Yet another Darwinian argument from poor design ages like milk

 

No end in sight for catholicism's Civil war?

 Franciscans in Germany elect openly gay priest as new superior

By CNA Staff

The 300-member Franciscan province of Saint Elisabeth in Germany has elected as its new superior Father Markus Fuhrmann, who a few weeks ago publicly came out as homosexual.

In an interview with MK-Online, the official news website of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, Fuhrmann explained why he went public with his homosexuality.

“If I am gay myself, then I want to show that I can also be part of the Church in this ministry. That's important because it's not supposed to be like that in the Church. Unfortunately, there is too much institutional hypocrisy in our Church,” he said.

In addition, the new Franciscan superior said that he “personally supports the efforts of the Synodal Way, I am in favor of a critical rethinking of celibacy in the priestly way of life and I am in favor of women having access to ordained ministries.”

The Synodal Way is a controversial multi-year process that began in December 2019 and involves bishops and lay people from Germany to address issues such as the exercise of power, sexual morality, the priesthood, and the role of women in the Church, issues on which they have expressed, publicly and on various occasions, positions contrary to Catholic doctrine.

Asked about the fact that his Franciscan brothers knew of his homosexuality at the time of his election, the new German superior said that "it was very good for me to know that this is very positive for the brothers."

He added, “I get a lot of encouragement, and maybe that spark of appreciation can spread to other areas of the Church. I think that's good.”

Fuhrmann was born on August 9, 1971, in Hannover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. He made his simple vows in 1998 and his solemn profession in 2003. He was ordained a priest on May 7, 2005.

In Cologne, part of Saint Elizabeth Province, he ministered to the indigent, and before his election, he served as provincial vicar.

Regarding his future work, the new Franciscan superior in Germany told MK-Online that "a big change is imminent, and I want and must shape it together with the brothers."

The Church's teaching on homosexuality

Catholic teaching on homosexuality is summarized in sections 2357, 2358, and 2359 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The Church teaches that homosexuals “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided

As the catechism explains, “Tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and this inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial.”

The catechism states, “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.”

Providing further guidance, the catechism says, “Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.”

Deuteronomy32:39 demystified.

No Other god/God - Deut. 32:39

Translators have different interpretations here. The usual trinitarian translation has God (YHWH) saying something like this:

“See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.” - KJV. 

Thus they say that the Word cannot be called 'a god' since God (YHWH) has no god beside Him.

But some trinitarian translators have rendered it this way:

“See ye that I alone am, and there is no other God besides me: I will kill and I will make to live: I will strike, and I will heal, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.” - Douay.

“Now see that I, even I, am He, And there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal; Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.” - NKJV.

“Don’t you understand? I am the only God; there are no others. ….” - CEV.

“Now, see that I, and only I, am God! There is no other God! ….” - ERV.

“See, I am the only God. There are no others.” - God’s Word.

“See now that I alone am He; there is no God but Me.” - Holman Christian Standard Bible.

In these renderings there is no other God, but that would not rule out the fact that other ‘gods’ may be with Him.

…………………….

Even if you choose the “no god with [or besides] me” interpretation, it is not necessarily a trinitarian ‘proof.’ It has to do with the context of God’s statement here. Here it is in context:

32:15“But Jeshurun [Israel] grew fat and kicked— You are grown fat, thick, and sleek—
Then he forsook God who made him, And scorned the Rock of his salvation. 16 “They made Him jealous with strange gods; With abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 “They sacrificed to demons who were not God, To gods whom they have not known, New gods who came lately, Whom your fathers did not dread. 18 “You neglected the Rock who begot you, And forgot the God who gave you birth. …. 

21 “They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation, ….

39 “See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.” - NASB.

……………

God (YHWH) here has been consistently speaking of Israel’s love affair with false gods. Obviously none of these are acceptable to God - none of these are “with” Him nor are anything compared to the True God. So it is probable that the verse in question is speaking of false gods only.

This does not mean that God does not call God-appointed persons (including men and angels)‘gods.’

The majority, if not all, recognized scholars (mostly trinitarian, of course) admit this. These include scholars from the early centuries of Christendom until now. Some of those I have found are:

"In the language of the OT ... rulers and judges, as deputies of the heavenly King, could be given the honorific title ‘god’ ... or be called ‘son of God’.” - footnote for Ps. 82:1.

