Jewish reactions to intelligent design
Encyclopedia
The reaction of Jewish leaders and organizations to intelligent design has been primarily concerned with responding to proposals to include intelligent design in public school curricula as a rival scientific hypothesis to modern evolutionary theory
.
Intelligent design
is an argument for the existence of God
, based on the premise that "certain features of the universe
and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause
, not an undirected process such as natural selection
." Proponents claim that their hypothesis is scientific, that it challenges the dominant scientific model
of evolution
. This has been dismissed by scientific opposition as pseudoscience
, and in the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
federal court case, United States District Judge
John E. Jones III
ruled that intelligent design is not science and is essentially religious in nature.
organizations have fought against the inclusion of intelligent design in the public school curriculum, generally on the basis that to teach intelligent design in public schools would be a violation of the separation of church and state
. According to Jeffrey Sinensky, general counsel for the American Jewish Committee
, "Intelligent design is not a scientifically accepted theory, but a religious theory similar to creationism
, which has no place in the science classroom of a public school. Any discussion of creationism or intelligent design would be more appropriate in a history or comparative religion class, as opposed to a science curriculum."
According to the Anti-Defamation League
, "The U.S. Constitution guarantees the rights of Americans to believe the religious theories of creation (as well as other theories) but it does not permit religious theories to be taught in public school science classes. This distinction makes sense, and is ultimately good for religion, because it leaves religious instruction to properly trained clergy and to parents (where religious education properly belongs), it keeps government out of religious controversies, and it ensures that public school classrooms remain hospitable to an ethnically diverse, religiously pluralistic country."
In a survey of doctors conducted under the auspices of the Jewish Theological Seminary
, 83 percent of Jewish doctors agreed with the statement that intelligent design is "a religiously inspired pseudo-science" rather than a "legitimate scientific speculation"
as a scientific theory, or to include it the curriculum of public schools. The 68th General Assembly of the Union for Reform Judaism
passed a resolution, The Politicization of Science in the United States, in which it opposed the teaching of intelligent design in the schools: "Intelligent design proponents are increasingly, and with success, seeking to use public schools to advance this concept, suggesting that "intelligent design" holds scientific merit equal to the theory of evolution. The overwhelming majority of the scientific community, which supports theories that are testable by experiment or observation, oppose treating intelligent design, which is neither, as scientific theory." According to Jeffrey H. Tigay, writing in Conservative Judaism (the official publication of the Conservative movement), "a literal reading of the Bible, on which "creation science" implicitly insists, misses the point of the Bible itself, which seems uninterested in literal interpretation. Like poetry and certain kinds of prose, which sometimes speak in metaphors and symbols, the Bible as a whole does not intend these stories to be taken literally."
Rabbis have often expressed this opinion even while distinguishing their own theistic views of life from those of Darwinism. For example, to Rabbi Michael Schwab, a pulpit rabbi in the Conservative movement
, "What Darwin sees as random, we see as the miraculous and natural unfolding of God’s subtle and beautiful plan." However, Schwab disagrees with the intelligent design movement's claim, that the existence of God can be proven as "a practical scientific theory that has equal evidence in science as evolution." Schwab writes, "We cannot prove God’s existence through science anymore than we can prove that there is an afterlife in that manner. God's existence is not subject to empirical data, there is no experiment to be done in this matter of which the results can be replicated in the future."
To Rabbi Brad Hirschfield
, vice president the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership
(CLAL), an interdenominational Jewish organization, the intelligent design theorists themselves have unscientific goals. "Excluding those Darwinians who understand their position to be a proof against the existence of a creator — itself a kind of fundamentalist position — the primary interest of evolutionary biology is the deepening of our understanding of life, regardless of the theological implications. The premise of intelligent design theory is that it can provide evidence that confirms the existence of a specific kind of creator. If it failed to do so, then not only would the theory be wrong, but the proponents of it would see themselves as having failed in their pursuit of knowledge and in their attempt to confirm what they already believe."
Rabbi Steven Morgen, the rabbi of congregation Beth Yeshurun in Houston, Texas, asked his congregation, "So why do I, as a Rabbi, object to having our schools teach “intelligent design” as part of the science curriculum when they teach the theory of evolution? Because it is not science. The scientific method of discovering "truth" involves developing an assumption (or hypothesis), and then attempting to prove or disprove that assumption by experiment and/or observation. There is no experiment we can create that will prove or disprove that an Intelligent Designer interfered in the natural progression of life on earth to create different organs or species of animals."
