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Jonathan Wells
Jonathan Wells

John Corrigan "Jonathan" Wells, Ph.D., is a biologist, author, and critic of Darwinism.

Wells holds a PhD from University of California, Berkeley in Molecular and Cell Biology and a PhD in Religious Studies from Yale University. He is a Fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture.[1][2]

In 2002 Wells wrote the book Icons of Evolution, which critiques the presentation of evolution in public education in American schools.[3]

Contents

[edit] Background

After dropping out of school and driving a taxi in New York City, Wells was drafted into the United States Army, serving from 1964 to 1966. He returned to college (UC Berkeley), but was ordered to reserve duty. By that time a critic of the Vietnam War, he refused to report for duty, and was incarcerated for 18 months in the United States Disciplinary Barracks in Leavenworth, Kansas.[4]

In the mid-1970s Wells joined the Unification Church, founded by Sun Myung Moon. Wells graduated from the church's Unification Theological Seminary in 1978 with a Masters in Religious Education.[5]

He has written extensively on Unification theology, and since 1981 has taught from time to time at the Unification Theological Seminary[6]. He then earned a PhD in Religious Studies at Yale University in 1986, and another PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1994.[5]

Shortly after receiving his doctorate Wells joined Philip E. Johnson at the Discovery Institute.[7] He now serves as a fellow at the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture and at the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design[8].

[edit] Campaign against Darwinism

In an essay posted to the tparents.org website, Wells wrote:

"Father's [Sun Myung Moon's] words, my studies, and my prayers convinced me that I should devote my life to destroying Darwinism, just as many of my fellow Unificationists had already devoted their lives to destroying Marxism. When Father chose me (along with about a dozen other seminary graduates) to enter a Ph.D. program in 1978 [in Religious Studies], I welcomed the opportunity to prepare myself for battle."[9]

About his studies at Yale, Wells said:

"As a graduate student at Yale, I studied the whole of Christian theology but focused my attention on the Darwinian controversies. I wanted to get to the root of the conflict between Darwinian evolution and Christian doctrine. In the course of my research I learned (to my surprise) that biblical chronology played almost no role in the 19th-century controversies, since most theologians had already accepted geological evidence for the age of the earth and re-interpreted the days in Genesis as long periods of time. Instead, the central issue was design." [9]

[edit] Evolution and Intelligent Design

Wells asserts that traditional arguments supporting evolution, such as the theory of common descent, have come under scrutiny:

  • This view that the major kingdoms ... are modified descendants of a common ancestor has been challenged in recent years by three things. Molecular evidence, fossil evidence, and embryo evidence. [10]

The central point of his thesis is not that evolution is wrong, but that the evidence for it is weak and (in same places) use circular reasoning:

  • ... So the inconsistency in the evolution tree based on molecular comparisons have to actually be explained away in the light of evolution theory. They actually don't provide evidence for the theory. I'm not saying the theory is proven false, but this certainly doesn't provide evidence for it. [10]

He is not a Young Earth creationist. [10]

[edit] Icons of Evolution

In 2000, Wells wrote the book Icons of Evolution, in which Wells discusses ten examples which he says show that many of the most commonly accepted textbook arguments supporting evolution are invalid. [11]

[edit] AIDS reappraisal

Wells, along with fellow Discovery Institute member Phillip E. Johnson, once signed a petition for AIDS reappraisal.[12]

[edit] Publications

[edit] Articles in peer-reviewed journals

[edit] Books

[edit] References

  1. ^ "I have a fellowship-- a research fellowship in Discovery Institute" [1]
  2. ^ Biography, Jonathan Wells Discovery Institute
  3. ^ "Several of them grossly exaggerate or distort the truth, while others are patently false. Yet they are found year after year in almost all textbooks dealing with evolutionary theory, and they invariably accompany other material promoting that theory. When someone points out that the textbook examples misrepresent the facts, Darwinists don’t rush to correct them. Instead, they rush to defend them." [2]
  4. ^ "I eventually dropped out of school and drove a taxicab in New York City until receiving my draft notice in 1964. After spending two years in the U. S. Army, I transferred to the University of California at Berkeley. By then I was a critic of the Vietnam War, and when the Army called me back as a reservist in 1967 I refused. I was arrested by military police, court-martialed, and sent to Leavenworth. All together, I spent a year and half in prison." [3]
  5. ^ a b "NNDB:Jonathan Wells", NNDB, 2006. Retrieved on December 28, 2006.
  6. ^ Jonathan Wells (1997) [Theological Witch-Hunt: The NCC Critique of the Unification Church, Journal of Unification Studies hosted at www.tparents.org
  7. ^ Jonathan Wells, Notable Names Database
  8. ^ Biography, Jonathan Wells Discovery Institute
  9. ^ a b Darwinism: Why I Went for a Second Ph.D. Jonathan Wells. The Words of the Wells Family
  10. ^ a b c Kansas Evolution Hearings Part 2 transcript hosted at www.talkorigins.org
  11. ^ [4]
  12. ^

[edit] External links

[edit] Official/supportive

[edit] Neutral

[edit] Criticism

Wells, Jonathan Wells, Jonathan Wells, Jonathan Wells, Jonathan Wells, Jonathan

pl:Jonathan Wells fi:John Corrigan Wells

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