HOW TO GO
What: "The Theory of Intelligent Design" a lecture by Paul A. Nelson, Ph.D.
Where: Apollo Auditorium #160, Wright State University Student Union, Fairborn
When: 6 to 8p.m. Monday, Sept. 24
Cost: Free
More info: Call (937) 732-6524 or e-mail dapologetics@gmail.com
The late theologian and author Byron C. Nelson was a notable critic of the prevailing scientific theorem of natural selection. He was influential in this dissent of Darwinian evolution and wrote many books on the subject, including “Creationism in Twentieth-Century America.” Nelson lived from 1893 to 1972.
His grandson, Paul A. Nelson, is following in his footsteps. He is an adjunct professorat Biola University in La Mirada, Calif. He’s been involved in the intelligent design debate internationally for over two decades. Nelson will be speaking on this subject on Monday at Wright State University.
“I hope to inspire people with the beauty and fascination of biology itself. Intelligent design is well supported by scientific evidence, and shows great promise for the growth of knowledge,” said Nelson, a fellow of the Discovery Institute in Seattle. “While design has religious implications, it can be pursued as a research question from differing religious viewpoints, or even none at all.”
Nelson was invited to speak at WSU by Ratio Christi, a student apologetics club on campus. Dave Nedostup is the chapter director.
“Dr. Nelson is an articulate and well-educated philosopher of science in biology. He is coming to clarify why intelligent design is a valid form of reasoning by showing there is order and design in the cosmos as well as the biological realm,” said Nedostup. “This is about science, not religion. Natural selection and mutation cannot produce information or coding in the DNA. Because of the intricate design, order and complexity in creation, he will show that intelligence makes more sense of the created order than the blind processes of evolutionary chance.”
During the lecture, Nelson will address these four questions: What is the theory of intelligent design? Is intelligent design theory incompatible with evolution? Is intelligent design based on The Bible? Is intelligent design theory the same as creationism?
“For me, the development of any animal from a single cell (the fertilized egg) to an adult organism, which can itself reproduce, represents a process of breathtaking wonder pointing unmistakably to design,” said Nelson. “I’ll describe this evidence in my talk, using examples from the development of butterflies.”
Nelson has many critics and detractors on his lecture circuit. Some of his toughest questions from those in the audience have to do with how intelligent design can grow out of a set of powerful intuitions into a testable scientific theory.
“Good science develops out of creative and fruitful conflict, by ideas surviving challenges from skeptics,” said Nelson. “While working with one’s critics can be painful, that’s really the best way.”
He is a member of the Society for Developmental Biology and the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology.
Nelson lives in Glenview, Ill., with his wife, Suzanne Nelson, a pediatric gastroenterologist. They have two daughters, Hannah, 20, and Olivia, 18.
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