This video presentation has received positive reviews because so much is clearly explained by Dr. Meyer about his book “Darwin’s Doubt.”
“Darwin’s Doubt” with Stephen Meyer from Socrates in the City on Vimeo.
Watch and hear from the author himself.
Director, WindowView.org
“From The Herald and Presbyter, November 22, 1911, Cincinnati, Ohio. We reprint this excellent paper as the remarkable utterance of a Christian layman on a most important subject. — Editor
BY AN OCCUPANT OF THE PEW
Perhaps the most remarkable movement in philosophic thought that has occurred in any age was the rise and general acceptance by scientific circles of the evolutionary theory as propounded by Darwin, Huxley and Spencer. It was remarkable that men of science, whose peculiar boast it is that they deal only with established facts, should have so readily departed from this rule and accepted a system based upon hypothesis only, and which was, and is still after the lapse of forty years, without a single known fact to support it. Even when allowance is made for the well-known eagerness of many scientists to do away with all dualism, which was Mr. Darwin’s aim, it was still remarkable that men of trained intellect should have so promptly accepted at face value his two principal works, in which the expression, “we may well suppose,” occurs over eight hundred times, as a basis for the argument. Pure supposition may answer as a foundation for fanciful sketches like those of Jules Verne’s; but as ground upon which to base a sober scientific argument it appears to the average man as little less than farcical. Why it did not so appear to the scientific mind, the scientific mind may perhaps be able to explain. We frankly confess our inability to do so.”
From THE FUNDAMENTALS – A TESTIMONY TO THE TRUTH Volume 4 Edited by R.A. Torrey, A.C. Dixon and Others.
The following words from Dr. Wright may not at first resonate with the way moderns think, but from this window is a view to interesting reflections. Written over a century ago, these words are worth a look:
Theories of evolution have chased each other off the field in rapid succession for thousands of years. Evolution is not a new thing in philosophy, and such is the frailty of human nature that it is not likely to disappear suddenly from among men. The craze of the last half century is little more than the recrudesence of a philosophy which has divided the opinion of men from the earliest ages. In both the Egyptian and the East Indian mythology, the world and all things in it were evolved from an egg; and so in the Polynesian myths. But the Polynesians had to have a bird to lay the egg, and the Egyptians and the Brahmans had to have some sort of a deity to create theirs. The Greek philosophers struggled with the problem without coming to any more satisfactory conclusion. Aniximander, like Professor Huxley, traced everything back to an “infinity” which gradually worked itself into a sort of pristine “mud” (something like Huxley’s exploded “bathybius”), out of which everything else evolved; while Thales of Miletus tried to think of water as the mother of everything, and Aneximenes practically deified the air. Diogenes imagined a “mind stuff” (something like Weissmann’s “biophores,” Darwin’s “gemmules possessed with affinity for each other,” and Spencer’s “vitalized molecules”) which acted as if it had intelligence; while Heraclitus thought that fire was the only element pure enough to produce the soul of man. These speculations culminated in the great poem of Lucretius entitled, De Rerum Natura, written shortly before the beginning of the Christian era. His atomic theory was something like that which prevails at the present time among physicists. Amid the unceasing motion of these atoms there somehow appeared, according to him, the orderly forms and the living processes of nature.
Modern evolutionary speculations have not made much real progress over those of the ancients. As already remarked, they are, in their bolder forms atheistic; while in their milder forms they are “deistic” — admitting, indeed, the agency of God at the beginning, but nowhere else. The attempt, however, to give the doctrine standing through Darwin’s theory of the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection has not been successful; for at best, that theory can enlarge but little our comprehension of the adequacy of resident forces to produce and conserve variations of species, and cannot in the least degree banish the idea of design from the process.
From: CHAPTER 6 THE PASSING OF EVOLUTION BY PROFESSOR GEORGE FREDERICK WRIGHT, D. D., L.L. D., Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio. In THE FUNDAMENTALS – A TESTIMONY TO THE TRUTH Volume 4 Edited by R.A. Torrey, A.C. Dixon and Others. ca. 1909
We are certain that this blog will not be the only place where a claim of design in nature will be linked to the handy work of an Intelligent Designer. No matter where you are in terms of thinking about design being a cause for our lives … the picture of gears presented below is remarkable. Take a look, but then read the quote to follow!
Planthopper Gears on Rear legs
The photo above is of a page from the September 13, 2013 Washington Post. The article states: “Its remarkable that these gears look so similar to the gears man has designed, even the individual teeth are so similar,” said Burrows, author of a study that was published online Thursday in the journal Science.’
Well, we have examples of macro-molecules at the cell level acting and functioning like machines. Too often structures like feathers seem to be accepted as the result of evolution, yet historical commentaries even back to Darwin’s contemporaries likened feathers and even metamorphosis (of a caterpillar to a butterfly) as examples of [intelligent] design. All this with good reason due to specificity, complexity, and design features that chance just does not adequately explain.
Today the argument from design holds water in many ways … only the unwillingness to venture into exploring the relevance of design and the designing intelligence behind the scenes holds us back from a full exploration of who we are and how we got here!
Could we … should we … add this to Darwin’s list of doubts? (see our article on Darwin’s Doubts)
Think about it! Enjoy! This is a wonderful example.
A Washington Post video of the gears in motion may still be viewed at this link.
