Not Intelligent, and Surely Not Science

I just noticed a link to this L.A. Times article on Arts & Letters Daily.

Not Intelligent, and Surely Not Science: "In fact, invoking intelligent design as God's place-filler can only result in the naturalization of the deity. God becomes just another part of the natural world, and thereby loses the transcendent mystery and divinity that define the boundary between religion and science."

Current plans

When I get a chance, I am going to run through the various accounts from the LoC site and the Wikipedia entry, and try to assemble a brief list of texts describing creation for these various accounts. I think it will be useful to have a list of primary sources. Many of these accounts are not related to written texts, but there still may be a name for the story.

Before I do this however, I want to finish up recording my background with this topic. J.R.R. Tolkien's essay "On Fairy Stories" and his book The Silmarillion. are a literary theory partially based in the idea of creation, and an implementation of this theory. The Silmarillion is one of the most in depth stories of creation written in recent history. The Silmarillion is available at any decent library, and "On Fairy Stories" can be found in The Tolkien Reader:

Title : The Tolkien reader, by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Author : Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892-1973.
Publisher : New York, Ballantine Books [1966]
Edition : [1st ed.]
Description : 1 v. (various pagings) illus. 18 cm.
Contents : Tolkien's magic ring [by P. Beagle]--The Homecoming of Beorhtaoth,
Beorhthelm's son.--Tree and leaf.--Farmer Giles of Ham.--The adventures of Tom Bombadil.
OCLC No. : 00309963
Location : Davis, Call Number : PR6039.O32 T6
Location : UL, Call Number : PR6039.O32 T6


The day Joan taught class, I looked these topics up in the MLA and some other databases. The best hits came from the MLA. Some of those appear below:

The search: silmarillion and creation in the database(s) MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02, MLA Bibliography 1981-1993, MLA Bibliography 1963-1980 returned 7 records

Those records that appear relevant to the topic of creation are:

Record 1 of 7 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: 'Ainulindale': Tolkien's Commitment to an Aesthetic Ontology
AU: Collins,-Robert-A.
SO: Journal-of-the-Fantastic-in-the-Arts (JFA). 2000; 11(3 (43)): 257-65
AN: 2001270091

Record 2 of 7 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Tolkien's Creation Myth in The Silmarillion: Northern or Not?
AU: Gough,-John
SO: Children'-s-Literature-in-Education (CLE). 1999 Mar; 30(1): 1-8
AN: 1999028365

Record 3 of 7 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: The Mythology of the 'Ainulindale': Tolkien's Creation of Hope
AU: Whittingham,-Elizabeth-A.
SO: Journal-of-the-Fantastic-in-the-Arts (JFA). 1998; 9(3 (35)): 212-28
AN: 1998005915

Record 4 of 7 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Augustine and the Ainulindale
AU: Houghton,-John
SO: Mythlore:-A-Journal-of-J.-R.-R.-Tolkien,-C.-S.-Lewis,-Charles-Williams,-and
-the-Genres-of-Myth-and-Fantasy-Stu (Mythlore). 1995 Summer; 21(1 (79)): 4-8
AN: 1995032236

Record 5 of 7 in MLA Bibliography 1981-1993
TI: Tolkien's World-Creation: Degenerative Recurrence
AU: Evans,-Robley
SO: Mythlore:-A-Journal-of-J.-R.-R.-Tolkien,-C.-S.-Lewis,-Charles-Williams,-and
-the-Genres-of-Myth-and-Fantasy-Stu (Mythlore). 1987 Autumn; 14(1 (51)): 5-8, 47
AN: 1989023130

Record 7 of 7 in MLA Bibliography 1981-1993
TI: The Ainulindale: Music of Creation
AU: Davis,-Howard
SO: Mythlore:-A-Journal-of-J.-R.-R.-Tolkien,-C.-S.-Lewis,-Charles-Williams,-and
-the-Genres-of-Myth-and-Fantasy-Stu (Mythlore). 1982 Summer; 9(2 (32)): 6-8
AN: 1982027747

The search: On-Fairy-Stories in DE in the database(s) MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02, MLA Bibliography 1981-1993, MLA Bibliography 1963-1980 returned 23 records

Those records that appear relevant to the topic of creation are:

Record 3 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Magic vs. Enchantment
AU: Curry,-Patrick
SO: Mallorn:-The-Journal-of-the-Tolkien-Society (Mallorn). 2001 Jan; 38: 5-10
AN: 2001701754

Record 4 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Is Man a Myth? Mere Christian Perspectives on the Human
AU: Williams,-Donald-T.
SO: Mythlore:-A-Journal-of-J.-R.-R.-Tolkien,-C.-S.-Lewis,-Charles-Williams,-and-Mythopoeic-Literature (MythloreJ). 2000 Summer-Fall; 23(1 (87)): 4-19
AN: 2000025648

