Lacking in Logic . . .
Tom Pittman
P.O. Box 6539
San Jose, CA 95150
From: PSCF 43 (March 1991): 70.
I would expect of a series on the misuse of words that an essay beginning with the sentence, "These terms [`creation' and `evolution'] are consistently misused to advance certain theological or philosophical positions" would not be yet another example of the genre, but it is. I don't think Richard Bube has really analyzed the logical consequences of his theological or philosophical position, as advanced in this essay. He states that "the Bible tells us that God created; the answer to questions as to how God created must be sought - in the universe He has made." That's something like saying that "the Bible tells us to do justice, but the answer to the questions about how to do justice must be sought in this world's political systems." Perhaps from organizations such as the National Socialist Party, which sought justice for its own members at the expense of the lives of other people. God forbid. The Bible not only commands justice, it tells us something about how to implement justice: "You shall do no murder." Justice and murder are not antonyms, but they are surely not orthogonal.
Similarly, while creation and evolution are not antonyms, they too are not orthogonal. The Bible not only tells us that God created, it also tells us something about how God created. In the same chapter that tells me, "You shall do no murder," hardly two whole verses away, the Bible also reveals to me something about how God created: "in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them." On what basis can I with intellectual integrity and humility before God accept the one and reject the other? Richard Bube does not tell us.
Professor Bube seems to be of the opinion that evolution is a proven scientific fact. I used to think so too, before I started graduate studies. Judging from his credentials, however, I doubt that Richard Bube is any more qualified to comment on the scientific merits of biological evolution than I am. When I was still in grad school, and continuing while I taught at the University, I began to ask of anyone I meet who has done advanced research in any field, if there is any evidence from his own area of expertise in support of evolution. I also look for the answer to this question in every published book or journal article I read. So far I get only vague references to other disciplines. Is that what Bube calls "authentic science"? The curious thing is that my own specialty (information science) does have evidence that impacts the theory of evolution, and it is quite negative. Tell me, Richard, what evidence does your discipline bring to bear on the subject?