by Cowboy Bob Sorensen
For several months, I was reluctant to write this article. The five short articles linked below are written by a professed agnostic. While that word can mean different things to different people, it usually means that someone is uncertain whether or not God exists. When applying an internal and biblical critique, agnosticism is inconsistent and irrational.
Another reason for my hesitation is that these articles are from the big-tent Intelligent Design community. While biblical creationists use intelligent design arguments, we give credit to the Creator. The ID folks have some good material, but they appeal to the intellect and their approach has serious limitations.
All truth originates in God, no matter the secondary sources. So I decided to cowboy up and get on with it.
If you get invited to dine at the Darwin Ranch and feel mischievous, tell Dewey Lye that
Charlie Darwin didn't create evolution, then watch his face gets red while he makes funny noises. Next, lean over to Al Buehterawl and say that the apostle
Paul debated Epicurean evolutionists and the Stoics as narrated in Acts 17:16–34. He usually starts wheezing.
Epicurus and some other Greek philosophers were
materialistic atomists, believing that smaller parts made up the whole (in a manner resembling modern atomic theory). Dr. Greg Bahnsen discusses
atomism in this video at the 37:41 mark. It is interesting that Darwin did not impress some folks back then, and one said he was simply repeating epicurean philosophies.
Neil Thomas discusses Darwin, Epicurus, and the spirit of the age in which Darwin lived. After all, Chuck was somewhat a product of his times. In addition, Mr. Thomas shows knowledge of history and philosophy, and has obviously done his homework. He shows how many things converged in Darwinism, including why Origin of Species was written at an opportune time for Charles.
There were a couple of things that the author left out of these articles. However, they seem to be drawn from his book, so he may have discussed them there. He mentioned a naturalistic comment by Charles Babbage (inventor of the first computer), but failed to mention that, despite his theological flaws,
was a devout Christian. The other thing is that he kind of galloped past natural selection and omitted that it was
initially developed by a creationist Christian, Edward Blyth.
Earlier, I indicated that Neil Thomas is an agnostic. Many that I have encountered online are simply atheists who won't admit to it, but their views show in the way they attack Christians — especially biblical creationists. Some agnostics even presume to say, "I don't know if there's a God, and you can't know, either!" Neil does not show antagonism toward Christianity, and strives to put forth an honest presentation.
It distresses this child that Mr. Thomas uses his intellectual skills well, but doesn't realize that God is spirit, therefore he is beyond human reasoning and empirical science. Everyone must humble themselves and come to God through Jesus Christ. Neil's mind has taken him closer to Deism, but we can pray that he does repent, which engages the spiritual aspect of his humanity. Mr. Thomas, please don't use your brilliance to intellectualize away the vital importance of salvation.
Now you can saddle up and read those articles, which may take about six minutes each. You'll also see why I gave you two resources by Dr. Bahnsen that will help in understanding atomism:
