The Case for a Creator - Lee Strobel [33]
What’s more, the males have difficulty mating, and because the extra wings are nonfunctional, these mutant flies are seriously handicapped. “As evidence for evolution,” he said, “the four-winged fruit fly is no better than a two-headed calf in a circus sideshow.” 59
Once again, closer investigation revealed that even the latest icons cannot buttress the sagging credibility of evolutionary theory. As for me, I finally came to the point where I realized that I just didn’t have enough faith to maintain my belief in Darwinism. The evidence, in my estimation, was simply unable to support its grandest and most sweeping claims.
THE CRY OF “DESIGN!”
Before I packed my belongings and grabbed a cab for the airport, I wanted to ask Wells a few closing questions about the overall case for Darwinian evolution. “After years of studying this,” I said, “when you take the most current scientific evidence into consideration, what is your conclusion about Darwin’s theory?”
Wells’s answer began as soon as the words left my mouth. “My conclusion is that the case for Darwinian evolution is bankrupt,” he said firmly. “The evidence for Darwinism is not only grossly inadequate, it’s systematically distorted. I’m convinced that sometime in the not-too-distant future—I don’t know, maybe twenty or thirty years from now—people will look back in amazement and say, ‘How could anyone have believed this?’ Darwinism is merely materialistic philosophy masquerading as science, and people are recognizing it for what it is.
“Now, having said that,” he continued, “I still see room for some evolutionary processes in limited instances. But saying evolution works in some cases is far from showing that it accounts for everything.”
I asked, “If macroevolution has failed to prove itself to be a viable theory, then where do you believe the evidence of science is pointing?”
There was no equivocation in Wells’s voice. Speaking with conviction, he said: “I believe science is pointing strongly toward design. To me, as a scientist, the development of an embryo cries out, ‘Design!’ The Cambrian explosion—the sudden appearance of complex life, with no evidence of ancestors—is more consistent with design than evolution. Homology, in my opinion, is more compatible with design. The origin of life certainly cries out for a designer. None of these things make as much sense from a Darwinian perspective as they do from a design perspective.”
“Let me get this straight,” I said. “You’re not merely saying that the evidence for evolution is weak and therefore there must be an intelligent designer. You’re suggesting there is also affirmative evidence for a designer.”
“I am,” he relied. “However, the two are connected, because one of the main functions of Darwinian theory is to try to make design unnecessary. This is what you experienced as you became an atheist. This is what I experienced. So showing that the arguments for evolution are weak certainly opens the door to design.
“And then,” he said, “when you analyze all of the most current affirmative evidence from cosmology, physics, astronomy, biology, and so forth—well, I think you’ll discover that the positive case for an intelligent designer becomes absolutely compelling.”
I stood and shook Wells’ hand. “That,” I said, “is what I’m going to find out.”
SCIENCE VERSUS FAITH
The plane ride through the black velvet sky over the Pacific Coast was exceptionally smooth that evening, and I closed my eyes as I reclined my seat as far as it would go. I felt satisfied by my interview with Wells and was anxious to determine whether the most up-to-date scientific evidence supports the existence of the intelligent designer he had talked about. Still, though, some pesky questions continued to bother me.
I remained troubled by the intersection of science and faith. I needed to resolve whether these two domains are destined to be at war with each other, as some people claim. Can a scientific person legitimately entertain the idea of the supernatural? How much can empirical