Morgan goes on to explain his own beliefs. "Can I describe how God was involved in this process? No. Can I prove that God was involved in this process? No. As I said, our beliefs are not science. They are not provable. But I believe that God was involved because even if we can explain scientifically how all this might have happened through the evolutionary process, it is still a miraculous world to me, and so I believe that whatever we discover scientifically to be "the way it happened" is how God made it happen. I believe that God not only created the Universe in this way, but that God continues to exist in our lives whenever we recognize God’s presence. God cares deeply about us and is there for us when we call upon our Creator."
expressed similar views about intelligent design. For example, Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
, the executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union
told the daily Haaretz
, "Intelligent Design calls to our attention the amazing complexity of the universe. That is descriptive science and should be part of all courses in biology and chemistry. However, the conclusion that such complexity is proof positive of a Creator, as Judaism or other religions understand such a creator, is faith, not science, and as such has no place in the curricula of the public schools in the United States, where separation of Church from State is a fundamental national premise." Weinreb continued, "In a religious school, particularly in a Jewish school, I would advocate that evolution as understood by the scientific establishment be taught in courses of science, and that Intelligent Design be taught in courses of Jewish thought."
But there was some dissent at the Sixth Miami International Conference on Torah and Science, held in Miami, Florida
, in December 2005. Moshe Tendler, an influential Orthodox
rabbi and a professor of biology at Yeshiva University
, urged his Orthodox scientific colleagues to examine the theory of intelligent design. Tendler attacked the idea that complex life could flow from "random evolution." The following morning, an intelligent design proponent, William Dembski
(a Professor of Philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
and an evangelical Christian), sought to present evidence of design in nature. These addresses prompted a storm of protest from scientists at the conference, who besieged Dembski with so many questions that the next speaker on the agenda was unable to follow him.
Journalist Mariah Blake reported that scientists who attended the conference, most of them observant Orthodox Jews, were generally critical of intelligent design. Nathan Aviezar, who teaches physics at Bar Ilan University in Israel
commented, "The whole enterprise of science is to explain life without invoking supernatural explanations. Intelligent design is not science, it's religion, and it shouldn't be taught in science class." However, local Orthodox Jewish high school students, bussed in to observe the conference, were more receptive.
Nathan Katz, one of the conference organizers, commented that the enthusiasm some Orthodox Jews express for intelligent design reflects a growing alliance between traditional Jews and evangelical Christians. The two groups have found themselves on the same side of many culture war battles, and evangelicals have offered significant financial support for Israel. Katz explained, this has made Orthodox Jews "willing to listen to evangelicals on other issues."
. "Unlike intelligent design, the anthropic principle operates within the framework of science. In other words, the anthropic principle does not claim that science is insufficient to explain the physical universe."
, in his work The Challenge of Creation, condemns the intelligent design community as presenting a theologically problematic perspective of God, and which, is thus, surreptitiously very dangerous to religion. Those who promote it as parallel to religion, he asserts, do not truly understand it.
Slifkin criticizes intelligent design's advocacy of teaching their perspective in biology classes, wondering why no one claims that God's hand should be taught in other secular classes, such as history, physics or geology. He asserts that the intelligent design movement is inordinately concerned with portraying God as "in control" when it comes to things that cannot be easily explained by science, such as the bacteria
l flagellum
and the blood-clotting system
, but that he is not in control in respect to things which can be explained by scientific theory, such as planetary motion
and the formation of the world.
Slifkin challenges Johnson's statement that "God will have to retreat out of the cosmos," because he asserts that a "complete explanation of the celestial bodies by astronomy, or an explanation of the formation of the mountains by geology, or of rain via meteorology, does not paint God out of the picture, but instead means that He works through science," something that Johnson denies.
Slifkin concluded by emphasizing that intelligent design is no friend of religion, in that it "denies the role of God in 99% of the universe...and implies that He was only able to engineer processes that would accomplish 99% of His objectives. Postulating the intelligent design of organisms means postulating the unintelligent design of natural law." This point is built on comments made by Kenneth Miller
in his work, The Flagellum Unspun:
ary theory. However, in contrast with the literalist biblical interpretation of some Christian creationists
, some of them express openness to multiple interpretations of Genesis, through Jewish oral tradition
and Jewish mysticism
. They have also expressed an openness to evolutionary theory in biology, except where they perceive that it is in conflict with the Torah
's account of creation.
