o

A
ccording to cborah Cadburys book cntitlcd
Te Terrible Lizard, which tclls us about carly
dinosaur huntcrs, thc tumblc ol ncw boncs
bcing dug up right in ngland soon bccamc a signi
cant lactor in a vast and widcsprcad shilt away lrom
what camc to bc callcd a bondagc to Moscs, that is,
bondagc to thc 8iblc.
Cornclius Huntcrs book, Darwins God: Evolution and
the Problem of Evil, dcmonstratcs conclusivcly that
cvcn arwin, only a littlc latcr, was still conccrncd
about thc Christian laith in that hc was paincd until
thc day hc dicd by thc intcllcctual task ol cxplaining
how a good and allpowcrlul God could havc authorcd
thc cruclty which hc saw so pcrvasivcly in naturc, and
which many ol thc discovcrics ol dinosaur boncs dra
matically highlightcd.
8oth Huntcr and Cadbury show that in thc 1820s
8iblical pcrspcctivcs wcrc major lactors ltcring intcr
prctations ol thc boncs bcing discovcrcd ol carlicr lilc
lorms. Tis was truc at xlord Univcrsity, lor cxamplc,
which was in that cra a citadcl ol dclcnsc ol thc litcral
tcxt ol thc 8iblc, somcwhat ol a Moody 8iblc !nstitutc.
Today wc havc thc wondcrlul and ccctivc work ol thc
vangclical pionccrs in thc !ntclligcnt csign (!)
movcmcnt, a pcrspcctivc portraycd magniccntly in
thc !llustra Mcdia vidco, Unlocking the Mystery of Life.
8ut ncithcr thc writings ol thcsc pionccr ! pcoplc
nor this magniccnt vidco rccct any statcd conccrn
whatsocvcr lor thc pcrplcxing prcscncc ol pcrvasivc
cvil, sucring and cruclty throughout all ol naturc.
Strangc, bccausc thc lurid prcscncc ol cvil (Naturc
rcd in tooth and claw) was a major lactor in arwins
thinking and thc thinking ol quitc a lcw othcr kcy
pcoplc who in his day wcrc conluscd about how thc
cxistcncc ol violcnt lorms ol lilc could bc congrucnt
with thc conccpt ol a bcncvolcnt Crcator.
Tus, it would appcar that somc ol our prcscntday
crcationists arc so cagcr to givc God all thc crcdit lor
all ol crcation that thc virtually unavoidablc prcs
cncc ol cvil to bc sccn thcrc has bccomc strangcly lcss
important than it was in arwins day and cvcn to
arwin himscll. Vould it not bc vcry ironic il thc man
wc usually accusc ol dcstroying laith in a Crcator God
wcrc to turn out to bc morc intcrcstcd in prcscrving
thc good rcputation ol that God than wc arc:
!n saying that somc ol our crcationists arc glossing
ovcr thc surprisingly promincnt rcality ol intclligcnt
cvil in naturc, ! dont mcan that any ol thcsc ! pcoplc
rcally dccp down arc unwilling to conlront thc cnig
matic rcality ol cvil. ! just mcan that, lrom thc currcnt
discussion as sccn in thcir writtcn matcrials that would
appcar to bc thc casc.
As a mattcr ol lact, ! myscll havc all my lilc bclicvcd in
what C. S. Lcwis callcd that hidcous strcngth. Yct only
rcccntly havc ! bcgun to rccct on thc possibility that
this hidcous and intclligcnt cvil must not rcasonably bc
dcalt with among us any longcr mcrcly by supcrcial
rclcrcnccs to thc philosophical conccpt ol sin and to
a fall of man. Vhy: 8ccausc thc mcrc idea of sin is not
pcrsonilyablc. Sin as an abstraction is dcncd by somc
as thc dcparturc lrom what is right. !n that casc thc
conccpt itscll docs not ncccssarily imply thc potcnt and
powcrlul cxistcncc ol a diabolical pcrsonality any morc
than would a wrong scorc on a thirdgradc arithmctic
tcst. Tc kcy qucstion is, ocs it makc any practical
dicrcncc il wc conccivc ol oursclvcs, on thc onc hand,
Where Darwin Scores Higher than
Intelligent Design
Ralph D. Winter
Rcprintcd with pcrmission lrom thc International Journal of Frontier Missions 20:4 (Vintcr 2003), 113116.
