Stephen E. Jones

Creation/Evolution Quotes: Classified quotes: Christianity

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The following are previously unclassified quotes about Christianity, now classified under that heading, as a temporary intermediate step towards integrating them into my quotes pages proper.

Christianity

1. "The anthropocentric vision of ... Christianity"
• "No other theory ... can equal in boldness ... this great claim-that everything revolves around human existence"
• "But most remarkably, given its audacity, it is a claim which is very far from a discredited prescientific myth"

"It is remarkable to think that only five centuries separates the current skeptical ethos in the West from this profoundly teleological view of reality. The anthropocentric vision of medieval Christianity is one of the most extraordinary-perhaps the most extraordinary-of all the presumptions of humankind. It is the ultimate theory and in a very real sense, the ultimate conceit. No other theory or concept ever imagined by man can equal in boldness and audacity this great claim-that everything revolves around human existence-that all the starry heavens, that every species of life, that every characteristic of reality exists for mankind and for mankind alone. It is simply the most daring idea ever proposed. But most remarkably, given its audacity, it is a claim which is very far from a discredited prescientific myth. In fact, no observation has ever laid the presumption to rest. And today, four centuries after the scientific revolution, the doctrine is again reemerging. In these last decades of the twentieth century, its credibility is being enhanced by discoveries in several branches of fundamental science." (Denton, Michael J. [Senior Research Fellow in Human Molecular Genetics, University of Otago, New Zealand], "Nature's Destiny: How the Laws of Biology Reveal Purpose in the Universe," The Free Press: New York NY, 1998, pp.3-4)

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