Evolution: Really?

A Christian Humanist Inquiry Into a Persistent Controversy

by Richard Terrell


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Softcover
$11.95
E-Book
$3.99
Softcover
$11.95

Book Details

Language : English
Publication Date : 4/19/2011

Format : Softcover
Dimensions : 5.5x8.5
Page Count : 124
ISBN : 9781449713515
Format : E-Book
Dimensions : N/A
Page Count : 124
ISBN : 9781449713508

About the Book

Why is it that 150 years after the celebrated appearance of Charles Darwin’s evolutionary vision, reasonable people—laity and professional scientists alike—remain skeptical toward it? Does Darwinian science, as various “new atheists” assert, nullify the rationality of theistic belief? What is the nature of Evolutionism as a worldview with religious implications?

Author Richard Terrell explores these fundamental questions and more, from the standpoint of the Humanities, arguing that the issues of life’s origin, human nature, and human destiny call for a larger arena of discussion than can be provided by science alone. He rejects popular notions that science has put an irrefutable barrier in the path of theistic belief, and casts light on how the evolutionary vision of life—expressed as scientific materialism—constitutes a religious worldview of its own with questionable implications for the human condition. Along the way, Terrell considers the thoughts of such classic evolutionary thinkers as Ernst Haeckel, Julian Huxley, George Gaylord Simpson, and Theodosius Dobzhansky, along with more contemporary thinks like Richard Dawkins and other “new atheists.” Drawing upon the rich historical storehouse of affirmation and skepticism concerning Darwinism, Terrell argues that opposition to Darwinian beliefs is not confined to religious objections, but that the most serious challenges have come from scientists. Surprisingly, this “minority report” has existed through all the years of Darwinian cultural ascendancy, and is gaining in strength today.

Here is a challenge to encourage students’ free inquiry into Darwinian doctrine and cultural influence free of dogma and intimidation.


About the Author

Richard Terrell is Emeritus Professor of Art at Doane College in Crete, Nebraska. He taught in the areas of Fine Arts and Humanities for 44 years in the setting of Liberal Arts colleges, along with interdisciplinary courses in Worldviews. Articles by Mr. Terrell have appeared in Christianity Today, Eternity, Christianity and the Arts, and Christianity and Society. He is a contributing author to the book "The Christian Imagination," edited and written by Dr. Leland Ryken. His book, "Resurrecting the Third Reich" was published in 1994, by Huntington House, Lafayette, LA.

Richard is a working artist and is Director for Ad Lib, a Christian retreat ministry for artists and writers of Christian faith and conviction. The retreat meets annually in Colorado, and brings together artists, writers, and performers for purposes of learning, worship, critique, and Christian fellowship.

Richard lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, with his wife of 48 years, Louise. They have two grown children and one grandchild. He maintains a studio at the Burkholder Project, a studio facility located in Lincoln's Historic Haymarket District.