“From Naturalism to War: The Logic of the Evolutionary Ethic”
Little scholarship has addressed the prevalence of the idea of “struggle” throughout non-Christian worldviews, yet the phenomenon exists. Heraclitus was one of the earliest of philosophers to speak of the idea of struggle as a creative force in metaphysics, and subsequently in history and ethics. He maintained a wide application of the idea, summing, “War is the father of all things.” Darwin was a latecomer who only provided an explanation of struggle palatable to “natural philosophers”—that is, Darwin put the abstract notion of struggle into the scientifically acceptable formula of “natural selection.” Nevertheless, natural selection only describes the one aspect of the struggle for existence among flora and fauna. In the absence of any viable theory of truth, law or accountability, “struggle” (the central mechanism of evolution) must characterize not only the natural development of biology, but every area of life. In this presentation, author and lecturer Joel McDurmon will discuss how the adoption of a naturalistic, evolutionary worldview logically necessitates the destruction of knowledge, ethics, and progress as well.Joel McDurmon, M.Div., Reformed Episcopal Theological Seminary, is the Director of Research for American Vision. He has authored six books, Manifested in the Flesh: How the Historical Evidence of Jesus Refutes Modern Mystics and Skeptics; The Return of the Village Atheist; Zeitgeist Refuted: Is Jesus an Astrological Myth?; Biblical Logic in Theory and Practice, God Versus Socialism, and How to Argue with a Liberal and Win! He also serves as a lecturer and regular contributor to the American Vision website. He joined American Vision's staff in June of 2008. Joel and his wife and three sons live in Dallas, Georgia.
