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Good points from John which I think conclusively answer beliefs some (not myself) Christians may have that moral ideas and equality were absent pre 30-33AD.I've appreciate both standpoints in this Blog! I think the source of Jesus' & Paul's beliefs has to be founded in OT theology due to their context which was most certainly Jewish?

(James Thompson, on "Atheism and the Good Life")

Intelligent Design

Despite Price, geological science has maintained its belief in the geological column and an ancient earth. On October 6, 2005, The New York Times reported on creationist tours of the Grand Canyon. The tours describe the Canyon as having formed through a giant flood 4,500 years ago, just as Price taught. The same month the paper also reported on a trial in Dover, Pennsylvania over an issue called 'Intelligent Design' (ID). To its critics, intelligent design is nothing more than a Trojan Horse for creationism. To its advocates ID is a legitimate scientific enquiry into the evidence that an intelligent life form is responsible for the apparent design of the universe.
  the history of creationism shows the debate is about much more than science
 
 

The Dover trial came about because the board of a public school directed its science teachers to use a textbook which promoted intelligent design as a valid scientific alternative to evolution. The Dover school science teachers refused to use the text, claiming it did not represent credible science  and that intelligent design was a religious concept which transgressed the constitutional separation of religion and public education.

The case garnered enormous publicity, aided in part by U.S. President George W. Bush's endorsement of intelligent design as deserving a place in school science curricula on the basis that ‘both sides [for and against evolution] ought to be properly taught’. The movement gained traction in Australia too, where intelligent design advocates were lobbying in Canberra. The then education minister Brendan Nelson stated that Intelligent Design should be considered in science education in Australian schools. This provoked a swift response from science teachers, when peak bodies representing 70,000 of their number signed a statement affirming evolution and describing intelligent design as religious doctrine rather than science.

Return of the Christian Darwinists

Meanwhile the Dover trial was attracting many of the best advocates from either side of the controversy over the teaching of evolution in schools. Among those leading the defense of the science teachers was a professor of biology from Brown University, RI named Kenneth Miller. In 2000 Miller had published a book entitled Finding Darwin's God: a Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution. In the book Miller describes his passionate embrace of Darwin's theory, when as a teenager he read Origin of the Species for the first time. It led him into his career as an evolutionary biologist. But Miller devotes the book not just to a robust defense of Darwinism but also to the way evolution is entirely compatible with his strong Roman Catholic faith.

Miller is far from alone in reconciling science and faith. As far back as 1954, leading voices within American evangelicalism such as Bernard Ramm were calling for more openness towards science and more responsible use of Scripture. Ramm called for evangelicals to dispense with George Price's 'strange' ideas. Current conservative biblical scholarship indirectly or directly discounts Price's views on Genesis. Many Christian individuals, groups and movements protest against creationism (some of whom protested the opening of the Creation Museum). Their protest largely surrounds what they consider to be a misguided reading of the Genesis creation accounts. (To read more click here for Dr John Dickson’s article on The Genre of Genesis.) The Roman Catholic Church has moved to re-affirm its acceptance of evolution and the Protestant liberal wing has sat comfortably with Darwin for some time. Along with figures such as the geneticist Francis Collins, Kenneth Miller is now the contemporary exemplar of the 19th century 'Christian Darwinist'. His high school biology text, which upholds evolution, is widely used in American schools. Like Asa Gray in the past, a committed Christian is once again leading Americans to Darwin.

The Dover school trial turned out to be a resounding setback for Intelligent Design. The conservative judge (a George W. Bush nominee) emphatically ruled that ID was religiously based. The verdict made the front pages of every major newspaper in the country. Despite setbacks such as Dover, many American evangelical churches still reject evolution and affirm strict creationism. Hostilities continue both from those of science, such as Richard Dawkins, as well as those of faith. As we have seen, the history of creationism shows the debate is about much more than science. Theologians must address creationist premises, such as inerrancy. Philosophers must address the ethical assumptions of a Herbert Spencer or Edward O. Wilson. Leaders in all fields of society must acknowledge the nature of a discussion over human origins. The challenge to move beyond the impasse is theological, philosophical and social. It is a project best managed in partnership and dialogue where the perspectives of faith are respected and valued alongside those of empirical science. It is an endeavour that is well-served by paying attention to the history of the debate – a history that is all too often forgotten or ignored.

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