And, in the footnote for Ps. 45:6, this trinitarian study Bible tells us: “In this psalm, which praises the [Israelite] king ..., it is not unthinkable that he was called ‘god’ as a title of honor (cf. Isa. 9:6).” - The NIV Study Bible, Zondervan, 1985 

The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Zondervan, 1986, tells us: 

“The reason why judges are called ‘gods’ in Ps. 82 is that they have the office of administering God’s judgment as ‘sons of the Most High’. In context of the Ps. the men in question have failed to do this.... On the other hand, Jesus fulfilled the role of a true judge as a ‘god’ and ‘son of the Most High’.” - Vol. 3, p. 187. 

The highly respected (and highly trinitarian) W. E. Vine tells us: 

“The word [theos, ‘god’ or ‘God’] is used of Divinely appointed judges in Israel, as representing God in His authority, John 10:34” - p. 491, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words.

B. W. Johnson's People's New Testament says for John 10:34-36:

"Is it not written in your law. In Psa. 82. I said, Ye are gods? It was there addressed to judges. Christ's argument is: If your law calls judges gods, why should I be held guilty of blasphemy for saying that I am the Son of God? Sanctified. Set apart." - 

And Barnes’ Notes tells us in commenting on John 10:34, 35:

The scripture cannot be broken. See Matthew 5:19. The authority of the Scripture is final; it cannot be set aside. The meaning is, 

‘If, therefore, the Scripture uses the word "god" as applied to magistrates, it settles the question that it is right to apply the term to those in office and authority. If applied to them, it may be to others in similar offices. It can not, therefore, be blasphemy to use this word as applicable to a personage so much more exalted than mere magistrates as the Messiah.’ -Barnes' Notes on the New Testament 

Young’s Analytical Concordance of the Bible, Eerdmans, 1978 Reprint, “Hints and Helps to Bible Interpretation”: 

“65. GOD - is used of any one (professedly) MIGHTY, whether truly so or not, and is applied not only to the true God, but to false gods, magistrates, judges, angels, prophets, etc., e.g. - Exod. 7:1; 15:11; 21:6; 22:8, 9;...Ps. 8:5; 45:6; 82:1, 6; 97:7, 9...John 1:1; 10:33, 34, 35; 20:28....” 




Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Abingdon, 1974 printing, 

“430. [elohim]. el-o-heem’; plural of 433; gods in the ordinary sense; but spec. used (in the plur. thus, esp. with the art.) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative: - angels, ... x (very) great, judges, x mighty.” - p. 12, “Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary.”




The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon, 1979, Hendrickson, p. 43: 

Elohim [‘gods’]: “a. rulers, judges, either as divine representatives at sacred places or as reflecting divine majesty and power.... b. divine ones, superhuman beings including God and angels.... c. angels Ps. 97 7 ...” 




The trinitarian New American Bible, St. Joseph ed., 1970, says in a footnote for Ps. 8:6: 

“The angels: in Hebrew, elohim, which is the ordinary word for ‘God’ or ‘the gods’; hence the ancient versions generally understood the term as referring to heavenly spirits [angels].” 




Some of these trinitarian sources which admit that the Bible actually describes men who represent God (judges, Israelite kings, etc.) and God’s angels as gods include: 

1. Young’s Analytical Concordance of the Bible, “Hints and Helps...,” Eerdmans, 1978 reprint; 

2. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, #430, Hebrew & Chaldee Dict., Abingdon, 1974;

3. New Bible Dictionary, p. 1133, Tyndale House Publ., 1984; 

4. Today’s Dictionary of the Bible, p. 208, Bethany House Publ., 1982;

5. Hastings’ A Dictionary of the Bible, p. 217, Vol. 2;

6. The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew-English Lexicon, p. 43, Hendrickson publ.,1979; 

7. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, #2316 (4.), Thayer, Baker Book House, 1984 printing;

8. The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, p. 132, Vol. 1; & p. 1265, Vol. 2, Eerdmans, 1984;

9. The NIV Study Bible, footnotes for Ps. 45:6; Ps. 82:1, 6; & Jn 10:34; Zondervan, 1985;

10. New American Bible, St. Joseph ed., footnote for Ps. 45:7; 82:1; Jn 10:34; 1970 ed.;

11. A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures, Vol. 5, pp. 188-189;

12. William G. T. Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, Vol. 1, pp. 317, 324, Nelson Publ., 1980 printing;

13. Murray J. Harris, Jesus As God, p. 202, Baker Book House, 1992;

14. William Barclay, The Gospel of John, V. 2, Daily Study Bible Series, pp. 77, 78, Westminster Press, 1975;

15. The New John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible (John 10:34 & Ps. 82:6);

16. The Fourfold Gospel (Note for John 10:35);

17. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Jamieson, Fausset, Brown 

(John 10:34-36);

18. Matthew Henry Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible (Ps. 82:6-8 and John 10:35);

19. John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible (Ps. 82:1).

20. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament ('Little Kittel'), - p. 328, Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1985.

