Jonathan Wells (intelligent design advocate) explained

Jonathan Wells
Birth Name:John Corrigan Wells
Birth Place:New York City, U.S.
Education:University of California, Berkeley (BS, PhD)
Unification Theological Seminary (MA)
Yale University (PhD)
Known:Intelligent design advocate and anti-evolution activist
Occupation:Author
Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute

John Corrigan "Jonathan" Wells (born 1942) is an American biologist, theologian, and advocate of the pseudoscientific argument of intelligent design.[1] Wells joined the Unification Church in 1974, and subsequently wrote that the teachings of its founder Sun Myung Moon and his own studies at the Unification Theological Seminary and his prayers convinced him to devote his life to "destroying Darwinism."[2] [3] [4] [5]

After gaining a Ph.D. in religious studies from Yale University, Wells became Director of the Unification Church's inter-religious outreach organization in New York City. In 1989, he studied at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a second Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology in 1994. He became a member of several scientific associations and has published in academic journals.

In his book Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? (2000), Wells argues that a number of examples used to illustrate biology textbooks were grossly exaggerated, distorted truth, or were patently false. Wells said that this shows that evolution conflicts with the evidence, and so argued against its teaching in public education.[6] [7] Some reviewers of Icons of Evolution have said that Wells misquoted experts cited as sources and took minor issues out of context, basing his argument on a flawed syllogism. Wells's views on evolution have been rejected by the scientific community.[8] [9]

Biography

Wells was born in New York City in 1942 and grew up in New Jersey, and was brought up as a Protestant Christian. He studied geology at Princeton University, where he dropped out in his junior year. Following a brief stint as a taxi driver, he was drafted into the United States Army and spent two years serving in Germany. After his discharge in 1966, he attended University of California, Berkeley, where he publicly refused to report for reserve duty. This resulted in him being arrested and being incarcerated for eighteen months at the Leavenworth military prison. Upon his release, Wells returned to Berkeley where he completed his studies with a major in geology and physics and a minor in biology.

In 1974, Wells joined the Unification Church of the United States.[10] He graduated from the Unification Church's Unification Theological Seminary in 1978 with a master's degree in religious education.[11] Wells continued his studies at Yale University, earning a PhD in religious studies in 1986, focusing on historical reactions to Darwinism.[12] During this time he wrote extensively on Unification theology and taught at the Unification Theological Seminary. Wells was on the Board of Trustees of the Unification Theological Seminary until resigning in 1997 to return to teaching.[13] He also acted as the director of the International Religious Foundation, a Unification Church affiliated organization which sponsors interdenominational conferences.[14] [15]

Wells has written on the subject of marriage within the Unification Church and has been called a "Unification Church marriage expert" by church sources.[16] [17] [18] Wells defended Unification Church theology against what he said were unfair criticisms of it made in 1977 by the National Council of Churches.

In 1994, Wells earned another PhD in molecular and cellular biology from the University of California, Berkeley.[12] After receiving his doctorate, he worked at a position he described as "a post-doctoral research biologist at Berkeley, writing articles critical of Darwinism." Shortly after that Wells joined Phillip E. Johnson, father of the intelligent design movement, at the Discovery Institute. He now serves as a fellow at the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture,[19] the hub of the intelligent design movement, and at the International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design,[20] which also promotes intelligent design.[21]

Wells appeared on a panel at Harvard with Stephen Palumbi in November 2001, which his supporters lauded as a "home run".[22] [23] [24] [25] Other observers stated that Wells' performance was "uneventful".[26]

Opposition to Darwinian evolution

Of his student days at Unification Theological Seminary (1976–78), Wells said, "One of the things that Father [Reverend Sun Myung Moon] advised us to do at UTS was to pray to seek God's plan for our lives." Wells later described that plan: "To defend and articulate Unification theology especially in relation to Darwinian evolution."[27]

Wells stated that his religious doctoral studies at Yale, which were paid for by the Unification Church, focused on the "root of the conflict between Darwinian evolution and Christian doctrine" and encompassed the whole of Christian theology within a focus of Darwinian controversies.[28] He said:

