Our colleague Paul Nelson has a wonderful gift for explaining things. On the weekend after Thanksgiving, he spoke at Pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church and for 40 minutes discussed…certain devastating problems with Darwinian theory from the perspective of developmental biology. Bilteria and urbilateria, Biston betularia, methodological naturalism, echinoderms, arthropods and embryonic lethals. Does this sound like fodder for a Sunday morning sermon? The subject isn’t easy and this wasn’t an audience of biology majors but the congregation of a Southern California megachurch.
Yet could anyone pull off such a lecture in such a setting with any greater clarity, in a more inviting, friendly and plainspoken manner? Perhaps not.
It’s funny, I was thinking about how Saddleback is the venue that made famous the phrase “Above my pay grade.” Then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, in a public dialogue with Pastor Warren and John McCain in 2008, answered Warren’s question “At what point does a baby get human rights?” by saying the matter, whether scientifically or theologically, was “above my pay grade” — that is, beyond his ken.
I think a lot of people have the same feeling about the question of Darwin versus Design. They are happy to take a pass on considering it seriously, despite sensing that it’s an ultimate question, because they are put off by the scientific details. Dr. Nelson does a fantastic job of bringing his subject within reach of anyone of any pay grade. Watch the whole thing. This is one of those videos to forward to your friends.