Dr. Paul A. Nelson: What Ever Happened to Darwin’s Tree of Life? When: Friday, March 14, 2014, 07:00pm Where: 2100 North Wadsworth Blvd Lakewood, CO

For the March 14 session, RMCF will present a video documentary of a presentation given by Dr. Paul A. Nelson at the International Conference on Creationism, in August, 2013. Dr. Nelson is currently a Fellow of the Discovery Institute (the Intelligent Design group) and Adjunct Professor in the Master of Arts Program in Science & Religion at Biola University. He is a philosopher of biology who has been involved in the intelligent design debate internationally for over two decades. His grandfather, Byron C. Nelson (1893-1972), a theologian and author, was an influential mid-20th century dissenter from Darwinian evolution.

From 1980-84, Paul was a member of the Creation Science Fellowship in Pittsburgh, sponsor of the International Conference on Creationism. After receiving his B.A. in philosophy with a minor in evolutionary biology from the University of Pittsburgh, Paul entered the University of Chicago, where he received his Ph.D. (1998) in the philosophy of biology and evolutionary theory. His research interests include the relationship between developmental biology and our knowledge of the history of life, the theory of intelligent design, and the interaction of science and theology. Our members will recognize Dr. Nelson as the narrator of the video documentary from Illustra Media, entitled “Metamorphosis,” which we discussed at a recent RMCF meeting. He was the keynote speaker at the ICC 2013 awards ceremonial evening event where the Byron Nelson award was presented to Drs. John Baumgardner, Russ Humphreys and Steve Austin. His topic that evening, which we will review and discuss, was entitled, “What Ever Happened to Darwin’s Tree of Life?” He addresses the captivating question, “If the theory of Common Descent were false, how would you know it?” Genomic research has revealed the ubiquity of so-called “orphan genes,” which falsify Common Descent.