21. The Expositor’s Greek Testament, pp. 794-795, Vol. 1, Eerdmans Publishing Co.

22. The Amplified Bible, Ps. 82:1, 6 and John 10:34, 35, Zondervan Publ., 1965.

23. Barnes' Notes on the New Testament, John 10:34, 35.

24. B. W. Johnson's People's New Testament, John 10:34-36. 

25. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Zondervan, 1986, Vol. 3, p. 187. 

26. Fairbairn’s Imperial Standard Bible Encyclopedia, p. 24, vol. III, Zondervan, 1957 reprint.

27. Theological Dictionary, Rahner and Vorgrimler, p. 20, Herder and Herder, 1965.

28. Pastor Jon Courson, The Gospel According to John.



(Also John 10:34, 35 - CEV: TEV; GodsWord; The Message; NLT; NIRV; David Guzik)

And the earliest Christians like the highly respected NT scholar Origen (see DEF study note #1) and others - - including Tertullian; Justin Martyr; Hippolytus; Clement of Alexandria; Theophilus (p. 9, DEF study); the writer of “The Epistle to Diognetus”; and even super-trinitarians Athanasius and Augustine - - also had this understanding for “a god.” 

So, it is clear that Deut. 32:39 cannot be understood to say that there are no persons called 'god' with him for angels were called gods.  

However, none of those 'gods' the Israelites had recently taken up (false gods) were with Him.

Posted by tigger2  

The cell membrane vs. Darwinism's Simple Beginning.

 Secrets of Active Transport Become Visible

David Coppedge

Active transport — the ability to move molecules against a concentration gradient — is one of the key distinguishing features between life and non-life. Passive transport, as with osmosis, we know by experience: a fluid will naturally spread through a semipermeable membrane from a region of high concentration to one of low concentration until the concentration is equalized. That’s why bromine tablets in a spa will spread from the filter out into the water. It’s why wildfire smoke will leak into a room through any cracks in the wall, but not out. It would take Maxwell’s Demon to combat this natural tendency which follows from the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

Life cannot operate on the principle of osmosis. A cell with a passive osmotic membrane will die. Cells need to actively bring in or expel substances, often forcing them against a strong concentration gradient. They need to maintain pH homeostasis regardless of conditions outside, often pumping in cations like Na+, K+, Ca2+and Mg2+ or anions like chloride Cl– even when the interior already has a much higher concentration than the exterior. By osmosis, these concentrations would quickly equalize and life would stop. In a real sense, life involves a constant battle against thermodynamic entropy, using energy to combat what natural forces would do.

Unnatural Selection

Biochemists have long known about the existence of specialized membrane channels where active transport takes place, and knew they were highly efficient, but how they operated was long a mystery. Roderick MacKinnon was one scientist who began to figure out the mechanisms of active transport in the 1990s. He won the Nobel Prize in 2003 for his discoveries about “selectivity filters” within ion channels that permit some molecules to pass but not others. Since then, advances in super-resolution microscopy have been revealing details at near-atomic scales about what might be dubbed “unnatural selection” inside these channels.

Membrane channels are often named according to the molecules they transport: anion or cation channels, sodium channels, potassium channels, chloride channels, aquaporins (water channels), and others. Let’s examine the inner workings of one chloride channel, about which scientists’ knowledge has been updated recently. We can share the excitement of discovery about how its “selectivity filter” determines which ions are allowed to pass. As a teaser, consider that the selectivity filter of a potassium channel is much smaller than the width of a potassium ion, yet it can transport 100 million ions per second!

The CFTR Chloride Channel

Last month in PNAS, Levring and Chen announced the “Structural identification of a selectivity filter in CFTR,” a chloride channel responsible for fluid homeostasis in epithelial tissues. It’s called CFTR (Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane conductance Regulator) because of the fatal disease that occurs when genetic defects hinder passage of chloride ions. At the other extreme, cholera makes the channel too indiscriminate, leading to the diarrhea that causes dehydration and death. Kidney disease can also result from defective CFTR channels. This is not a part to mess with!