Wells said that "destroying Darwinism" was his motive for studying Christian theology at Yale and going on to seek his second PhD at Berkeley, studying biology and in particular embryology:

Notes and References

  1. Wells . Jonathan . November 2004 . Using Intelligent Design Theory to Guide Scientific Research . https://web.archive.org/web/20060513182316/http://www.iscid.org/papers/Wells_TOPS_051304.pdf . dead . 2006-05-13 . Progress in Complexity, Information and Design . 3.1.2 . 1555-5089 . 315922913 . 2008-07-16 .
  2. Web site: Icon 4 — Haeckel's Embryos . November 23, 2006 . Gishlick . Alan D. . . National Center for Science Education . Berkeley, CA . 2008-12-17.
  3. Web site: Darwinism: Why I Went for a Second Ph.D. . Wells . Jonathan . True Parents Organization . Denver, CO . 2013-12-12.
  4. Web site: The Rise and Fall of Baylor University's Michael Polanyi Center (Barbara Forrest's Letter to Simon Blackburn) . https://web.archive.org/web/20080106063508/http://www.designinference.com/documents/2007.12.MPC_Rise_and_Fall.htm . dead . 2008-01-06 . Forrest . Barbara . Barbara Forrest . March 2000 . Dembski . William A . William A. Dembski . DesignInference.com . William Dembski . 2013-12-12 . As I stated earlier, Johnson, Dembski, and their associates have assumed the task of destroying 'Darwinism,' 'evolutionary naturalism,' 'scientific materialism,' 'methodological naturalism,' 'philosophical naturalism,' and other 'isms' they use as synonyms for evolution. . Quoted in "Rebuttal to Reports by Opposing Expert Witnesses" (PDF) by William A. Dembski (May 14, 2005).
  5. Web site: Comparing Darwin's Method with That of Scientific Creationists. 2008-12-31.
  6. Coyne . Jerry . Jerry Coyne . April 12, 2001 . Creationism by stealth . . Book review . 410 . 6830 . 745–46 . 10.1038/35071144 . 2001Natur.410..745C . free .
  7. Web site: Critics Rave Over Icons of Evolution: A Response to Published Reviews . Wells . Jonathan . June 12, 2002 . . Discovery Institute . Seattle, WA . Several of them grossly exaggerate or distort the truth, while others are patently false. Yet they are found year after year in almost all textbooks dealing with evolutionary theory, and they invariably accompany other material promoting that theory. When someone points out that the textbook examples misrepresent the facts, Darwinists don't rush to correct them. Instead, they rush to defend them. . 2007-08-13.
  8. Web site: INTRODUCTION to ICONS of EVOLUTION: Science or Myth? Why much of what we teach about evolution is wrong . Wells . Jonathan . Icons of Evolution . . Seattle, WA . 2013-12-12 . Biological evolution is the theory that all living things are modified descendants of a common ancestor that lived in the distant past. It claims that you and I are descendants of ape-like ancestors, and that they in turn came from still more primitive animals.
    [...]
    ...much of what we teach about evolution is wrong. This fact raises troubling questions about the status of Darwinian evolution. If the icons of evolution are supposed to be our best evidence for Darwin's theory, and all of them are false or misleading, what does that tell us about the theory? Is it science, or myth? . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131229192456/http://www.iconsofevolution.org/intro/ . 2013-12-29 .
  9. Web site: The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design Review: Why Should Words Have Meanings? (Chapter 1) . Humburg . Burt . Cartwright . Reed A. . August 26, 2006 . . The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. . Houston, TX . Blog . 2007-02-04 . In order to advance his thesis, Wells has to convey the idea that 'Darwinism' pits itself against traditional Christianity: to allow pupils to learn it is to give them up to atheism, decadence, liberalism and to lose the culture war.
    Note that Wells does not wage war against evolution. In fact, he is at pains to make it (somewhat) clear that he wages war against 'Darwinism', which in context might sound like the sort of thing any sensible Christian would want to guard against. Unfortunately, Wells isn't exactly clear what he means by Darwinism as opposed to evolution.
