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Page 6

In his book, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, Dr. Michael Denton, a (non-creationist) molecular biologist, after a critical examination of all of Darwin's arguments, stated that the two fundamental axioms upon which Darwin based his theory were false. One proposed an erroneous continuity in nature (a mistaken belief of a continuum of life forms linking all species and leading back to a primeval life form). The other was an irrational belief that all adaptive design in nature was the result of random processes, i.e., blind chance. Denton went on to point out that

"Neither axiom has been validated by one single empirical discovery or scientific advance since 1859".

And, in relation to the numerous objections raised against the evolution theory by its early opponents, such as the biologists Agassiz, Pictet, Bronn and Richard Owen, Denton stated:

"Nor has a single one of the innumerable objections been met. The mind must still fill up the "large blanks" that Darwin acknowledged in his letter to Asa Gray."¹⁶

In his concluding summary Denton stated:

"One might have expected that a theory of such cardinal importance, a theory that literally changed the world, would have been something more than metaphysics, something more than a myth. Ultimately the Darwinian theory of evolution is no more no less than the great cosmogenic myth of the twentieth century."¹⁷

Surely Christians who do not oppose evolution can see the difference in approach between Denton and Gould. Denton, although an agnostic, is not wedded to positivistic/naturalistic preconditions and, therefore, his objectivity cannot be brought into question. On the other hand, Gould, as an atheist and materialist who is wedded to those preconditions, rejects out of hand any opposition to the (alleged) scientific status of evolution, and to this extent his objectivity suffers badly.

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¹⁶ Michael Denton, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (London, U.K.: Burnett Books, 1985) p. 345 (also published by Adler and Adler: Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.).
¹⁷ Denton, ibid., p. 358.