Record 5 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Meeting Morgan le Fay: J. R. R. Tolkien's Theory of Subcreation and the Secondary World of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
AU: Adderley,-C.-M.
SO: Mythlore:-A-Journal-of-J.-R.-R.-Tolkien,-C.-S.-Lewis,-Charles-Williams,-and -Mythopoeic-Literature (MythloreJ). 2000 Spring; 22(4 (86)): 48-58
AN: 2000004924

Record 6 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Fantasy and Reality: J. R. R. Tolkien's World and the Fairy-Story Essay
AU: Flieger,-Verlyn
SO: Mythlore:-A-Journal-of-J.-R.-R.-Tolkien,-C.-S.-Lewis,-Charles-Williams,-and -Mythopoeic-Literature (MythloreJ). 1999 Winter; 22(3 (85)): 4-13
AN: 2000004902

Record 7 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: 'Leaf by Niggle': The Worth of the Work
AU: Manganiello,-Dominic
SO: English-Studies-in-Canada (ESC). 1998 June; 24(2): 121-37
AN: 1999059396

Record 11 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Sub-Creation in William Golding's The Inheritors
AU: Timmons,-Daniel
SO: English-Studies-in-Canada (ESC). 1996 Dec; 22(4): 399-412
AN: 1996068002

Record 12 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1994-2005/02
TI: Quid Hinieldus cum Christo? New Perspectives on Tolkien's Theological Dilemma and His Sub-Creation Theory
AU: Agoy,-Nils-Ivar
SO: Mythlore:-A-Journal-of-J.-R.-R.-Tolkien,-C.-S.-Lewis,-Charles-Williams,-and-the-Genres-of-Myth-and-Fantasy-Stu (Mythlore). 1996 Winter; (1995); 21; 33(2(80)): 31-38
AN: 1996027398

Record 18 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1981-1993
TI: Dynamic Metahistory and the Model of Christopher Dawson
AU: Ryan,-J.-S.
SO: Minas-Tirith-Evening-Star:-Journal-of-the-American-Tolkien-Society. 1989 Fall; 18(3): 10-14
AN: 1990025953

Record 23 of 23 in MLA Bibliography 1981-1993
TI: Folktale, Fairy Tale, and the Creation of a Story
AU: Ryan,-J.-S.
PB: 19-39 IN Isaacs,-Neil-D. (ed.); Zimbardo,-Rose-A. (ed.). Tolkien: New Critical Perspectives. Lexington : UP of Kentucky, 1981. vii, 175 pp.
AN: 1981000655

George Moses Horton, 1798?-ca. 1880. The Hope of Liberty. Containing a Number of Poetical Pieces

Another poem about creation from the texts in docsouth. There were a few other hits for creation on docsouth, but most of them simply were refering to God as the Creator, and not discussing creation itelf.
George Moses Horton, 1798?-ca. 1880. The Hope of Liberty. Containing a Number of Poetical Pieces: "PRAISE OF CREATION.


Creation fires my tongue!
Nature thy anthems raise;
And spread the universal song
Of thy Creator's praise! (p. 5)"

James Weldon Johnson, 1871-1938, Aaron Douglas, Illustrated by, and C. B. Falls (Charles Buckles), 1874-1960, Illustrated by. God's Trombones. Seven N

I began reviewing the various creation accounts from the LoC Exihibit I mentioned in my first post. Off a hunch I looked for this one on docsouth, and there it was.

James Weldon Johnson, 1871-1938, Aaron Douglas, Illustrated by, and C. B. Falls (Charles Buckles), 1874-1960, Illustrated by. God's Trombones. Seven Negro Sermons in Verse: "The Creation


And God stepped out on space,
And he looked around and said:
I'm lonely --
I'll make me a world. (p. 17)"

Creation belief - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The regular Wikipedia also has an extensive article. It contains blurbs on about a dozen different belief systems as well.

Creation belief - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Many creation beliefs share broadly similar themes. Common motifs include the fractionation of the things of the world from a primordial chaos; the separation of the mother and father gods; land emerging from an infinite and timeless ocean; and so on."

Creationism - CreationWiki

There is a whole wiki devoted to creatonism. Who would have thought?

I guess there are two types of creationism. I had come up against the young earth terminology before, but I never new what it meant. This is a fairly straightforward distinction and clears up a lot of what I was confused about. I was never quite sure why someone could be denied the title creationist if they believed the Big Bang was an act of creation. According to this distinction, that could fall under "Old Earth" creationism. My guess is that this is a term mostly used by the "Young Earth" creationists.

Creationism - CreationWiki: " There are two broad perspectives of creationism known as young earth, and old-earth.

* The Young earth creationism (YEC) perspective results from a literal interpretation of the history of the early earth in Genesis, and the Islamic Qur'an, which both contain nearly parallel accounts of a six-day creation, Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, and Noah's flood.

