Paul Nelson (creationist)
Paul A. Nelson (born 1958) is an American philosopher, noted for his advocacy of the
Biography
Nelson is the grandson of the creationist author and Lutheran minister Byron Christopher Nelson (1894–1972) and edited a book of his grandfather's writings.[2] He is married to Suzanne Nelson, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University.
In 1998, Nelson gained a PhD in philosophy from the University of Chicago.
Nelson is a fellow of the
Controversies
The Discovery Institute's
Nelson is frequently cited by opponents of intelligent design as an example of ID's "
As shown in the
Easily, the biggest challenge facing the I.D. community is to develop a full-fledged theory of
biological design. We don't have such a theory right now, and that's a real problem. Without a theory, it's very hard to know where to direct your research focus. Right now, we've got a bag of powerful intuitions and a handful of notions, such as irreducible complexity, but as yet, no general theory of biological design.
Young Earth views
Nelson was a contributor to the book Three Views on Creation and Evolution, edited by
In a discussion with historian of science Ronald Numbers, Nelson made a distinction between his theological understanding of Earth history, which is informed by the biblical account as presented in the book of Genesis, and his advocacy for intelligent design. Nelson acknowledged that his young-Earth views are unpopular with many other intelligent design advocates.[10]
Nelson was a cast member in the 2017 creationist documentary film Is Genesis History?.[11] After the film's release, he published an article stating that the film distorted his arguments and presented "a false dichotomy" between naturalistic evolution and young Earth creationism while omitting other viewpoints.[12] Director and Producer Thomas Purifoy wrote a response entitled A Tale of Two Dichotomies in which he presented the full film interview with Nelson as evidence and stated that "as a philosopher, Paul seemed to be shifting back to viewing things from a philosophical perspective. The film, however, was not about comparing two different philosophies, but two different histories."[13]
References
- ISBN 0-674-02339-0.
- ISBN 0-8153-1806-5.
- ^ Wedge Document
- ^ Life in the Big Tent: Traditional Creationism and the Intelligent Design Community
- The Panda's ThumbJune 7, 2005
- ISBN 978-0-310-22017-6.
- ^ "History of Science: Early Modern Geology". Retrieved 2007-09-24.
- ^ "Edwards v. Aguillard: Amicus Curiae Brief of 72 Nobel Laureates". From TalkOrigins Archive. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578 (1987)
- ^ Inside the Mind of a Creationist: Ron Numbers & Paul Nelson in discussion Archived 2010-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Law, Jeannie (February 16, 2017). "Evidence of Young Earth Creationism Will Debunk Current Scientific Paradigm, Filmmaker Says". The Christian Post. p. 2. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
- ^ Nelson, Paul (February 23, 2017). "New Film Is Genesis History? Presents a False Dichotomy: I Dissent from My Role in It". Discovery Institute. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
- ^ "A Tale of Two Dichotomies - Is Genesis History?". Is Genesis History?. 2017-06-13. Retrieved 2017-08-30.