Modern evolutionary synthesis
The modern evolutionary synthesis is a union of ideas from several biological specialties which provides a widely accepted account of evolution...
.
Intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
is an argument for the existence of God
Teleological argument
A teleological or design argument is an a posteriori argument for the existence of God based on apparent design and purpose in the universe. The argument is based on an interpretation of teleology wherein purpose and intelligent design appear to exist in nature beyond the scope of any such human...
, based on the premise that "certain features of the universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause
Intelligent designer
An intelligent designer, also referred to as an intelligent agent, is the hypothetical willed and self-aware entity that the intelligent design movement argues had some role in the origin and/or development of life...
, not an undirected process such as natural selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
." Proponents claim that their hypothesis is scientific, that it challenges the dominant scientific model
Modern evolutionary synthesis
The modern evolutionary synthesis is a union of ideas from several biological specialties which provides a widely accepted account of evolution...
of evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
. This has been dismissed by scientific opposition as pseudoscience
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
, and in the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District, et al. was the first direct challenge brought in the United States federal courts testing a public school district policy that required the teaching of intelligent design...
federal court case, United States District Judge
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
John E. Jones III
John E. Jones III
John Edward Jones III is an American lawyer and jurist from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A Republican, Jones was appointed by President George W. Bush as federal judge on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in February 2002 and was unanimously confirmed by...
ruled that intelligent design is not science and is essentially religious in nature.
Secular Jewish organizations
Secular JewishJudaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
organizations have fought against the inclusion of intelligent design in the public school curriculum, generally on the basis that to teach intelligent design in public schools would be a violation of the separation of church and state
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
. According to Jeffrey Sinensky, general counsel for the American Jewish Committee
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...
, "Intelligent design is not a scientifically accepted theory, but a religious theory similar to creationism
Creationism
Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...
, which has no place in the science classroom of a public school. Any discussion of creationism or intelligent design would be more appropriate in a history or comparative religion class, as opposed to a science curriculum."
According to the Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
, "The U.S. Constitution guarantees the rights of Americans to believe the religious theories of creation (as well as other theories) but it does not permit religious theories to be taught in public school science classes. This distinction makes sense, and is ultimately good for religion, because it leaves religious instruction to properly trained clergy and to parents (where religious education properly belongs), it keeps government out of religious controversies, and it ensures that public school classrooms remain hospitable to an ethnically diverse, religiously pluralistic country."
In a survey of doctors conducted under the auspices of the Jewish Theological Seminary
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary of America is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.JTS operates five schools: Albert A...
, 83 percent of Jewish doctors agreed with the statement that intelligent design is "a religiously inspired pseudo-science" rather than a "legitimate scientific speculation"
Non-Orthodox movements
Non-Orthodox Jewish leaders and rabbis, through their rabbincial assemblies and organizations, have resisted the movement to recognize intelligent design or creation scienceCreation science
Creation Science or scientific creationism is a branch of creationism that attempts to provide scientific support for the Genesis creation narrative in the Book of Genesis and disprove generally accepted scientific facts, theories and scientific paradigms about the history of the Earth, cosmology...
as a scientific theory, or to include it the curriculum of public schools. The 68th General Assembly of the Union for Reform Judaism
Union for Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism , formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations , is an organization which supports Reform Jewish congregations in North America. The current President is Rabbi Eric H...
passed a resolution, The Politicization of Science in the United States, in which it opposed the teaching of intelligent design in the schools: "Intelligent design proponents are increasingly, and with success, seeking to use public schools to advance this concept, suggesting that "intelligent design" holds scientific merit equal to the theory of evolution. The overwhelming majority of the scientific community, which supports theories that are testable by experiment or observation, oppose treating intelligent design, which is neither, as scientific theory." According to Jeffrey H. Tigay, writing in Conservative Judaism (the official publication of the Conservative movement), "a literal reading of the Bible, on which "creation science" implicitly insists, misses the point of the Bible itself, which seems uninterested in literal interpretation. Like poetry and certain kinds of prose, which sometimes speak in metaphors and symbols, the Bible as a whole does not intend these stories to be taken literally."
Rabbis have often expressed this opinion even while distinguishing their own theistic views of life from those of Darwinism. For example, to Rabbi Michael Schwab, a pulpit rabbi in the Conservative movement
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
, "What Darwin sees as random, we see as the miraculous and natural unfolding of God’s subtle and beautiful plan." However, Schwab disagrees with the intelligent design movement's claim, that the existence of God can be proven as "a practical scientific theory that has equal evidence in science as evolution." Schwab writes, "We cannot prove God’s existence through science anymore than we can prove that there is an afterlife in that manner. God's existence is not subject to empirical data, there is no experiment to be done in this matter of which the results can be replicated in the future."
