Darwinism under the Microscope

Reviewed by: Henry E. Neufeld

Gills, James P. M.D. and Tom Woodward PhD. Darwinism under the Microscope: How Recent Scientific Evidence Points to Divine Design. Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2002. ISBN: 0-88419-925-8. 236 pages.

I've been looking for a book on the creation/evolution controversy that presents various arguments without either misrepresenting (intentionally or through ignorance) opposing views or confusing various issues. For example, conflating arguments for old earth creationism and young earth creationism doesn't work. Some of the arguments for a young earth are also arguments against the old earth position, and the two groups are arguing for a considerably different model for the appearance of species on earth. Further, the debate between the old earth group and theistic evolutionists should be substantially different due both to the different views of the age issue, and also to different views on the originally created earth and whether death was present on the earth before the fall.

In this book, these issues are conflated, and the position and arguments of evolutions do not get a fair presentation. It is clearly an attempt at apologetics, but it will mostly serve to hype up the already convinced, and it will do that without any certainty as to what they were convinced of. For example, one chapter is written by Michael Behe on intelligent design. Now I believe in God but am willing to allow that God used evolution to produce the variety of life we see on earth. I don't have a major problem with the notion of design in nature. My only problem with Behe is not scientific-I'm not nearly arrogant enough to argue microbiology!-but rather theological. I think it's all designed. My real question is whether we'll ever find a scientific way to prove that some parts of nature were more designed than others.

But should Behe's article be placed alongside the first, introductory chapter in which arguments are presented about the peppered moth? I checked for a number of articles and references on the internet about the Peppered Moth, and the "coffee room" discussion presented varied between excessively simplistic and just plain wrong. I'd suggest doing as I did, and also checking at a nearby university library. Look at the actual data on the peppered moths.

Despite what I've presented above, this is not your normal "young earth creationist" book. It presents critiques of evolution from a number of different perspectives. I would suggest that the worst part of the book is the first chapter, while other selections are somewhat more useful, at least as representations of the individual authors. In general, however, I would recommend actually reading Michael Behe and William Dembski to get a more general understanding of what those gentlemen have to say. I would also recommend reading some of their opponents as well.

I think one can spend one's money better than on this particular book.