The Mystery of Evolutionary Mechanisms

Is Darwinian evolution really the most successful scientific theory ever proposed--or even the best idea anyone has ever had, as Daniel Dennett once put it? The Mystery of Evolutionary Mechanisms provides a comprehensive critical reading of the literature of evolutionary biology from Darwin to Dobzhansky to Dawkins, revealing this popular account of evolution to be a grand narrative of Darwinian triumph that greatly overstates the empirical validity of modern evolutionary theory. The mechanisms driving the evolutionary process truly remain a mystery more than one hundred fifty years after Origin of Species, a fact that can free religion scholars to think in more creative ways about the positive contributions religious reflection might make to our understanding of life's origin and diversity. The Mystery of Evolutionary Mechanisms calls for an embrace of mystery, understood not as an abdication of the scientific quest for truth but as a courageous and humble acknowledgment of the limits of human reason and an openness to a fundamentally religious orientation toward life. ""Maybe, just maybe, Darwinian evolution has been a bit oversold. Luther College religion professor Robert Shedinger dives into contemporary documents as well as the historical record to show that the theory's impressive public facade is belied by frank private admissions that even top scientists are unsure of what is the mechanism of evolution. The implications for religion scholars are immense."" --Michael J. Behe, Author of Darwin's Black Box ""As a neuroscientist who had, for all my adult life, taken the Darwinian theory of natural selection as the absolute basis of evolution, I found that reading The Mystery of Evolutionary Mechanisms was like reading a thrilling detective story . . . This is a very compelling read and an eye-opening history regarding the making of a scientific theory, particularly by how theory-making can be influenced as much by the belief structures of a current scientific culture as by the evidence of their research."" --Marjorie Woollacott, Prof. Emerita of Neuroscience, University of Oregon Robert F. Shedinger is Professor of Religion at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. He is the author of Jesus and Jihad (Cascade Books, 2015) and several other books in religious studies. This is his first book on the topic of religion and science.