Conor Cunningham - Darwins Pious Idea: Why the Ultra-Darwinists and Creationists Both Get It Wrong

More acclaim for Cunninghams magnum opus on evolution

Conor Cunningham established his reputation with the original and profound Genealogy of Nihilism. In recent years a handful of sand-box atheists, prominent in the media, have invoked Darwin and evolution when defending their positions. In this sparkling yet rigorous book Cunningham deals with the philosophical dimensions and theological implications of evolutionary theory. Anyone who longs for this debate to be taken to a proper, intellectually challenging level needs to read Cunningham.

K EN S URIN

Duke University

A sustained philosophical and theological engagement with Darwinian science. Eschewing tired images of a simple conflict between progressive science and benighted faith, Cunningham shows how the resources of the Christian tradition enable a constructive conversation with evolutionary theory. A rich and bold treatment of the subject.

D AVID F ERGUSSON

New College,
University of Edinburgh

Cunningham argues vigorously that the new atheism is not based on good science or on anything that looks remotely like religion, since what passes for science among these folks is mostly bad metaphysics and it might not be a science at all.

D AVID D EPEW

author of Darwinism Evolving

A truly splendid intervention!

D AVID N. L IVINGSTONE

Queens University, Belfast

Those who think scientists have nothing to learn from theologians should give this theologian a fair listen: they might learn something maybe even something about science.

J USTIN L. B ARRETT

University of Oxford

Drawing on science, theology, and contemporary culture, Cunningham gives us in this monumental work an impassioned plea for the theological truth of Darwinian evolution.

M ICHAEL S. N ORTHCOTT

New College,
University of Edinburgh

It is not easy to enter a world of rants and systematically transform it into a worthy conversation. Conor Cunningham earns this distinction through his fair and scrupulous attention to the soundest arguments on all sides of this issue.

D AN R OBINSON

University of Oxford

Conor Cunningham does not simply clarify both sides in the debate between Darwinism and religion (though he certainly does that); he also shows that evolution does not disenchant the world and the human being. To the contrary, it reveals their intrinsic worth. In extremely clear and colorful prose Cunningham presents the science behind the debate, the history of the controversy, and the meaning of terms used in it. Authoritative and based on a breathtaking range of sources, both contemporary and classical, in science, philosophy, and theology.

R OBERT S OKOLOWSKI

Catholic University of America

In this magnum opus Cunningham steadily pushes ultra-Darwinism and reductionist materialism for their self-undermining inconsistencies. Exposing these sciences turned into scientism, he then embraces, complementary to the sciences, a deeply Christian account of creation, of both nature and human life enriched in encounter with Christ. A provocative, moving, and stimulating account.

H OLMES R OLSTON III

Colorado State University

DARWINS PIOUS IDEA

Why the Ultra-Darwinists and Creationists
Both Get It Wrong

Conor Cunningham

W ILLIAM B. E ERDMANS P UBLISHING C OMPANY

G RAND R APIDS, M ICHIGAN / C AMBRIDGE, U.K.

2010 Conor Cunningham
All rights reserved

Published 2010 by
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 /
P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K.

Printed in the United States of America

15 14 13 12 11 10 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cunningham, Conor, 1972
Darwin's pious idea: why the ultra-darwinists and creationists both get it wrong /
Conor Cunningham.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8028-4838-3 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. Creationism. 2. Evolution (Biology) Religious aspects Christianity.
3. Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882. 4. Evolution (Biology) I. Title.

BS659.C85 2010
231.7652 dc22

2010029585

www.eerdmans.com

For Crystal

Theres a crack in everything
Thats how the light gets in

Leonard Cohen, Anthem, in
The Future (Columbia, 1992)

Leopards break into the temple and drink the sacrificial chalices dry; this occurs repeatedly, again and again; finally, it can be reckoned upon beforehand and becomes part of the ceremony.

Franz Kafka, Reflections in Sin, Pain, Hope,
and the True Way, in The Great Wall of China:
Stories and Reflections, trans. Willa and
Edwin Muir (New York: Schocken Books,
1970), Reflection #17, p. 165

In principio erat Verbum

Contents

You see, I am determined to baptize [ The Origin
of Species] nolens volens, which will be its salvation

Asa Gray (letter to
Charles Darwin, March 31, 1862)

Acknowledgments

It is very much my hope in writing this book that maybe the thinking atheist and the thinking Christian will move beyond the silly impasse brought about by fundamentalism (whether secular or religious). It seems to me that, in all my dealings with thinking atheists, they manifest what we might call foolish wisdom from which I have learned much, while thinking Christians display learned ignorance (to corrupt two phrases of Pseudo-Dionysius and Nicholas of Cusa respectively). For in many respects their concerns converge on certain ethical, intellectual, metaphysical, and political questions. I would argue that they do because both are created by God, but of course, I cannot prove this, yet any such ability or lack thereof is beside the point. Maybe then this book will at times surprise both Christians and atheists, for as Michel de Certeau once said, The domain of surprise will be the birthplace of discourse. And one surprise that I certainly encountered while writing this book was the many interactions I had with many different thinkers from a plethora of disciplines, many of whom sent me book reviews, articles, and indeed entire book manuscripts geneticists, biologists, philosophers, and so on, most of whom were atheists, at least as far as I could tell. Yet the exchange of ideas transcended any such difference, and I must say that this was an edifying experience (at least for me). Those I would like to thank on this count are: Jerry Fodor, Thomas Nagel, Leon Buss, Sandra Mitchell, Terence Deacon, Timothy Shanahan, Jerome Kagan, Marc Van Regenmortel, David Stamos, Holmes Rolston III, Lenny Moss, Ernan McMullin, E. J. Lowe, and K. Weiss.

Deep in the winter of this books arrival, I had the great pleasure and honor of writing and presenting a documentary for the BBC (Did Darwin Kill God?), and this gave me an unforgettable opportunity to meet and speak to many extraordinary people, including: Francis Collins (former director of the Human Genome Project), Daniel Dennett, Michael Ruse, Simon Conway Morris, Terry Mortensen, Nick Spencer, Pietro Corsi, and Fr. Gregory Tatum, O.P. One of the greatest delights was the BBC crew, whose tolerance of me was astounding, and much appreciated! A bunch of atheists they may be, but their intelligence, artistry, and enthusiasm for the project were infectious and intrinsic to its success. In this regard, I would especially like to thank Doug Hartington (though not for his choice of music inflicted on us during all those long drives, though that could just be my own limitations!), Roger Lucas, Tony Burke, Mike Jackson, Katherine Longworth, Al Rodgers, Rodrigo Salvatierra, Andy Rushton (a true artist), and Jean Claude Braggard, who was kind enough and brave enough to let an amateur like me near a camera, and who had the vision to conceive of the project in the first place. Lastly, I would like to thank Emily Davis, whose professionalism and friendship got me across the finishing line, and somewhat surprisingly in one piece. Thank you!