+o Vnvvv ~vwix Scovvs Hicnvv Tn~x !x:viiicvx: vsicx
as tcmptcd by thc lrccdom to sin or, on thc othcr hand,
ghting against an cvil onc who tcmpts us intclligcntly:
Notc, lor cxamplc, thc hugc dicrcncc, back in thc
days ol thc Sccond Vorld Var, bctwccn, on thc onc
hand, thc oltcn ncarly invisiblc iccbcrgs that scnt many
ships to thc bottom ol thc occan and, on thc othcr
hand, thc stcalthy, intclligcnt submarincs which causcd
lar grcatcr damagc. Vhat il thc sinking ol thousands
ol ships had bccn conccivcd ol as mcrcly thc rcsult ol
inanimatc lorccs: Vhat il scicntists had not gurcd
out a way to bouncc undcrwatcr sound o stcclhullcd
submarincs in such a way as to distinguish thc dil
lcrcncc bctwccn an iccbcrg and a submarinc: Tis
tcchniquc, to bc callcd sonar, camc latc in thc war, and
implcmcnting it took cvcn longcr. 8y that timc not a
thousand ships had bccn sunk, not two thousand, but
six thousand ships crossing thc Atlantic, loadcd with
lood and war matcricl, had gonc to thc bottom. !t may
bc hard to bclicvc, but thc outcomc ol that cnormous
war turncd on thc subscqucnt succcss in ghting thcsc
intelligent submarincs.
!t could bc allcgcd that ! am missing a main point. A
convcrsation ! had with Philip Johnson scvcral ycars
ago brought this lorcibly to my attcntion. ! bcgan by
congratulating him (and Michacl 8chc) on thc potcnt
logic ol thc ! movcmcnt, but ! said, Vhcn you look
at your computcr scrccn and il it says suddcnly, Ha, !
just wipcd out your hard disk, you havc not thc slight
cst diculty in concluding that you havc sucrcd thc
onslaught ol a computcr virus concoctcd by an intcl
ligcnt, rcal pcrson. Curiously, thcn, whcn wc contcm
platc a rcal biological virus which, though only a tiny
asscmblagc, assails thc hcalth ol an cnormously largcr
human bcing, why do wc havc troublc concluding that
wc arc dcaling with an intclligcnt evil dcsign:
His answcr, csscntially, was, Ralph, in my writings and
public appcaranccs ! cant cvcn mcntion God much
lcss Satan. ! havc a vcry spccic battlc to ght, namcly,
to takc apart thc logic ol unaidcd cvolution. Tat is
all ! am trying to do. kay, ! havc rcspcctcd that
rcsponsc. ! havc not pcstcrcd him lurthcr. !n lact, ! am
not cvcn now cndcavoring to lault thc ! movcmcnt
and its objcctivcs.
Rathcr, ! would ask a largcr qucstion. Tcrc arc vcry
many pcoplc, cvcn 8iblcbclicving Christians (not just
nonChristians), who arc to this day proloundly puz
zlcd, pcrplcxcd, and ccrtainly conluscd by thc cxtcnsivc
prcscncc in thc crcatcd world ol outragcous cvil, crc
atcd apparcntly by what wc bclicvc to bc a God who is
both allpowcrlul and bcncvolcnt. !n coping with this,
thcy may lrcqucntly attributc to God what is actually
thc work ol an cvil intclligcncc, and thus latalistically
givc not thc slightcst thought to ghting back.
When my wife died in 2001 more than one
pcrson tricd to consolc mc by obscrving that, and !
quotc, God knows what Hc is doing.
