21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding, December 20, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Charles Hodge's Critique of Darwinism: An Historical-Critical Analysis of Concepts Basic to the 19th Century Debate (Studies in American Religion, V) (Hardcover)
Charles Hodge was arguably the most important American theologian of his day. He was also an avid and enthusiastic student of science, in keeping with his classic Reformed theological convictions and his Scottish Common Sense philosophical commitments. As Dr. Wells ably demonstrates, Hodge's early critique of Darwinism was among the most sophisticated and thoughtful of his generation.
Given the recent progress of the anti-Darwinist critiques, many of them following the same tragectory of Dr. Hodge's, this remains an extremely relevant topic. The scientific community is facing a growing army, from a wide variety of theological and philosophical backgrounds, who are bravely demonstarting that Emperor Darwin has no clothes. William Dembski, Michael Behe, Hugh Ross, and dozens of others are really shaking things up. This book, while an historical study, can help you understand why.
Dr. Wells is uniquely qualified for the task. He holds a Ph.D. in the history of science from Yale and another Ph.D. in cell biology from Berkeley. He's also a very fine writer.
This is a very significant work.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent study, October 4, 2006
This review is from: Charles Hodge's Critique of Darwinism: An Historical-Critical Analysis of Concepts Basic to the 19th Century Debate (Studies in American Religion, V) (Hardcover)
This book is Dr Wells PhD thesis from Yale. It is an important book and would receive wide circulation if the price was lower. Wells not only has a PhD from Yale but a PhD in molecular biology from the University of California, Berkeley. He majored in geology at Princeton where he became an atheist. Although he was in the top one percent of his class he dropped out to find himself (a familiar story). He ended up at Berkeley, and finished his degree in geology, physics and biology. He also ended up a Berkeley radical and for his pacifism served four months in solitary confinement plus eight months in Leavenworth. Things have sure changed. As he studied Darwinism he increasingly became dissatisfied and ended up concluding the theory has major holes in it. About this time he joined the Unification church and continued his research on Darwinism. This book is one result. This background helps readers to understand his work. Wells, aside from some youthful digressions influenced by his peers and professors, has since followed the evidence and is still doing so. His work has stirred up a lot of name calling but little in terms of solid argument.
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