The shape of CFTR looks like a curved cornucopia with a narrow constriction inside. Notice how the authors identify precise amino acid residues (indicated by a letter and a position number) along the channel path that interact with the chloride ions passing through:

In this study, we identify a chloride-binding site at the extracellular ends of transmembrane helices 1, 6, and 8, where a dehydrated chloride is coordinated by residues G103, R334, F337, T338, and Y914. Alterations to this site, consistent with its function as a selectivity filter, affect ion selectivity, conductance, and open channel block. This selectivity filter is accessible from the cytosol through a large inner vestibule and opens to the extracellular solvent through a narrow portal. The identification of a chloride-binding site at the intra- and extracellular bridging point leads us to propose a complete conductance path that permits dehydrated chloride ions to traverse the lipid bilayer.

Diagrams of the interior show a chloride ion making electrostatic contacts with amino acid residues on its traverse, as if running the gauntlet through armed guards that each ensure it has a valid permit to pass. The structure “encloses a continuous conduit across the membrane for chloride to permeate down its electrochemical gradient.” Each chloride ion is hydrated with a water jacket but must remove its jacket on the way through:

Hydrated chloride enters the inner vestibule from the cytosol through a lateral portal between TMs [transmembrane domains] 4 and 6…. Chloride remains hydrated in the inner vestibule and is stabilized by a positive electrostatic surface potential. The width of the vestibule tapers down and converges at a selectivity filter, where only dehydrated chloride can enter. Dehydrated chloride moves into this selectivity filter, stabilized by interactions with G103, R334, F337, T338, and Y914 and rehydrates upon exit into the epithelial lumen through a narrow lateral exit between TMs 1 and 6.

Precision Authentication

How does the channel filter out other anions? Fluorine (atomic number 9) is smaller than chlorine (atomic number 17), so why doesn’t it slip through? The authors tested the authentication ability of CFTR by means of amino acid substitutions. They confirmed that four residues in the channel perform a qualification test on incoming anions as they dehydrate:

As was previously reported, and consistent with permeating anions having to dehydrate, wild-type CFTR exhibits a lyotropic permeability sequence, with relative permeabilities inversely related to the enthalpy of dehydration … Upon R334A, F337A, T338A, or Y914F substitution, the relative anion permeabilities were all altered, albeit to different degrees, consistent with previous work.

Figure 5 in the paper shows a chloride ion being inspected by four amino acid residue “cops” on four sides. A rogue molecule is not going to pass! The precision of this filter is astonishing. How much mutation could the system tolerate without breakdown? And how many accidents built this filter by chance in the first place? Details in the following quote will not be on the quiz, but to get a feel for the complexity involved, look at how many residues participate in authenticating chloride ions as they run the gauntlet:

Previous mutational work has identified a plethora of residues, many are arginine and lysine, that influence CFTR ion selectivity and/or conductance. Mapping these residues onto the CFTR structure indicates that basic residues, including K95, R104, R117, K190, R248, R303, K335, R352, K370, K1041, and R1048… are positioned along the cytosolic and extracellular vestibules, with their side chains exposed to solvent. Different from the residues that directly coordinate chloride [the selectivity filter], the function of these arginine and lysine residues is to stabilize the partially hydrated anions through electrostatic interactions and to discriminate against cations.The side chains of Q98 and S341 also face the cytosolic vestibule to form anion–dipole interactions with chloride and contribute to ion selectivity. R334, positioned at the extracellular mouth of the pore, plays a dual role in forming the selectivity filter and attracting anions into the pore through electrostatic interactions. Many other functionally important residues, including P99, L102, I106, Y109, I336, S1118, and T1134…, do not directly interact with chloride. Instead, they form a second coordination sphere of [the selectivity filter] that likely contributes to structuring [selectivity filter] residues with the appropriate geometry to coordinate chloride.

Airport Analogy

Think of these other “important residues” as part of the “coordination sphere” at an airport. The entire structure serves the purpose of narrowing down the flow of passengers to the “selectivity filter” of X-ray machines that inspect passengers and their baggage. The entire superstructure is necessary and must have been planned with the appropriate geometry and personnel to guide the passengers to the inspection site, even though the X-ray machine is as narrow as a human.

