The Wedge Document: So What?
In 2005, the Discovery Institute published The "Wedge Document": So What? to respond to criticisms of the original document. So What? attempts to dissociate ID (and the Wedge Document) from any particular theological view (or agenda). However, the So What? authors are not as transparent as they would lead readers to believe.
Some excerpts from So What?:
Section 2, page 3: "Far from promoting a union between church and state, Discovery Institute actively supports pluralistic democracy. For several years during the 1990s, Center associate director Dr. John West sponsored a seminar for college students, The George Washington Fellows Program, that advocated religious freedom and the separation of church and state."
The George Washington Fellows program was "... seminar on religion and politics ... . designed to give Fellows an in-depth understanding of the role religion can play in a free society. .... examine the public role of religion from the ancient world to the present. Readings will likely include selections from the Bible, Aquinas, Martin Luther, Calvin, Locke, Washington, Madison, Jefferson, De Tocqueville, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others."
The Program's financial sponsors included, in addition to the Discovery Institute and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute ("relies on the moral and cultural traditions that are part of the Judeo-Christian heritage and rooted in Western Civilization"), the Shuv Institute (self-defined as a Christian think tank), the Mustard Seed Foundation (a "Christian family foundation"), and the Mercer Island Covenant Church.
Strictly speaking, the Discovery Institute's denials about promoting a "union of church and state" and "advocating religious freedom" are accurate. A more dubious claim is that it advocates for separation of church and state.
In reviewing the writings and affiliations of Discovery Institute fellows, along with institutions affiliated with the Discovery Institute, certain trends appear:
In general, the Discovery Institute folks do not promote a state religion or state church. In that regard, the denial that they promote a "union of church and state" is technically accurate. But there is plenty of evidence to suggest they - as a group - do advocate for government grounded in Old Testament laws. More on this later.
"Religious freedom" is promoted in the sense that a number of Discovery Institute principals want to be able to exercise more of it than they believe is currently possible, in all aspects of civic life. "Religious freedom" is also a rallying cry against the alleged materialistic/naturalistic regime.
Section 2, page 4: "At the time the "Wedge Document" was being used by Darwinists to stoke fears about theocracy, the Chairman of Discovery Institute's Board was Jewish. The present Chairman says he is "not religious," and our various officers and fellows represent an eclectic range of religious views ranging from Roman Catholic to Presbyterian to agnostic - hardly a fundamentalist cabal!"
The Discovery Institute is very careful in the language it uses in this document.
Darwinist. In the context of ID, a Darwinist is someone who practices the "religion" of Darwinism, which is presented as a flawed, but dominant theory that is atheistic, materialist, and naturalistic. ID proponents often link Karl Marx to Darwinism.
Theocracy. There are a number of ways to define theocracy. I think the definition that most of us think about when we hear the word comes from Houghton Mifflin via answers.com: A nation or state in which the clergy exercise political power and in which religious law is dominant over civil law.
Using this definition, the Discovery Institute is technically accurate when it pooh-poohs allegations that its agenda is to shape the U.S. into a theocracy. But there is another concept that the Wedge Document alludes to, and that is theonomy. More on theonomy later.
"Our various officers and fellows represent an eclectic range of religious views ranging from ... to - hardly a fundamentalist cabal!"
The so-called "eclectic range of religious views" is not all that eclectic and not all that wide a range. I was surprised to discover how many Discovery principals hail from Presbyterian (and, in particular, orthodox Presbyterian) and other denominations that share Calvinist, Wesleyan and Pietist roots. And where there are disparities (such as accounting for agnostics and Jews among the fold), I will explain further down.
Howard Ahmanson. His goal is, according to this Washington Post story (evidently affirmed by Discovery Institute principal Steve Meyer), "the total integration of biblical law into our lives." He is a major financial contributor to the Institute. According to this 2004 OC Register article, Rich in Faith, "The Ahmansons describe themselves as followers of Calvinism, the theology created by John Calvin in the 16th century that emphasizes predestination and the literal truth of the Bible." For many years, Ahmanson contributed to and served on the board of the Chalcedon Foundation, an organization founded by R.J. Rushdoony, an orthodox Presbyterian. The Chalcedon Foundation believes "the Bible should apply to all of life, including the state; and ... we believe that the Christian state should enforce Biblical civil law; and finally, ... we believe that the responsibility of Christians is to exercise dominion in the earth for God's glory."
