Book Reviews -- By: Anonymous

Journal: Christian Apologetics Journal
Volume: CAJ 12:2 (Fall 2014)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous


Book Reviews

The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism. Michael J. Behe. Free Press, 2007. 320 pp. $13.00 (paperback) ISBN 978–0-7432–9620–5.

For those interested in questions of science and religion and especially those interested in the ongoing debate between neo-Darwinian evolution and Intelligent Design, this book is a must read. In 1996 Michael Behe published his first book, Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution. Not surprisingly it became a bestseller. It was of central importance to the growing community of scientists, philosophers, and theologians who were increasingly dissatisfied with the Darwinian narrative concerning the origins and diversity of life. In his first book, Behe looked at several biochemical systems, including the now iconic bacterial flagellum, and came to the provocative conclusion: Darwinism does not have an explanation of how these systems could have come about in a gradual, step-wise manner.

In this newest installment, Behe takes up where his first book left off, asking the next logical question: “If Darwinism does not have an answer, could it possibly discover one?” In The Edge of Evolution Behe once again brings his expertise in biochemistry, creative thinking, and clear prose to bear on a question of central importance in

the controversy over neo-Darwinian theory. The most helpful aspect of the book is the fact that it places familiar Darwinian rhetoric in a more real-world context. This forces one to reevaluate, not whether or not the neo-Darwinian narrative sounds reasonable, but given its own principles and powers, how much does is actually explain about present organisms and their history. Essentially, the answer that Behe gives is “very little.” Here is an example of this refreshing note of realism:

In the real world, random mutation, natural selection, and common descent might all be completely true, and yet Darwinian processes still may not be an adequate explanation of life. In order to forge the many complex structures of life, a Darwinian process would have to take numerous coherent steps, a series of beneficial mutations that successively build on each other, leading to a complex outcome. In order to do so in the real world, rather than just in our imaginations, there must be a biological route to the structure that stands a reasonable chance of success in nature. (5)

This is the type of charitable yet tenacious probing that characterizes the entire work. Behe’s area of professional training is biochemistry, so there are some areas of the book that introduce terminology and concepts arising from that training, b...

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