> The extrapolation from Denton's limited criticism of Darwinism to broadside
> attacks against the whole concept of biological evolution (by whatever
> means) is something that has been done TO Denton by those who have a very
> different agenda. I suspect Denton was innocently unaware of how his
> criticisms would be employed by the episodic creationist crowd.
I think everyone likes to seek out some allies to promote
constructive debate. By and large, Theistic Evolutionists have not
been sympathetic to Denton's approach - even though Denton holds to
continuity in the natural order. So Denton has found a "home" of
sorts among the Intelligent Design group: he was an attendee at the
"Mere Creation" conference and he has been involved in several
video presentations of his work produced by Access Research Network.
More recently, he was featured in the creationist video "From a Frog
to a Prince" (we have had recent discussion relating to Dawkins'
appearance on this same video). Denton's contribution was to give a
very strong message supporting design concepts. Overall, he does not
appear to me to be innocently unaware of the way others are using his
ideas.
> He made a
> number of very specific disclaimers in the second book that should prevent
> that exploitation of his anti-Darwinian judgments.
His new book will, I think, be received differently by the
Intelligent Design group. Some will welcome it and others (like me)
will think that the presuppositions are basically flawed (ie
continuity of natural law is not a requirement for any theory of
origins, and we must be free to explore the implications of relevant
data - including biblical revelation). I understand that there will
be a discussion of Denton's new book in the next issue of "Origins &
Design" - and I am looking forward to that.
Best wishes,
David J. Tyler.