Director, WindowView.org
Did Darwin Have Doubts About Evolution
Yes and he described a number of cases that he worried about as he penned manuscripts, letters, and editions to The Origin of  Species.  Some of these issues are described on our page entitled Darwin’s Doubts.
Here is a screen shot from that page:
Darwin Had Doubts, Read Why
This is one of the most visited pages at WindowView. And as we look at the numbers roll in, we are asking a simple question: “If Darwin had reasons for doubts back then, might we have more reasons for doubts on evolution today?”
On the page shown above we just added a book link to Dr. Meyer’s latest publication, entitled: “Darwin’s Doubt.”
Darwin’s Doubt by Dr. Stephen Meyer
Some consider the book to be controversial and the reviews can be very critical. We have looked at a few of these negative commentaries and realize some critics don’t actually read what they “review.” That makes no sense and likewise their reviews don’t make sense.
What you will find on our page is enough to realize Darwin tried as best he could to really think things through. But his data of his day was more limited. Today we have more information and in fact it is biological information that is in focus in Dr. Meyer’s book. Instead of reading reviews, we encourage a read of Dr. Meyer’s book. The text is well written in a style that explains concepts as well as makes a case that certainly would have caught Darwin’s attention. And if Darwin’s attention would captivated by the evidence that sheds a whole new light on evolution … what about you?
Does it matter so much that Darwin had doubts if we have evidence that cast a deep shadow over the theory so many have taken for granted.
Time to open the window and see the broader context of what the evidence really tells us today!
Director, WindowView.org
The WindowView theme of “Science and Scripture in Harmony” comes with some key reminders. We keep pointing to information as evidence. What stands over time tends to be data or information that is foundational and truthful. Depending on how you approach information, one might have to consider all is a product of the initial cause for existence. So, if that cause is from God, what of the reliability of longstanding evidence from science and Scripture?
Here is an example. For all the commotion about evolution, with the implication of ongoing macro-evolution over time (change over time), we have examples of stasis (relative unchanging sameness over time). That is, there are species that have existed millions of years without changing over time. The data in this case are the DNA codes within such organisms. The relatively unchanged form, function, and existence tell us evolution is not necessarily a driver for change. Use of the word evolution in this context imparts a process in action at all times—this makes evolution a driving force. Does that exist?. Some suggest that only micro-evolution is adequately demonstrated. Our point here is simple, science information exists to tell us there is a tendency to stay the same without change unless driven to do so. And when there is change … a return back to an original form can and does occur to demonstrate a tendency toward sameness and not branching evermore to something else. This is not to say apparent branching is not apparent, but then the evidence of transitional steps eludes us. Claims of such evidence is often met with complications. To consider the reasons why brings continued debate.
To all the above we think there is a note of key importance. The body of information that supports life is sufficient without change. The assumption of continual change and randomness is an assumption based on short, not long, time frames. The net message is one of a built in stability of lifeforms to bring life forward over time. The evidence is the “living fossils” that have little to no change.
Further, the vital point to a look at how the DNA codes have supported existence to all life is itself a bit of evidence for the complexity and awesome nature to there being an existence … at all! The testimony from life to those of us alive today is that life is rather incredible and perhaps a key testimony to why we exist … at all! Stasis, over time, provides an opportunity for multiple generations to come to the same testimony before moving on.
So let us consider another form of information and relative stasis over time. Consider a validation of another key source of data and the testimony that evidence provides … us all! From a monthly electronic letter I have lifted a few words … these are written by someone whose profession involves translation of ancient manuscripts:
“As we sometimes do, we talked about the Dead Sea Scrolls, commenting on how these ancient manuscripts have helped our understanding of the Bible. For one thing, the scrolls confirm the antiquity and authenticity of the traditional Hebrew text upon which we base translations; for another, the scrolls help us to determine the best text to follow in places where other important biblical manuscripts differ slightly from each other. In short, the scrolls help us keep translations accurate.”
“The bigger story is that throughout all generations, the Lord has preserved his word. He continues to do so today, even as the Bible is being translated into more languages than ever before.”
Life has sustained DNA translations to provide a basis for our lives to be a witness to the awesome nature of our existence. And as the Bible reminds us, there will be a fullness in time where everyone alive will have the opportunity to see the Bible’s testimony delivered, in respective language, to us all. When that state of fullness is reached, we come to a cosmic turning point with no return to earlier time. At that point some move into a continual relationship with the author of life and others do not … this is the final portal from here to the eternal. Which way will you be going?
Director, WindowView.org
IMPORTANT VIDEO:
Take a small portion of personal time and watch an incredible video. Â This has no religion to it, other than to set us straight on what scientists believe true or false, and is based on the principles of chemistry, physics, and information theory. Â Watch to see what Darwin would use today to say evolution theory is unfounded–and explicitly why doubts are well founded. Â He would say the evidence in nature tells another story, reveals another valid scientific perspective, and would ask you to be a critical thinker. Â That in essence is exactly what this video does.
EVERYONE CAN WATCH THIS!
Aslo note, the host of this video explains the reasons, terms, and logic behind the science as presented. This helps a wide audience gain a solid understanding. Â They in fact don’t tell you what to conclude, because frankly, in simple terms, you will be left with the obvious conclusion. Â This clear and well explained information is truly a vital perspective to understanding what we see is in the Window View!
I recommend this video and it is presented with permission. You will be amazed by facts that perhaps you’ve not considered before now.
Director, WindowView.org
Video on "Programming of Life"