Francis Beckwith. Associate director and associate professor at J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University, a Baptist school. Co-author of To Every One an Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview. President-elect (2005) of the Evangelical Theological Society. The Evangelical Theological Society is "a professional society of Biblical scholars, teachers, pastors and others involved in the evangelical scholarship serving Christ and His Church."
Raymond Bohlin. President of Probe Ministries.
William Dembski. Carl F.H. Henry Professor of Science and Technology, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Has a M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary. [November 2007 update: No longer Carl F.H. Henry Professor; now research professor of philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.]
Jack Collins. On the faculty of Covenant Theological Seminary and an ordained Presbyterian minister. Covenant Theological Seminary is home to the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute. Francis A. Schaeffer was the author of The Christian Manifesto. Here is a speech Mr. Schaeffer presented at the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in 1982, which elucidates some of the points from his book. Mr. Schaeffer's philosophy is similar, though not identical, to that espoused by the Chalcedon Foundation. Both derive from Calvinist - or "reformed church" - origins, which subscribes to theonomy or theocracy, depending on the particular "reformed church" branch. Some "theonomists" are careful to make a distinction between theonomy and theocracy, while others use the terms interchangeably. Other related terms include Christian reconstructionism and dominionism.
Robin Collins. Dr. Collins is a professor at Messiah College's Department of Philosophy, where he "specializes in philosophy of science, philosophy of religion, metaphysics, and philosophical theology." According to Messiah College: "Our faculty are all caring, committed Christians who would like to see our students graduate with a well-reasoned, coherent Christian worldview that can be a positive force in the marketplace of ideas."
William Lane Craig. On the faculty at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. Biola University, originally the Baptist University of Los Angeles: "Our business is to inspire student's learning so that they are empowered to think and practice from a Christian worldview in their fields of service."
Phillip E. Johnson. Principal architect of the Wedge Document. He is affiliated with numerous organizations and activities dedicated to intelligent design and Christianity. Mr. Johnson refers directly to theonomy when he says, in this 2000 interview, Berkeley's Radical, by the magazine Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity: "The third millennium has to be the millennium of reconstitution—from the bottom up. It’s about recapturing the sense of the mystical union of the Body of Christ at the grassroots level." Theonomists frequently distinguish themselves from theocratists by noting that their new order will not be from the top down, but from the "bottom up."
Michael Newton Keas. Associate professor, natural science, at Oklahoma Baptist University. Past participant at John Templeton Seminars on Science and Christianity.
Robert C. Koons. Philosophy professor at University of Texas. Teaches, among other courses, philosophy of religion and contemporary Christian philosophy. Author of numerous articles on theology and apologetics. Cited writings of Francis Schaeffer as strong influence as a youth. (See notes on Francis Schaeffer in Nancy Pearcey's blurb below.) B.A., Philosophy and Theology, Oxford University. Board member, Society of Christian Philosophers.
James P. Moreland. On the faculty at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. Served with Campus Crusade for Christ for 10 years.
Nancy Pearcey. Currently a Francis A. Schaeffer Scholar at the World Journalism Institute, whose mission is to "recruit, equip, place and encourage journalists who are Christians in the mainstream newsrooms of America."
Pattle Pak-Toe Pun. Professor of biology at Wheaton College. At Wheaton College's Department of Biology, "emphasis is placed on integrating biology with a Biblical worldview in a way that encourages service to Christ and His Kingdom." Wheaton College's founder was Jonathan Blanchard, a Presbyterian minister. An excerpt from a Wheaton College biography about Blanchard: "Ultimately, Blanchard wholeheartedly believed that 'society is perfect where what is right in theory exists in fact; where practice coincides with principle and the law of God is the law of the land.'"
