Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays... A source page for quotes linked to Phillip E. Johnson. 0 quotes
Reason in the Balance: The Case Against... A source page for quotes linked to Phillip E. Johnson. 0 quotes
“A second point that caught my attention was that the very persons who insist upon keeping religion and science separate are eager to use their science as a basis for pronouncements about religion. The literature of Darwinism is full of anti-theistic conclusions, such as that the universe was not designed and has no purpose, and that we humans are the product of blind natural processes that care nothing about us. What is more, these statements are not presented as personal opinions but as the logical implications of evolutionary science. Another factor that makes evolutionary science seem a lot like religion is the evident zeal of Darwinists to evangelize the world, by insisting that even non-scientists accept the truth of their theory as a matter of moral obligation. Richard Dawkins, an Oxford Zoologist who is one of the most influential figures in evolutionary science, is unabashedly explicit about the religious side of Darwinism. his 1986 book The Blind Watchmaker is at one level about biology, but at a more fundamental level it is a sustained argument for atheism. According to Dawkins, "Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist." When he contemplates the perfidy of those who refuse to believe, Dawkins can scarcely restrain his fury. "It is absolutely safe to say that, if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I'd rather not consider that)." Dawkins went to explain, by the way, that what he dislikes particularly about creationists is that they are intolerant.” ScienceReligionEvolutionCreationismCreation ScienceCreationistEvolution Vs ReligionEvolution Vs Creationism Book:Darwin on Trial Source: Darwin on Trial
“One of the truly bizarre things about our current cultural situation is that the leading figures of the scientific establishment seem genuinely amazed that the citizens do not accept finch-beak variation as proof of the claim that humans, like all animals and plants, are accidental products of a purposeless universe in which only material processes have operated from the beginning.” ScienceCultureChristianityCreationEvolutionBizarreVariationDarwinFinches Book:Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds Source: Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds
“Scientists have long known that Darwinism is false. They have adhered to the myth out of self-interest and a zealous desire to put down God.” LongSelfDesireInterestKnownScientistMythSelf InterestDarwinismZealous Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“This [the intelligent design movement] isn't really, and never has been, a debate about science, it's about religion and philosophy.” Has BeensPhilosophyDesignMovementIntelligentDebateIntelligent Design Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“If we understand our own times, we will know that we should affirm the reality of God by challenging the domination of materialism and naturalism in the world of the mind. With the assistance of many friends I have developed a strategy for doing this. ... We call our strategy the "wedge."” IfsKnowsWorldShouldMindRealityChallengesStrategyMaterialismAssistanceDominationNaturalismMany FriendsWedges Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“The Intelligent Design movement starts with the recognition that "In the beginning was the Word," and "In the beginning God created." Establishing that point isn't enough, but it is absolutely essential to the rest of the gospel message.” EnoughDesignMovementEssentialsMessagesIntelligentRecognitionIntelligent Design Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“We're not trying to prove the character of God through science. That's a bad idea. What I'm trying to do is clear away the misunderstandings, the debris that prevent people from accepting that God who wants to accept them.” PeopleWantTryingIdeasCharacterAcceptingClearProveMisunderstandingBad IdeasDebrisCharacter Of God Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“A constitutional democracy is in serious trouble if its citizenry does not have a certain degree of education and civic virtue.” IfsDoeCertainVirtueDemocracyTroubleSeriousDegreesCivicsCitizenryCivic Virtue Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“All the most prominent Darwinists proclaim naturalistic philosophy when they think it safe to do so.” ThinkingPhilosophySafeProminent Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“A crush is just as simple as admiration. You get attracted to another person and time can allow feelings to grow more into something more than that.” LovePersonsFeelingsGrowsSimpleCrushAdmiration Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“No doubt it is true that science cannot study God, but it hardly follows that God had to keep a safe distance from everything that scientists want to study.” WantStudyDoubtSafeScientistDistanceNo DoubtScience And Religion Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“Science...has become identified with a philosophy known as materialism or scientific naturalism. This philosophy insists that nature is all there is, or at least the only thing about which we can have any knowledge. It follows that nature had to do its own creating, and that the means of creation must have included any role for God.” MeanPhilosophyKnownRolesCreationEvolutionCreatingMaterialismNaturalism Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“Evolutionary biologists have been able to pretend to know how complex biological systems originated only because they treated them as black boxes. Now that biochemists have opened the black boxes and seen what is inside, they know the Darwinian theory is just a story, not a scientific explanation.” KnowsHas BeensStoriesAbleBlackKnow HowTheoryEvolutionComplexesBoxesTreatedExplanationBiologistBlack Boxes Book:Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds Source: Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds
“Some theists in evolutionary science acquiesce to these tacit rules and retain a personal faith while accepting a thoroughly naturalistic picture of physical reality.” RealityAcceptingTheistTacit Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“The second advantage claimed for naturalism is that it is equivalent to rationality, because it assumes a model of reality in which all events are in principle accessible to scientific investigation.” RealityPrinciplesEventsModelsAdvantageAssumingInvestigationRationalityNaturalism Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“Materialism sets us free from sin-by proving that there is no such thing as sin. There's just antisocial behavior, which we can control with measures like laws and educational programs.” LawSinProveBehaviorProgramAtheistEducationalMaterialismAntisocialAntisocial BehaviorEducational Programs Book:Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds Source: Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds
