an important step

I think Ben Stein has done something important here. By using film to take the (lack of proper) debate into the cultural arena he has asked (more or less) the right questions.

Too many debates about evolution and creation are polarised and ill-informed of the philosophical worldview assumptions that underpin most people’s views.

Until we understand more about worldiews, paradigms and plausibility structures, intellectual empasse is always the result.

However, if this area of understanding can be opened up, the real reasons for the lack of debate about evolution and intelligent design can be understood. The philosophy can be seperated, within discussion, from the finer details of the science.

Lesslie Newbigin writes well about some of the themes raised here in "Proper Confidence: faith, doubt and certainty in christian discipleship" and is particularly good in exposing the failure of modernism as a cohesive philosphy — whether taken up by scientists in defence of rationalism or "philosophical naturalism" etc, OR by Christians or other fundamentalist religionists in defence of creationism or "innerrancy" etc.

shalom! - john (eternalpurpose.org.uk)