William Dembski on Chance
“Scientists rightly resist invoking the supernatural in scientific explanations for fear of committing a god-of-the-gaps fallacy (the fallacy of using God as a stop-gap for ignorance). Yet without some restriction on the use of chance, scientists are in danger of committing a logically equivalent fallacy-one we may call the ‘chance-of-the-gaps fallacy.’ Chance, like God, can become a stop-gap for ignorance.”
—William Dembski
Brian Auten
Brian Auten is the founder emeritus of Apologetics315. He is also director of Reasonable Faith Belfast. Brian holds a Masters degree in Christian Apologetics and has interviewed over 150 Christian apologists. His background is in missions, media direction, graphic design, and administration. Brian started Apologetics315 in 2007 to be an apologetics hub to equip Christians to defend the faith.
Comments:
Comments are closed.
Ex N1hilo
Great quote.
Reminds me of a similar one:
"The irony is devastating. The main purpose of Darwinism was to drive every last trace of an incredible God from biology. But the theory replaces God with an even more incredible deity: omnipotent chance."
—Theodore Roszak, Unfinished Animal (1975), pp. 101-102.
Occam's razor, which anti-theists are usually quite fond of, makes the chance, undirected interaction of particles a much less credible source for the complexity, beauty, and purpose we see around us, and for our ability to rationally grasp it. The God of the Hebrews an infinitely more credible source.