John Mark Reynolds. Director, Torrey Honors Institute, Biola University; associate professor of philosophy at Biola University. Torrey Honors Institute is "unique among programs in classical education for several reasons. First, the inclusion of first-rate Christian thinkers in the Protestant tradition, along with extensive study of the Bible, makes Torrey unique in the area of classical education. Writers such as Calvin, Luther, and Wesley are rarely studied in most 'great books' programs."
Jay W. Richards. Degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary, where he was a teaching fellow. Was executive and associate editor of The Princeton Theological Review for two years, and president of the Charles Hodge Society at Princeton Theological Seminary. From Evangelical Tracts, on Charles Hodge: "... an American Presbyterian theologian, ... taught at Princeton for almost his whole life. ... His most important works are ... What is Darwinism? (1874). He was an outstanding defender of Calvinism..."
Wolfgang Smith. Professor of mathematics, retired. In addition to mathematics and physics, educated in philosophy. Has a strong interest in metaphysics and theology; according to his biography, he "began his career as a Catholic metaphysical author." An essay of his is included in the book The Betrayal of Tradition: Essays on the Spiritual Crisis of Modernity.
Charles Thaxton. Also studied under Francis A. Schaeffer at L'Abri Fellowship. He and his wife founded the KONOS Connection. According to Mr. Thaxton's website, KONOS comes from the "Greek word for cone, and it is a way of representing the Biblical world view with God at the apex of all knowledge." Before founding KONOS, Mr. Thaxton worked with Probe Ministries. In this Leadership U archive article on civil disobedience (in which the Probe Ministries director cites Francis A. Schaeffer), Probe Ministries purpose is described: "Probe Ministries is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to reclaim the primacy of Christian thought and values in Western culture through media, education, and literature. In seeking to accomplish this mission, Probe provides perspective on the integration of the academic disciplines and historic Christianity." This purpose statement is no longer present on the Probe Ministries site.
Jonathan Wells. Ph.Ds in theology and in molecular and developmental biology. Currently writing a book. Wells is an adherent of the Unification Church ("Moonies"). He teaches on occasion at the Unification Theological Seminary. A mission of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's is: "This country desperately needs a God-centered president, senators and congressmen. America's intellectual establishment is liberal, godless, secular, humanistic, and anti-religious. We are declaring war against three main enemies: godless communism, Christ-less American liberalism, and secular-humanistic morality. They are the enemies of God, the True Parents, the Unification Church, all of Christianity, and all religions. We are working to mobilize a united front against them." (Source: www.unification.net) Wells writes in his article, Darwinism: Why I Went for a Ph.D., "Father's [Moon's] words, my studies, and my prayers convinced me that I should devote my life to destroying Darwinism, just as many of my fellow Unificationists had already devoted their lives to destroying Marxism. When Father chose me (along with about a dozen other seminary graduates) to enter a Ph.D. program in 1978, I welcomed the opportunity to prepare myself for battle. ... I am one of a growing number of highly-educated and articulate critics of Darwinism, located in universities all over North America, who stay in touch via the internet and occasionally join forces at academic conferences. These critics include embryologists, paleontologists, biochemists, molecular biologists, medical doctors, philosophers, and even lawyers. Unfortunately, the North American science-and-religion establishment has largely turned a deaf ear to these critics, preferring instead to abandon classical theology and embrace metaphysical materialism and moral relativism. But I see the situation as analogous to the last years of Soviet communism. A small, powerful elite controls all the official information outlets while the evidence against the official position swells quietly, like a wave building offshore. Someday soon, to the surprise of many people in academia and the media, the wave will break. I predict that the Darwinist establishment will come apart at the seams, just as the Soviet Empire did in 1990."
Benjamin Wiker. Professor, part-time, in Theology Department, Franciscan University of Steubenville. Has a Ph.d. in Theological Ethics from Vanderbilt University.
Nineteen out of the 45 fellows of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture - or 42% - have professional or public advocacy interests in theology. An additional three (Jonathan Witt, Cornelius G. Hunter, and Dean Kenyon) are borderline between this category and simply being men of faith personally (rather than engaging in public advocacy).
Obviously, there is nothing objectionable in having professional or public advocacy interests in theology. It is objectionable for the Discovery Institute to deny that it - and ID - has a decided Christian worldview.
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