Expelled!

Today I went to see Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed with some friends. For those of you who aren't familiar with this movie it is a documentary exploring why academia is prohibiting the theory of Intelligent Design from being discussed as a legitimate theory of life's origin.

Expelled, was much better than I thought it would be. Ben Stein raises more questions than he could possibly answer in the given time, but for this intro dialog I think that is okay.

Expelled is really about preserving "Freedom of Thought" more than defending Intelligent Design. Die hard evolutionists won't be swayed, and Christians looking to understand ID won't get much info, but for the majority of Americans who have simply assumed Evolution as a theory of origin because of their public education, it may cause them think twice about whether they were taught the full story.

A common attack from atheism and evolutionists is that religion is the root of evil in our world. Atheists point to the Inquisitions and holy wars as evidence. Ben Stein points out that succumbing to Darwinian theory has also led to societal atrocities (i.e. Nazi Germany). While I was at first not sure this was the right way for the film makers to go, when I realized the movie was really about freedom of thought rather than ID alone, I decided it was an important point to make.

Our ability to put out any idea, no matter how ridiculous and think it through is central to American and Christian thought. Here is an excerpt from Smart Faith a book I wrote with philosopher JP Moreland, that shows the unique nature of reason in God's dealings with mankind.

God is a God of reason. We know this because of the character and actions of God described in the Bible. The Bible teaches, for example, that God’s unique attributes include omniscience: He is perfect in knowledge and knows everything (see 1 Samuel 23:11-13; Job 37:16; 1 John 3:20). The Bible also describes Him as the only ‘wise God’ (Romans 16:27), the God of truth who cannot lie (see Titus 1:2), and completely reliable (see Romans 3:4; Hebrews 6:18). God’s very word is true (see John 17:17), and His church — not the university — is the pillar and support of the truth (see 1 Timothy 3:15). Most amazing of all, the God of the Bible invites His creatures to come and reason with Him (see Isaiah 1:18) by bringing a legally reasoned case against His actions to which He will respond (see Ecclesiastes 6:10; Jeremiah 12:1; 20:12).

Compare this portrait of God with what we know of other gods. With Islam, we have a god who is so transcendent that he is beyond understanding. The Greek gods and the gods of other polytheistic (having many gods) religions such as Hinduism are fickle, are swayed by their emotions, and act inconsistently. The God of the Bible never changes (see James 1:17), requires teachers who diligently study His Word and handle it accurately (see 1 Timothy 4:15-16; 2 Timothy 2:15), and requires His evangelists to be able to give a rational justification for what they believe to all who ask (see 1 Peter 3:15).

With monistic (reality consisting of a single element) religions of the East, we are offered meditations — like the sound of one hand clapping — to escape logical thought. … The Buddhist is to leave her mind behind, but God asks that the Christian to be transformed by the renewing of her mind (see Romans 12:1-2).

No wonder Christians started the first universities and have planted schools and colleges wherever missionaries have gone. No wonder science began in Christian Europe — after all, the same rational God who made the rational human mind also created the rational world so the mind would be suited to figure out the world’s structure.

God created you to be a follower of Christ with your mind turned on and tuned in to the life He made for you. This does not mean God loves academics and scholars more than He loves other people. … But if virtues mirror our God of perfection, then ignorance is not a Christian virtue.

Expelled made many claims and assumptions that my limited knowledge of science and certain events could not verify (and the movie didn't really do much to verify them either). So you may need to do some homework before using some of their arguments in the real world.

Final Remark: Expelled is an excellent discussion starter about some important issues, but it is a beginning not an end.

Mark

For the planetwisdom.com thorough review click here

Have you seen the movie? Will you? What do you think about this issue?