From Mike Gene’s book, The Design Matrix: A Consilience of Clues:
Sometime around 1860, Asa Gray, a professor of botany from Harvard, apparently asked Darwin what it would take to convince him of design. Darwin replied:
“Your question what would convince me of design is a poser. If I saw an angel come down to teach us good, and I was convinced from others seeing him that I was not mad, I should believe in design. If I could be convinced thoroughly that life and mind was in an unknown way a function of other imponderable force, I should be convinced. If man was made of brass or iron and no way connected with any other organism which had ever lived, I should perhaps be convinced. But this is childish writing.”
Darwin is effectively stumped by the question and offers answers that he concedes as “childish.” Darwin clearly states that he needs to see an angel to be convinced of design. Apparently, this would prove the existence of the supernatural and Darwin can only view design as a supernatural phenomenon. (pp. 34-35)
Right. Lots of science and religion profs are Darwin’s heirs, it would seem. Their world divides neatly into (1) stuff that all just conveniently happens by chance and (2) ruddy miracles.
Meanwhile,
The God of the Chaps (the ones who should retire soon)
And what’s so bad about machines anyway?
Canada Chronicles: Biology in the wrong hands?
Changes of last 10 000 years too great to be explained by Darwinian mechanism