* The Old earth creationism (OEC) perspective accepts the secular scientific community's assessment of the age of the earth and universe, and assumes the creation periods were undefined lengths of time or there were large gaps of history in Genesis"

Open Directory - Society: Religion and Spirituality: Christianity: Perspectives: Origins and Creation

A human indexed directory on creation:

Open Directory - Society: Religion and Spirituality: Christianity: Perspectives: Origins and Creation

While it only seems to cover Christianity, it is interesting to look at the number of sites devoted to different issues.

Amazon.com: Books: Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology

This book edited by Louis P. Pojman has some of the main essays arguing for or against the teleological argument from Paley and Hume to the current day. I took a Philosophy of Religion course that used this book, which led me to make the earlier statement that this argument has not progressed in any significant ways.

Amazon.com: Books: Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology: "Product Description:
The most comprehensive text in its field, this anthology includes over 70 articles in 10 areas of philosophy of religion: Traditional Arguments for the Existence of God, Religious Experience, The Problem of Evil, The Attributes of God, Miracles and Revelation, Death and Immortality, Faith and Reason, Religious Pluralism, and Ethics and Religion. "

The current pseudo-debate among scientists

As promised here are some links to the current discussion. This is a piece I read last semester that I had a little trouble tracking down. It is a lively debate between the leading proponents on either side of the issue. Each expert offers a mini-bibliography of important sources to read.

Intelligent Design? A Special Report from Natural History Magazine: "evolution: science and belief
Intelligent Design?
a special report reprinted from
Natural History magazine"

I saw one of these creation proponents, Michael J. Behe, speak at Boston College when he was on a book tour in 1998 or 1999. At that talk, he was relatively unsuccesful in his attempts to convince a room full of Catholic Priests that his argument is scientificly valid. You could tell that some of them wanted to believe, but just couldn't because the science was so weak.

Amazon.com: Books: DARWINS BLACK BOX: THE BIOCHEMICAL CHALLENGE TO EVOLUTION: "But he thinks that the essential randomness of this process can explain evolutionary development only at the macro level, not at the micro level of his expertise. Within the biochemistry of living cells, he argues, life is 'irreducibly complex.'"

The origins of Intelligent Design in the Teleological Argument

This first link is the original formulation of the teleological argument from William Paley's Natural Theology, 1800. This passage is the famous one concerning the "Clockmaker God". David Hume quickly responded with his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, which is covered in the second link. It always surprises me that this argument is still coming up in both pop-culture and academia. In pop-culture, the debate in the schools is a good example. Academics proposing the argument are now rogue biologists instead of philosophers. The argument still exists in Philosophy, but, in my opinion it has not progressed. I will discuss them in my next post. Right now, I am primarily working to research:

1. The current dialogue within society.
2. My background in philosophy.
3. How these too strands relate and demonstrate the evolution of how creation is discussed.

I am considering all of this background research. Before I pursue new directions, I feel it is important to articulate my current perspective.

Paley's formulation of the teleological argument:
Paley's formulation of the teleological argument: "But suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be inquired how the watch happened to be in that place, I should hardly think of the answer which I had before given, that for anything I knew the watch might have always been there. Yet why should not this answer serve for the watch as well as for the stone?"

David Hume on the Cosmological and Teleological Arguments
David Hume on the Cosmological and Teleological Arguments: "The Dialogues are considered by many to have provided a definitive critique of the argument from design."

Online NewsHour: Teachers, Parents Grapple with Evolution-Creationism Debate -- March 28, 2005

This video clip interviews leading proponents on either side of the Intelligent design/evolution argument:

Online NewsHour: Teachers, Parents Grapple with Evolution-Creationism Debate -- March 28, 2005: "CREATION CONFLICT IN SCHOOLS

March 28, 2005


Correspondent Jeffrey Brown investigates how some biology teachers are handling the hot button debate over the theory of evolution, creationism and intelligent design."

THE SPEAKING TREE: Rites of passage and beyond - The Times of India

At least one other world religion's creation myth is in the news.

THE SPEAKING TREE: Rites of passage and beyond - The Times of India: "The Creation story narrates how Mahavishnu stayed afloat on a banyan leaf after the Great Deluge. He was the only survivor, and hence is known as Seshan. He then created Brahmn to help him recreate the 86,000 species inclu-ding humans. Srishti-karta Narayanan is known as the protector of all species.
"

Teens & creation/evolution: Most see God's handiwork - (BP)

This is one report on an article I sent to you a couple weeks back.

Teens & creation/evolution: Most see God's handiwork - (BP): "The poll of 1,028 teenagers ages 13-17 found that 38 percent don't believe in evolution, believing instead that 'God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.' Another 43 percent believe that humans 'developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided' the process. All total, 81 percent believe that God was somehow involved."

I have also noticed that the IMAX film about Volcanoes is, after much debate, going to be shown in Charlotte.

Charlotte Observer

The Observer | International | Creationists take their fight to the really big screen

I think this is the article I saw.

The Observer | International | Creationists take their fight to the really big screen

The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: Censorship in the Science Museums

This is an editorial about an article that I noticed a few weeks back:

The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: Censorship in the Science Museums