To Rabbi Brad Hirschfield
Brad Hirschfield
Brad Hirschfield is a rabbi, author and the president of CLAL–The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. Hirschfield was ranked three years in a row in Newsweek as one of America's "50 Most Influential Rabbis" and recognized as a leading “Preacher & Teacher” by...
, vice president the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership
National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership
The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership is a leadership training institute, think tank, and resource center. It is an inter-disciplinary and inter-denominational movement, in which rabbis from all of the major Jewish denominations in North America are participants...
(CLAL), an interdenominational Jewish organization, the intelligent design theorists themselves have unscientific goals. "Excluding those Darwinians who understand their position to be a proof against the existence of a creator — itself a kind of fundamentalist position — the primary interest of evolutionary biology is the deepening of our understanding of life, regardless of the theological implications. The premise of intelligent design theory is that it can provide evidence that confirms the existence of a specific kind of creator. If it failed to do so, then not only would the theory be wrong, but the proponents of it would see themselves as having failed in their pursuit of knowledge and in their attempt to confirm what they already believe."
Rabbi Steven Morgen, the rabbi of congregation Beth Yeshurun in Houston, Texas, asked his congregation, "So why do I, as a Rabbi, object to having our schools teach “intelligent design” as part of the science curriculum when they teach the theory of evolution? Because it is not science. The scientific method of discovering "truth" involves developing an assumption (or hypothesis), and then attempting to prove or disprove that assumption by experiment and/or observation. There is no experiment we can create that will prove or disprove that an Intelligent Designer interfered in the natural progression of life on earth to create different organs or species of animals."
Morgan goes on to explain his own beliefs. "Can I describe how God was involved in this process? No. Can I prove that God was involved in this process? No. As I said, our beliefs are not science. They are not provable. But I believe that God was involved because even if we can explain scientifically how all this might have happened through the evolutionary process, it is still a miraculous world to me, and so I believe that whatever we discover scientifically to be "the way it happened" is how God made it happen. I believe that God not only created the Universe in this way, but that God continues to exist in our lives whenever we recognize God’s presence. God cares deeply about us and is there for us when we call upon our Creator."
Orthodox Judaism
Many leaders of Modern Orthodox JudaismModern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....
expressed similar views about intelligent design. For example, Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb is an ordained rabbi, a qualified psychotherapist and the Executive Vice President Emeritus of the Orthodox Union, the largest Orthodox Jewish organisation in North America; a position he has held since 2002....
, the executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union
Orthodox Union
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America , more popularly known as the Orthodox Union , is one of the oldest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. It is best known for its kosher food preparation supervision service...
told the daily Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
, "Intelligent Design calls to our attention the amazing complexity of the universe. That is descriptive science and should be part of all courses in biology and chemistry. However, the conclusion that such complexity is proof positive of a Creator, as Judaism or other religions understand such a creator, is faith, not science, and as such has no place in the curricula of the public schools in the United States, where separation of Church from State is a fundamental national premise." Weinreb continued, "In a religious school, particularly in a Jewish school, I would advocate that evolution as understood by the scientific establishment be taught in courses of science, and that Intelligent Design be taught in courses of Jewish thought."
But there was some dissent at the Sixth Miami International Conference on Torah and Science, held in Miami, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, in December 2005. Moshe Tendler, an influential Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
rabbi and a professor of biology at Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
, urged his Orthodox scientific colleagues to examine the theory of intelligent design. Tendler attacked the idea that complex life could flow from "random evolution." The following morning, an intelligent design proponent, William Dembski
William A. Dembski
William Albert "Bill" Dembski is an American proponent of intelligent design, well known for promoting the concept of specified complexity...
(a Professor of Philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a private, non-profit institution of higher education, associated with the Southern Baptist Convention...
and an evangelical Christian), sought to present evidence of design in nature. These addresses prompted a storm of protest from scientists at the conference, who besieged Dembski with so many questions that the next speaker on the agenda was unable to follow him.