TSA workers at airports could never boast of this much quality control in their authentication protocols. And human workers have eyes and minds to think about what they are doing! The CFTR channel operates automatically in the dark, by the delicate “touch” of electrostatic interactions within a precisely structured narrow passageway within the coordination sphere. One source says that CFTR conducts millions of chloride ions per second! The TSA could learn something about efficiency here, as many of us airline passengers could attest.

Speaking of touch, my next article will discuss some other channels that respond when contacted — the so-called mechanosensitive channels.

Useless Darwinese

Did CFTR evolve? Because the CFTR channel has some similarities to other chloride channels like CLC, the authors glibly surmise that it “uniquely evolved from a family of active transporters,” assuming that “unrelated ion channels have evolved to select and conduct chloride using common chemical strategies.” Such a narrative gloss is not only useless, it makes no sense. A strategy implies foresight: seeing a need and designing a solution. While some frequent flyers might be tempted to smirk that TSA strategies seem mindless and unguided, elaborate structures like CFTR channels that operate extremely efficiently and accurately with low tolerance for alteration look engineered. They had to work from the start. Without those precisely placed amino acid residues already present at the right spot within a larger coordination sphere, there would be no authentication, and active transport would stop. The alternative is disease and death. Our uniform experience confirms that elaborate, efficient strategies that work — employing irreducibly complex structures with multiple coordinating parts supporting the function — are always products of intelligent design.

More on why I.D and Darwinism just are never going to be a couple.

 Evolution Falsified? Rope Kojonen’s Achievement

Casey Luskin/Stephen Dilley

If mainstream evolutionary theory can account for the eye of an eagle, does it make any sense to say that intelligent design is also needed? Our peer-reviewed paper, “On the Relationship between Design and Evolution,” in the journal Religions considers that and related questions. The paper is a critical appraisal of theologian Rope Kojonen’s book The Compatibility of Evolution and Design. This is the final installment of a 15-part occasional series on the subject. As we’ll see here, despite Kojonen’s thoughtful attempt to harmonize evolution and design, he nonetheless inadvertently sets the table for the rejection of mainstream evolutionary theory. Similarly, his model is no ally to thinkers who want the ID movement to accept only versions of design that are compatible with mainstream evolutionary theory.

Kojonen’s Task

The heart of Kojonen’s book is an attempt to reinvigorate a biology-based design argument that is compatible with mainstream evolutionary theory. That is, he accepts evolutionary explanations of the rise of flora and fauna, yet he alsoargues that this same flora and fauna provides empirical evidence of intelligent design. At first blush, this sounds like a violation of Ockham’s razor. If natural selection and random mutation are up to the task, what ground is there to say that an intelligent agent is also needed? 

Kojonen’s task, then, is to show that “design and evolution” better explain biological complexity than does evolution on its own. He argues that his conception of design adds to evolution’s explanation of biological complexity. If design adds little or nothing, then it is of little account and should be shaved away by Ockham’s razor. By contrast, if design adds notable explanatory insight, then it should be retained.

Kojonen believes that his particular conception of design rises to the challenge. He argues that design helps evolution succeed. In this collaborative model, God directly designed the laws of nature, which in turn gave rise to special preconditions that enabled evolution to produce biological form and function. As we explain in our article:

In chapter four, Kojonen marshals various arguments to show that the preconditions of evolution must be designed if evolution is to be successful (as he believes it to be). The deck must be stacked in advance. In particular, fitness landscapes must be finely tuned ahead of time in order for evolutionary processes to successfully produce biological complexity and diversity. Kojonen believes that it is implausible to think that evolutionary processes can account for flora and fauna without these special preconditions. To make his case, Kojonen cites the work of Andreas Wagner, William Dembski, and others on protein evolution, evolutionary algorithms, structuralism, and the like. For Kojonen, these thinkers’ arguments powerfully show that evolutionary processes need prior “fine-tuning” of fitness landscapes (Kojonen 2021, pp. 97-143, esp. pp. 109-23). Thus, “evolution and design” is superior to “evolution alone.”

The Heart of the Matter

This is a key way that “design” adds value to “evolution.” Yet is there empirical evidence that these fine-tuned preconditions and landscapes exist? If so, then there are good grounds for Kojonen’s particular conception of design. If not, then his view of design falls short. As we explain:

Kojonen situates design precisely in those fine-tuned preconditions which yield smooth fitness landscapes that allow evolution to succeed. His case for marrying design with evolution therefore depends on the existence of this fine-tuning. So, it is crucial to assess whether this fine-tuning is real. And this question can be assessed scientifically: are fitness landscapes smooth? Are there open pathways between functional proteins, for example? Or are there impassible barriers between such proteins?