When Chuck Colsons daughter concluded that
hcr braindamagcd son was, and ! quotc, cxactly
thc way God wantcd him to bc, thc imprcssivcly
intclligcnt and inucntial Colson actually applaud
cd hcr conclusion.
When Jonathan Edwards fatally contracted
smallpox in his cort to try out a vaccinc that might
protcct thc !ndians in Vcstcrn Massachusctts, thc
vast majority ol thc hypcrcalvinistically traincd
pastors ol Massachusctts concludcd that God killcd
him bccausc, to quotc thcm, hc was intcrlcring
with ivinc Providcncc. Tcsc pastors wcnt on to
organizc an antivaccination socicty.
Going further back in time, a Mother Superior in
Spain wokc up onc morning and dctcctcd a small
lump in hcr lorchcad. Shc concludcd that it must bc
God who was doing somcthing to hcr prcsumably
to dccpcn hcr dcvotion and nourish hcr charactcr.
Vhcn it nally turncd out that a worm was bur
rowing thcrc, and had brokcn thc surlacc so you
could scc cxactly what it was, shc concludcd that it
was Gods worm. Vhcn shc would stoop ovcr to
pick somcthing up, and it would occasionally lall
out, shc would rcplacc it so as not to obstruct thc
will ol God.
Tcsc arc, howcvcr, only a lcw cxamplcs comparcd
to thc thousands ol timcs a day among cvcn modcrn
vangclicals that somc blatant cvil gocs unattackcd bc
causc it is rcsigncdly il not latalistically assumcd to bc
thc initiativc ol God. ! am not so much intcrcstcd in
thc philosophical or thcological aspccts ol this situa
tion as ! am in thc rcsulting passivity bclorc cradicablc
cvil, thc practical latalism.
! will go onc stcp lurthcr. !l wc arc dcaling with an
intclligcnt cvil, cvcn our thinking about that lact may
likcly bc opposcd and conluscd by that samc cvil
lorcc, that cvil powcr, that cvil pcrsonality. !s thcrc any
Ralph D. Winter ++
cvidcncc ol this additional complcxity: !n what lorm
would it appcar: How could wc idcntily it:
Tc human pcriod ol history is papcr thin whcn
comparcd to thc vast cxpansc ol thc prcvious story ol
thc dcvclopmcnt ol lilc on carth. 8ut cvcn in thc lcw
thousands ol ycars ol thc cxistcncc ol homo sapiens, it
would sccm clcar that thc growth ol human popula
tion is dircctly rclatcd to thc dcgrcc ol acquircd human
knowlcdgc ol, and intcntional rcsistancc to, microbio-
logical pathogens. A wholc ood ol books havc appcarcd
in rcccnt ycars commcnting on thc plagucs ol history
and on thc gcncral conqucst ol discasc through mcdi
cinc. 8oth war and pcstilcncc havc long bccn notcd to
bc an impcdimcnt to population growth. 8ut pcsti
lcncc appcars to bc thc grcatcr problcm.
Vorld Var !!, wc undcrstand, was thc rst war in
history during which morc pcoplc dicd lrom military
action than lrom warintroduccd discasc. Progrcss has
bccn slow and cvcn today, as antibiotics sccm to bc
running thcir coursc, it has bccn a story ol rcvcrscs and
platcaus, not just triumphs. 8ut thc calibration ol our
conqucst simply and crassly by population growth (or
nongrowth) is roughly workablc. Tc phcnomcnon ol
population growth, howcvcr, is not widcly undcrstood
or casily mcasurcd.
