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Paul Nelson
Paul Nelson
Photo: Paul Nelson, by Nathan Jacobson.
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I Beg Your Pardon? More on “Mainstream Science”

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Intelligent Design
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Joshua Swamidass asked me to note his responses on his website to Paul Nelson’s critique of Dr. Swamidass’s book, The Genealogical Adam and Eve. I’m happy to do so. See here and here. See also, “Adam and Eve and ‘Mainstream Science.’”

I was struck by the statement, which I can’t let go without answering: “Nelson really sees methodological naturalism as the fundamental reason why Christians cannot work with mainstream science.” I beg your pardon? Paul thinks “Christians cannot work with mainstream science”? I didn’t see that anywhere in Dr. Nelson’s article and I know it’s not what Paul believes. His point, as I understood it, was that Professor Swamidass folds into the phrase “mainstream science” a couple of tenets that needlessly constrain the search for truth about a historical first couple. Of course, that’s a wholly different idea.

Update: See also, “The Genealogical Adam and Eve: A Rejoinder,” by Professor Swamidass.

David Klinghoffer

Senior Fellow and Editor, Science and Culture Today
David Klinghoffer is a Senior Fellow with Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. He is the author of seven books including Plato’s Revenge: The New Science of the Immaterial Genome and The Lord Will Gather Me In: My Journey to Jewish Orthodoxy. A former senior editor at National Review, he has contributed to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other publications. He received an A.B. magna cum laude from Brown University in 1987. Born in Santa Monica, CA, he lives on Mercer Island, WA.
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