About the Book
This book places the present Creationist opposition to the theory of evolution in historical context by setting out the ways in which, from the seventeenth century onwards, investigations of the history of the earth and of humanity have challenged the biblical views of chronology and human destiny, and the Christian responses to these challenges. The author's interest is not primarily directed to questions such as the epistemological status of scientific versus religious knowledge or the possibility of a Darwinian ethics, but rather to the problems, and various responses to the problems, raised in a particular historical period in the West for the Bible by the massive extension of the duration of geological time and human history.
Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction Part One: Before Deep Time 1. Newton's Two Books 2. Natural Theology 3. Pre-Adamites 4. A Sacred Theory of the Earth 5. The Chain of Being 5. History of the Gentiles 7. High Noon for the Design Arrangement Part Two: The Birth of Deep Time (1750-1850) 8. Birth of Deep Time 9. The Higher Criticism 10. Dialectic of Faith and Doubt Part Three: Deep Time and Natural Selection 11. Darwinism 12. Omphalos Part Four: Deep Time versus Creationism 13. Darwinism in America 14. Schools and Courts 15. Revival of Creationism 16. Intelligent Design Conclusion
About the Author :
Arthur McCalla is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy/Religious Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Canada.
Review :
'The historical context of American creationism typically begins with early 20th-century American fundamentalism and biblical literalism. The Creationist Debate provides a much richer historical framework for understanding creationism in America by situating it within the long history of biblical interpretation. Prof. McCalla frames the evolution-creationism controversy in the U. S. by weaving it into a discussion of western European religious history and its intersection with the history of western science. In doing so, he also illuminates the historical underpinnings of intelligent design creationism, providing the historical context of the intelligent design movement's reactionary resistance not only to evolutionary theory, but to most of the intellectual accomplishments of the modern world." Barbara Forrest, professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University and co-author with Paul R. Gross of Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design
'This is a major work of scholarship. For the first time, the whole evolution-creation debate is illuminated by someone deeply learned in church history. There is a magnificent sweep of four hundred years of theological wrestling with the findings of modern science, particularly as they pertain to organic origins. Anyone who wants to understand the modern-day debate about where we all came from will have to include The Creationist Debate in their reading. From scholars to laypeople, all will benefit from this book.'
'In The Creationist Debate, Arthur McCalla analyzes America's peculiar history of anti-evolution activism through the lens of theology and religion. Well researched and forcefully written, McCalla explores the religious motivations driving American creationists in their ambitious program to change the very definition of science.'
'With meticulous scholarship Arthur McCalla demonstrates that the debate between creationists and evolutionists has been not only about science but also about the Bible. He shows that the underlying assumption of creationists is that the Bible is not merely inerrant but also transcendent. Its meaning bypasses history and is therefore immune to the challenges from worldly, contingent domains like natural science. After reading McCalla's book, one wonders how scholars have managed for so long to focus on disputes over how to read the world and to have downplayed disputes over how to read a text. A first-rate work.'
"In this outstanding work of scholarship on the historical background of the evolution-creationism controversy, McCalla (Mount Saint Vincent Univ., Halifax) presents a critical and wonderfully detailed account of attempts, spurred by the rise of modern science, to accommodate the emerging Book of nature with the Book of Scripture. In illuminating the historical background of the relations between science and religion that underlie some of the global crises facing humanity today, this book will have broad appeal. Highly recommended".- CHOICE, February 2007
Reviewed in International Review of Biblical Studies, 2007.
"This is a major work of scholarship. The author succeeded in framing the Creationism debate in the larger Western European religious context. His basic thesis is that the critical issue is not the content of evolutionary science, but rather, of historical mindedness. This, without a doubt, is a major work of meticulous scholarship and makes an important contribution to our understanding of science and religion." -Catholic Library World
Reviewed in Bulletin De theologie, Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et Theologiques, 2008
"The whole book gives the impression of a rushed and superficial job by one who knows literature science and only slightly more about the history of Christian thought, but knows how to write a marketable book" "How this book got published by a reputable publisher I do not know, but anticreationism, like creationism finds a ready market. It might help his RAE but not the reader." ANVIL vol.24 no.2 2007
'The author uses a large canvas for his work, which incorporates insights from science, religion and literature... The book is well researched and well written and covers a lot of ground.'
Choice Outstanding Academic Title.
"[I]t is a book that tells a fascinating story." Reviewed by John Goldingay in Theology, 2008
"In The Creationist Debate, Arthur McCalla provides a well-written and well-documented background for one of the hot button issues of our time: the debate about what public schools should teach regarding the origins of the earth and humanity... This book is an excellent resource, with clear references to primary texts, for anyone interested in the ways that both scientists and religious professionals responded to the mounting discrepancies between what had been the dominant understanding of our origins... and the growing body of evidence regarding those origins being discovered by scientists." -catholicbooksreview.org
"Anyone who is interested, or involved, in this debate would do well to read this eruidte and well-written book." Rev Adam Ford, Church Times
'McCalla's essay is well-researched, timely, and terrifying...All theologians with an interest in the future of their subject should read this book.' Michael Fuller, Expository Times
McCalla has engaged many colleagues and students in a measured, broad-based, and critical analysis of evolution and creationism. In this thoroughly researched and cogently argued book-destined to ignite significant discussion in both theological and secular realms-he frames the debate between creationism and evolutionary science and the central position of the Bible by beginning with the 16th-century and extending into 21st-century religious perspectives. His impeccable scholarship is balanced and respective of varying commonly held beliefs and clearly addresses problems arising from the literal biblical chronology. The material is dense but easily understood by most readers interested in cultural and religious issues. McCalla fully succeeds in articulating a position based on evidence and intellectual history. The book concludes with a detailed notes section and a bibliography and index. Recommended for academic and theological libraries.
"This is a fascinating and well-written book, which provides a useful introduction to this topic. It would be of use to students on courses dealing with creationism an evolution, as well as those interested generally in the relationship between science and religion" John Walliss, Liverpool Hope University, TBR
The second revised edition (1st ed., CH Feb'07, 44-3251) of this masterful work by McCala (Mount Saint Vincent Univ., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) further develops a historical account of debates between creationists and proponents of evolution. Central to the debates is the tension between modern science and religion, between objective history and history grounded in scripture. The central problem in recent attempts to accommodate scripture to modern science is how to interpret biblical texts rather than questions about evolutionary fact and theory. McCalla reveals the essential duplicity of scientific creationism and proponents of intelligent design in purporting to revise the very conception of historical and scientific inquiry to promote scriptural doctrine. Opponents of creationism see the Bible as portraying myths of origins rather than historical reality. McCalla argues his case forcefully, but the criticism is never strident n tone. He suggests that attempts to find a rational compromise between religious commitment to scriptural tradition and scientific views of nature fail to recognize the underlying threat of 'reactionary biblicism' to the values of a liberal-democratic society. This fine work should interest anyone concerned with the historical and contemporary relations of science and religion. Includes a good index and wide-ranging bibliography. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through researcheser/faculty; general readers.