    [...]
    Easily, one of the prominent faults of Wells’s screed is a pervasive confusion between terms. Words, like 'Darwinism' and 'Traditional Christianity', seem to mean whatever Wells wants them to mean for that specific sentence. In many cases words are used without regard for his own stated definitions and usually without regard to usage elsewhere in his book. There are several possible reasons for this confusion in terms. First, Wells confusion may be by design. I have argued elsewhere that creationists intend to confuse their audiences when they argue. Second, if you review the acknowledgements page, you’ll read how Wells used many authors to help him prepare this text. It is possible that Wells's editorship was so insufficient that he allowed a term that makes up part of the book's very title to have a flexible meaning. My suspicion is that there was both disparity between the understanding of key terms by different authors as well as an intention to confuse. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061126045754/http://www.pandasthumb.org/archives/2006/08/the_politically_1.html . November 26, 2006 .
  10. [#Cashill 2005|Cashill 2005]
  11. Web site: Jonathan Wells Then . Wells . Jonathan . The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design . The Discovery Institute . Seattle, WA . 2008-07-16.
  12. [#Numbers 2006|Numbers 2006]
  13. Web site: Board of Trustees . True Parents Organization . Denver, CO . 2013-12-12.
  14. Web site: New Hope for Dialogue with National Council of Churches of Christ . Antal . Chris . February 2000 . True Parents Organization . Denver, CO . 2013-12-12.
  15. News: CULTIVATING FRIENDS REV. MOON HOSTS RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS . . November 21, 1985.
  16. Web site: Marriage and the Family: the Unification Blessing . Wells . Jonathan . True Parents Organization . Denver, CO . 2013-12-12.
  17. News: Lanham . Cheryl Wetzstein . September 1994 . True Subject and Object, Not Men and Women . Unification News . Letter to the editor (reprint) . New York . . 1061-0871 . 2013-12-12.
  18. Web site: Unificationist Photos from 1997 and 1998 . True Parents Organization . Denver, CO . 2013-12-12.
  19. Web site: Jonathan Wells, Senior Fellow - CSC . Discovery Institute . Seattle, WA . 2013-12-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130314204248/http://www.discovery.org/p/41 . 2013-03-14 . dead .
  20. Web site: Society Fellows . International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design . Princeton, NJ . 2013-12-12 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130116054926/http://www.iscid.org/fellows.php . 2013-01-16 .
  21. Web site: Intelligent Design and Peer Review . . Washington, D.C. . https://web.archive.org/web/20070312080527/http://www.aaas.org/spp/dser/03_Areas/evolution/issues/peerreview.shtml . 2007-03-12 . 2013-12-12.
  22. Web site: The Weekly Edge Update: Wells Hits a Home Run at Harvard. 2001-12-02. Phillip E.. Johnson. Access Research Network. 2018-10-03.
  23. News: Panelists Discuss Validity Of Evolutionary Theory. 2001-11-29. Jeslyn A.. Miller. The Harvard Crimson. 2018-10-03.
  24. Web site: Why I Won't Debate Creationists. https://web.archive.org/web/20130312033731/http://old.richarddawkins.net/articles/119-why-i-won-39-t-debate-creationists. 2013-03-12. dead. 2006-05-14. Richard. Dawkins. The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. 2018-10-03.
  25. Evolution vs Creation debate—Harvard Professor Stephen Palumbi vs Jonathan Wells. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/NrwzYOBLUoE . 2021-12-21 . live. 2013-11-17. Youtube. 2018-10-03.
  26. News: Death to Intelligent Design. 2003-03-31. Jonathan H.. Esensten. The Harvard Crimson. 2018-10-03.
  27. . May–June 1997 . Dr. Jonathan Wells Returns to UTS . The Cornerstone . 0197-5196 . 2013-12-12.
  28. Web site: Know Your Creationists . Andrew . Stephen . January 15, 2006 . . Kos Media, LLC . Berkeley, CA . Blog . 59226519 . 2013-12-12.

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