“Modernist discourse [...] incorporates semantic devices - such as the labeling of theism as 'religion' and naturalism as 'science' - that work to prevent a dangerous debate over fundamental assumptions from breaking out in the open.” DangerousFundamentalsDebateAssumptionDevicesDiscourseNaturalismTheismLabeling Book:Reason in the Balance: The Case Against Naturalism in Science, Law & Education Source: Reason in the Balance: The Case Against Naturalism in Science, Law & Education
“In China we can criticize Darwin but not the government. In America you can criticize the government but not Darwin.” GovernmentAmericaChinaCriticize Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“The monopoly of science in the realm of knowledge explains why evolutionary biologists do not find it meaningful to address the question whether the Darwinian theory is true.” TheoryMeaningfulRealmsAddressesMonopolyBiologist Book:Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law and Culture Source: Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law and Culture
“Most importantly, I agree that the truth of these matters should be determined by interpretation of scientific evidence - experiments, fossil studies and the like.” ShouldMatterStudyEvidenceAgreeDeterminedExperimentsAgreementInterpretationFossilsScientific Evidence Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“A Chinese paleontologist lectures around the world saying that recent fossil finds in his country are inconsistent with the Darwinian theory of evolution. His reason: The major animal groups appear abruptly in the rocks over a relatively short time, rather than evolving gradually from a common ancestor as Darwin's theory predicts. When this conclusion upsets American scientists, he wryly comments: "In China we can criticize Darwin but not the government. In America you can criticize the government but not Darwin."” WorldCountryReasonGovernmentAmericaAnimalCommonGroupsRocksTheoryEvolutionMajorsScientistChinaConclusionAround The WorldChineseEvolveUpsetCriticizeCommentAncestorFossilsLecturesShort TimeInconsistentTheory Of Evolution Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“So one reason the science educators panic at the first sign of public rebellion is that they fear exposure of the implicit religious content in what they are teaching.” FirstsReasonReligiousTeachingRebellionPanicExposureEducatorUprisingImplicit Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“If modernist naturalism were true, there would be no objective truth outside of science. In that case right and wrong would be a matter of cultural preference, or political power, and the power already available to modernists ideologies would be overwhelming.” IfsMatterWould BePoliticalCasesAvailableObjectivesIdeologyOverwhelmingPreferencePolitical PowerNaturalismObjective Truth Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“The problem with allowing God a role in the history of life is not that science would cease, but rather that scientists would have to acknowledge the existence of something important which is outside the boundaries of natural science.” ImportantProblemLife IsNaturalExistenceRolesScientistBoundariesCeaseAcknowledgeAllowingNatural ScienceHistory Of Life Book:Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law and Culture Source: Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law and Culture
“Although I insist that God has always had the power to intervene directly in nature to create new forms, I am willing to be per-suaded that He chose not to do so and instead employed secondary natural causes like random mutation and natural selection.” FormCausesNaturalWillingEmployedSelectionNatural SelectionMutation Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“Evolutionary naturalism takes the inherent limitations of science and turns them into a devastating philosophical weapon: because science is our only real way of knowing anything, what science cannot know cannot be real.” KnowsWayRealTurnsKnowingWeaponsPhilosophicalLimitationBeing RealInherentNaturalism Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“As a theist I believe that God exists and that God creates.” BelieveI BelieveGod ExistsTheist Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“Darwinism is not merely a support for naturalistic philosophy: it is a product of naturalistic philosophy.” PhilosophySupportProductsDarwinism Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“In short, the proposition that God was in any way involved in our creation is effectively outlawed, and implicitly negated.” WayCreationInvolvedPropositions Book:Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law and Culture Source: Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law and Culture
“To philosophical materialists God is no more than an idea in the human mind, and not a very important idea.” MindHumansImportantIdeasPhilosophicalHuman Mind Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“Truth as such is not a particularly important concept in naturalistic philosophy.” ImportantPhilosophyConcepts Book:Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law and Culture Source: Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law and Culture
“According to the scientific naturalist version of cosmic history, nature is a permanently closed system of material effects that can never be influenced by something from outside - like God, for example.” EffectsExampleMaterialsVersionsCosmicNaturalist Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“First, Darwinian theory tells us how a certain amount of diversity in life forms can develop once we have various types of complex living organisms already in existence.” FirstsFormCertainExistenceTheoryTypeAmountDiversityComplexesVariousOrganismsLiving Organisms Book:Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law and Culture Source: Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law and Culture
“In short, it is not that evolutionary naturalists have been less brazen than the scientific creationists in holding science hostage, but rather that they have been infinitely more effective in getting away with it.” Has BeensGet AwayHostageNaturalistBrazen Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“In the most important sense a creationist is a person who believes in creation, and that includes people who believe that Genesis is a myth and that creation involved a process called evolution and consumed billions of years.” PeopleYearsBelievePersonsImportantProcessCreationEvolutionInvolvedMythBillionsConsumedGenesisCreationist Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“The assumption that nature is all there is, and that nature has been governed by the same rules at all times and places, makes it possible for natural science to be confident that it can explain such things as how life began.” Has BeensNaturalAll TimeAssumptionBe ConfidentNatural Science Author:Phillip E. Johnson
“The restriction of religion to private life therefore does not necessarily threaten the vital interests of the majority religion, if there is one, and it protects minority religions from tyranny of the majority.” IfsDoeInterestProtectMajorityTyrannyMinoritiesPrivate LifeRestrictionTyranny Of The Majority Author:Phillip E. Johnson