[asa] Review of Behe in Books and Culture

Interesting review of Behe's new book in Books & Culture:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2007/004/9.38.html

Personally I haven't yet read Behe's latest, though I've read a few of the
blog / review slavos for and against. It's interesting to me, though, that
there has been such a violent reaction when Behe apparently concedes so
much. The B&C reviewer, for example, notes the following:

Behe disagrees [with most creationists when he says]: "Evolution from a
common ancestor, via changes in the DNA, is *very* well supported." After
summing up the argument from the genetic similarity of all life, Behe writes
that "It's hard to imagine how there could be stronger evidence for common
ancestry of chimps and humans." And again, "Let's acknowledge that genetics
has yielded yet more terrific (and totally unanticipated) evidence of common
descent." Finally (though many more examples could be cited), "The
purposeful design of life is also fully compatible with the idea of *
universal* common descent, one important facet of Darwin's theory" [emphasis
added]. Behe is quite clear that he has no objection to the idea that
species as distinct as mice and whales evolved from common ancestors.

I gather, then, that Behe is making a meta-argument about the role of
"chance" in evolution. How different is Behe's position on this than, say,
that of Simon Conway Morris, or even in some respects that of Francis
Collins? It sees that Behe is further away from the Uncommon Descent crowd
than he is from Francis Collins.

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Received on Mon Jul 9 13:32:56 2007