Alas, this is where the dike breaks. As we show in our article — and in previous posts — there is no good evidence for fine-tuned preconditions and smooth fitness landscapes (as Kojonen envisions them). Indeed, there is extremely strong evidence against such things. 

Why is this significant? We explain: 

Kojonen’s model may have devastating implications for mainstream evolutionary theory. Recall that the heart of his proposal is that evolution needs design (in the form of fine-tuned preconditions). Evolution on its own is insufficient to produce flora and fauna. But if we are correct that Kojonen’s conception and justification of design are flawed, then it follows — by his own lights — that evolution is impotent to explain biological complexity. Kojonen’s own account of the efficacy of evolution depends upon the success of his case for design. But if the latter stumbles, then so does the former. In a startling way, Kojonen has set the table for the rejection of evolution. If he has failed to make his case for design, then he has left readers with strong reasons to abandon mainstream evolutionary theory. The full implications of this striking result warrant further exploration.

Kojonen’s model provides yet another significant reason to reject evolutionary theory. Of course, the general falsity of evolution is not the focus of the argument in our paper per se; it is nonetheless a direct implication of the failure of Kojonen’s model. Readers who take his case seriously will realize that he has given a beautiful account of how to falsify evolutionary theory. Kojonen mounts a sophisticated argument — based on evolutionary algorithms, convergence, structuralism, and the like — that evolution is impotent on its own to explain biological complexity. It requires design. If he is correct, then evolution cannot succeed without design. And if we are correct, there is no such design. The inescapable conclusion is that evolution does not succeed.1

No Ally of Accommodationism

We bring our long series to a close on a note of current relevance to the ID community. As members of this community know, some thinkers actively call for advocates of ID to accept only versions of design that are compatible with mainstream evolutionary theory. They believe that ID will only stand a chance of success if it accepts conventional thinking. Naturally, advocates of this view may be tempted to see Kojonen’s model as an ally in their quest. 

But the reality is quite different. Kojonen’s argument is that mainstream evolution on its own is insufficient to explain biological complexity. Hence, he argues that designed laws and preconditions are needed. His claim about the impotence of evolutionary theory is hardly the received view among evolutionary biologists. (At least, this is true in their public-facing statements; in private, one sometimes hears great cause for concern.) Indeed, many evolutionary biologists say they reject design precisely because they think evolutionary processes are fully sufficient. Why else would they accept the theory? So, even when Kojonen’s model is taken on its own terms, it runs against the grain of mainstream evolutionary thought. Thinkers who petition the ID movement to accept evolutionary theory and who see Kojonen’s model as an aid to their cause have not understood the actual contours of the debate. Kojonen’s model is no ally of accommodationist versions of intelligent design.

Moreover, if our criticisms of Kojonen’s model are correct, then he has, in effect, falsified mainstream evolutionary theory. Far from bringing people into the evolutionary fold, Kojonen has done science (and ID) a great service by showing them why they should pursue a richer, more thoughtful path.

Notes

Strictly speaking, Kojonen’s attempt to harmonize “design” and “evolution” does not per se require fine-tuned preconditions. He argues, for example, that his model is compatible with divinely guided mutations. (See, for example, Kojonen’s response to David Glass in Kojonen, “Response: The Compatibility of Evolution and Design,” Zygon 57 (2022): 1024–36.) Be that as it may, in CED, Kojonen strongly emphasizes fine-tuned preconditions (CED, p. 63-68, 119-33, 156-74). This is the centerpiece of his model. Yet insofar as this conception fails, it’s not clear that Kojonen succeeds at showing how “design” and “evolution” are compatible. And surely this is a desideratum: whether “design” and “evolution” are reconcilable is closely tied to how they are to be reconciled. Second, if his model allows direct divine tinkering with mutations, it’s also unclear that his view of evolution is consistent with “mainstream” evolutionary theory. As such, it’s unclear that his model reconciles mainstream evolution with design. Third, even setting aside these two criticisms, Kojonen’s model, in its various conceptualizations, does not seem to escape our deeper epistemological concerns, which we have described in our original paper (Section 7) as well as here and here.