Journalist Mariah Blake reported that scientists who attended the conference, most of them observant Orthodox Jews, were generally critical of intelligent design. Nathan Aviezar, who teaches physics at Bar Ilan University in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
commented, "The whole enterprise of science is to explain life without invoking supernatural explanations. Intelligent design is not science, it's religion, and it shouldn't be taught in science class." However, local Orthodox Jewish high school students, bussed in to observe the conference, were more receptive.
Nathan Katz, one of the conference organizers, commented that the enthusiasm some Orthodox Jews express for intelligent design reflects a growing alliance between traditional Jews and evangelical Christians. The two groups have found themselves on the same side of many culture war battles, and evangelicals have offered significant financial support for Israel. Katz explained, this has made Orthodox Jews "willing to listen to evangelicals on other issues."
The anthropic principle
Nathan Aviezar, an Orthodox Jewish scientist, has promoted an alternative perspective within Orthodox Jewry on how God is involved in creation, the anthropic principleAnthropic principle
In astrophysics and cosmology, the anthropic principle is the philosophical argument that observations of the physical Universe must be compatible with the conscious life that observes it. Some proponents of the argument reason that it explains why the Universe has the age and the fundamental...
. "Unlike intelligent design, the anthropic principle operates within the framework of science. In other words, the anthropic principle does not claim that science is insufficient to explain the physical universe."
The theological problems of intelligent design
Natan SlifkinNatan Slifkin
Natan Slifkin , also popularly known as the "Zoo Rabbi", is an ordained but non-pulpit serving Orthodox rabbi best known for his interest in zoology, science and for his books on these topics, which are controversial in the Haredi world.-Biography:Natan Slifkin was born and raised in Manchester,...
, in his work The Challenge of Creation, condemns the intelligent design community as presenting a theologically problematic perspective of God, and which, is thus, surreptitiously very dangerous to religion. Those who promote it as parallel to religion, he asserts, do not truly understand it.
Slifkin criticizes intelligent design's advocacy of teaching their perspective in biology classes, wondering why no one claims that God's hand should be taught in other secular classes, such as history, physics or geology. He asserts that the intelligent design movement is inordinately concerned with portraying God as "in control" when it comes to things that cannot be easily explained by science, such as the bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
l flagellum
Flagellum
A flagellum is a tail-like projection that protrudes from the cell body of certain prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, and plays the dual role of locomotion and sense organ, being sensitive to chemicals and temperatures outside the cell. There are some notable differences between prokaryotic and...
and the blood-clotting system
Coagulation
Coagulation is a complex process by which blood forms clots. It is an important part of hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, wherein a damaged blood vessel wall is covered by a platelet and fibrin-containing clot to stop bleeding and begin repair of the damaged vessel...
, but that he is not in control in respect to things which can be explained by scientific theory, such as planetary motion
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
and the formation of the world.
Slifkin challenges Johnson's statement that "God will have to retreat out of the cosmos," because he asserts that a "complete explanation of the celestial bodies by astronomy, or an explanation of the formation of the mountains by geology, or of rain via meteorology, does not paint God out of the picture, but instead means that He works through science," something that Johnson denies.
Slifkin concluded by emphasizing that intelligent design is no friend of religion, in that it "denies the role of God in 99% of the universe...and implies that He was only able to engineer processes that would accomplish 99% of His objectives. Postulating the intelligent design of organisms means postulating the unintelligent design of natural law." This point is built on comments made by Kenneth Miller
Kenneth R. Miller
Kenneth Raymond Miller is a biology professor at Brown University. Miller, who is Roman Catholic, is particularly known for his opposition to creationism, including the intelligent design movement...
in his work, The Flagellum Unspun:
Haredi Orthodox Judaism
Haredi rabbis have remained staunchly opposed to certain teachings in evolutionEvolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
ary theory. However, in contrast with the literalist biblical interpretation of some Christian creationists
Creationism
Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...
, some of them express openness to multiple interpretations of Genesis, through Jewish oral tradition
Oral Torah
The Oral Torah comprises the legal and interpretative traditions that, according to tradition, were transmitted orally from Mount Sinai, and were not written in the Torah...
and Jewish mysticism
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
. They have also expressed an openness to evolutionary theory in biology, except where they perceive that it is in conflict with the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
's account of creation.
See also
- Judaism and evolutionJudaism and evolutionJewish views on evolution includes a continuum of views about evolution, creationism, and the origin of life. Today, many Jews accept the science of evolutionary theory and do not see it as incompatible with traditional Judaism, thus endorsing theistic evolution.-Classical rabbinic teachings :The...
- Jewish opposition to evolution
- The Challenge of Creation