Beginnings

I am not an expert on philosophy, science or theology by any means. I have no doctorates or degrees of any sort; unless a diploma in Graphic Design counts? What I am though, is a Christian, born-again as the Bible says, by the grace of the risen Christ. I believe that the Bible is the Word of God (ergo: truthful and infallible), given to man to explain all the great questions we have in life: who we are, why we are, what we’re for. There are some who do not believe the same as I on these matters; Richard Dawkins is one of them. He believes that man has come about, not by any sort of divine creation or interference, but through the process of evolution, a naturalistic explanation for our origin made famous by Charles Darwin and written about in his now famous - or infamous, depending on how you see it - book, “The Origin of Species”, which detailed exactly how this Theory of Evolution (ToE) was supposed to have worked.

“The Bind Watchmaker”, written by Dawkins, has been called one of the defining written works on the subject of ToE. As the blurb on the cover of the book says, "This just might be the most important evolution book since Darwin" (John Gribbin, Good Book Guide). Taking up the challenge of an online friend who believes that ToE is a more truthful and accurate account of Man's origin than the supposed “Word of God”, I have undertaken to read Dawkins’ book, making notes as I read through each chapter. This blog, “Dear Mr Dawkins”, is intended to be a record of my progress through the book, as well as a place for any objections, contradictions or revelations that may arise along the way, for all to see and comment on.

In the course of this project, I will attempt – as much as possible - to try and keep any “supernatural” bias I might have out of my note-taking, and to try and be as objective as I can to the explanations and evidence that Dawkins’ proposes explains why we are here at all on this “pale blue dot.” This will undoubtedly not be easy, and no doubt I will be somewhat cynical and condescending at times; but I ask you to please forgive me in this regard, and where at times my bias does rear its head, the reader is more than welcome to correct my attitude.


As to how this blog will work: where-ever bold italics appear, these will be direct quotations taken from the book, “The Blind Watchmaker” by Richard Dawkins. Any normal text after that will be my own comments on Dawkins’ viewpoints.

Well, here goes.