!l thc cstimatcd 27 million world population in
Abrahams day 4,000 ycars ago had grown at thc prcs
cnt ratc ol thc world population, thcrc would havc
bccn six billion pcoplc only 321 ycars latcr. Had it
grown at thc ratc ol gypts currcnt ratc thc six billion
would havc bccn rcachcd in only 123 ycars. Vhat ac
tually happcncd was a growth so slow that 2,000 ycars
latcr, at thc timc ol Christ, world population was not
six billion but only onc thirticth ol that. Again altcr
thrcc ccnturics ol litcracy during Roman occupation ol
southcrn ngland, thc Roman lcgions wcrc withdrawn
to protcct thc city ol Romc itscll. Soon 8ritain lapscd
back into illitcracy and into horrcndous war and pcsti
lcncc to thc cxtcnt that its population did not incrcasc
in thc slightcst lor thc ncxt 600 ycars (lrom 440 A to
1066 A).
At that point thc tribal backwatcr that was uropc
bcgan gradually to crawl into conqucst ol both war
and discasc. Tc rcst ol thc story ol cascading incrcasc
in Vcstcrn populations, as wcll as colonially acctcd
global populations, is common knowlcdgc. Tis in
crcasc, as alrcady notcd, is a rough and rcady mcasurc
ol thc conqucst ol discasc, a story which, as ! say, is
documcntcd vcry clcarly in a rcccnt ood ol books on
plagucs and thc history ol mcdicinc.
Curiously, what is pcrhaps thc most cnduring char
actcristic in this conqucst is thc rcmoval ol lalsc idcas
about thc naturc ol discasc. Tc vcry discovcry ol
unbclicvably small pathogcns was long in coming. ur
major Vcstcrn thcologians, whcthcr Tomas Aquinas
or John Calvin, kncw absolutcly nothing about thc vast
world ol microbiology. Tcy, in turn had bccn inu
cnccd by Augustinc, who is crcditcd with giving God
thc crcdit lor much ol what Satan docs.
Tus, cvcn our currcnt thcological litcraturc, to my
knowlcdgc, docs not scriously considcr discasc patho
gcns lrom a thcological point ol vicwthat is, arc
thcy thc work ol God or Satan: Much lcss docs this
litcraturc ask thc qucstion, ocs God mandatc us to
climinatc pathogcns:
Tc rccurrcnt pattcrn ol attcmpts at discovcry is dis
turbingly oltcn a mattcr ol looking lor thc wrong solu
tion. A parallcl would bc looking lor iccbcrgs not intcl
ligcnt submarincs. Again and again mcdical authoritics
havc condcntly dcncd thc causcs ol ccrtain discascs
as passivc conditions rathcr than intclligcntly dcviscd
(and constantly rcviscd) pathogcns. For cxamplc, again
and again it was discovcrcd that stomach ulccrs wcrc
causcd by an inlcction, not strcss. Tis happcncd in thc
1880s, again in 1945, again in 1981 (in Australia) but
thc wrong solutions hcld sway unqucstioncd in this
country lor tcn morc ycars until thc Ncw York tabloid,
thc National Enquirer, ran a covcr story on ulccrs and
inlcction dcscribing thc Australian brcakthrough. vcn
so, altcr tcn morc ycars a survcy ol mcdical doctors in
thc statc ol Colorado rcvcalcd that lcss than 50 had
yicldcd to thc right solution.
A similar history is displaycd in thc casc ol tubcrcu
losis, a major global killcr. !t was long thought that
chilly and damp conditions wcrc thc causc. vcntually
it bccamc clcar that thc causc is a vcry clcvcr pathogcn
that has rcccntly bccn modicd to bccomc cvcn morc
dicult to dclcat.
8ut this pcrvasivc and curious conlusion about causcs
is not just a mattcr ol past history. !n Fcbruary ol 1999,
Atlantic Monthly publishcd a lcngthy covcr story con
dcntly prcscnting thc thcory that hcart discasc, canccr,
multiplc sclcrosis, Alzhcimcrs, and cvcn schizophrc
nia arc thc rcsult ol inlcctions, not thc usual passivc
+: Vnvvv ~vwix Scovvs Hicnvv Tn~x !x:viiicvx: vsicx
lactors such as dicts high in lat or salt or whatcvcr.
vidcntly in uropc such pcrspcctivcs havc bccn morc
widcly pursucd.
Now, you would think that so promincnt an cxpo
surc ol an idca so cnormously signicant would havc
rcvcrbcratcd back in 1999 in ncwspapcrs and othcr
pcriodicals. 8ut thcrc was nothing in thc LA Times
lor anothcr month, and thcn only about thrcc inchcs
that did not rccognizc cvcn rcmotcly thc import ol thc
thcory. Trcc months latcr a lairly long articlc on thc
subjcct appcarcd in thc LA Times, although it did not
mcntion thc Atlantic Monthly articlc nor any ol thc
rcscarchcrs to which it rclcrrcd.
Tcn thcrc was mainly silcncclor thrcc ycars. Finally,
in May ol 2002 Scientic American sportcd a covcr story
that calmly and boldly dcclarcd that thc passivc lac
tors in hcart discasc and thc normal cxplanation ol thc
progrcssivc build up ol plaquc in artcrics is littlc rclatcd
to our nations biggcst killcr. Tcrc is a totally dicrcnt
mcchanism, which, it says, has bccn known lor 20 ycars.
!t points out that gradual rcduction ol artcrial channcls
would prcsumably producc gradual wcakcning in thc
pcrson aictcd, and that hcart attacks arc charactcristi
cally most oltcn suddcn, and 50 ol thc timc occur in
pcoplc whosc bodics do not display thc usual symptoms.
For thc rccord, hcart discasc is not only thc biggcst killcr
but thc most costly. At 81 billion pcr day thc cost ol
dcaling with pcoplc aictcd with hcart discasc could
rcbuild thc Ncw York towcrs cvcry thrcc days.
Notc that this ncw pcrspcctivc is a total upsct ol long
standing assumptions (similar to thc idca that strcss
causcs ulccrs), namcly that passive conditions of life, diet,
exercise, salt intake, etc., produce heart attacks. Now wc
hcar that thc actual cxplanation is not within thc artcrics
but lrom within thc walls ol thc artcrics, namcly, inam
mations producing suddcn and unprcdictablc cruptions
that instantly block an artcry totally. Tcsc inamma
tions arc, lurthcrmorc, now lcarcd to bc thc rcsult not ol
inanimatc, passivc conditions, but ol intclligcnt patho
gcns. Not iccbcrgs but intclligcnt submarincs.
Tc samc gcncral story, but lar morc complicatcd,
could bc dcscribcd lor thc sphcrc ol canccr. \cry
gradually, with uphill opposition again, thc rccognition
ol viral causcs has gaincd stcam.
Vc can ask why is it so hard lor intclligcnt cvil to bc
rccognizcd. Vc can also ask why it is that almost all at
tcntion to canccr is locuscd on trcatmcnts ol thc rcsults
ol canccr and lcss than onc tcnth ol onc pcrccnt ol thc
billions ploughcd into canccr gocs toward undcrstand
ing thc naturc ol canccr, and cvcn thcrc thc thcory ol
intclligcnt pathogcns is slightcd and cvcn rcsistcd.
vcrything ! havc said sums up as thc problcm ol thc
lailurc to rccognizc intclligcnt cvil. !t is by no mcans
simply a philosophical or thcological issuc. 8y lar thc
largcst human cort in Amcrica today rclatcs dircctly
or indircctly to thc prcscncc ol discasc and ol thc
distortion ol Crcativc !ntcnt in thc arca ol human lilc.
!t is a major crror to look in thc wrong dircction lor
thc causc ol a discasc. !t would sccm to mc to bc an
cvcn morc scrious crror not to noticc thc cxistcncc ol
intclligcnt cvil at all, which thc publishcd matcrials ol
thc !ntclligcnt csign group unilormly ignorc. arwin
did not do that. !nstcad, hc invcntcd thc wacky thcory
ol unaided cvolution. 8ut arwin at lcast rccognizcd
thc prcscncc ol cvil il not intclligcnt cvil, and cvcn thc
nccd to protcct thc rcputation ol a bcncvolcnt God.
!n that scnsc hc scorcd highcr than what wc scc in thc
writtcn matcrials ol !ntclligcnt csign.