One of the purposes of "The Science Pages" is to correct the notion that to talk about "science" is to talk about Darwinian evolution, pro or con. At the same time, one can hardly give sustained attention to science without addressing, on occasion, the various Darwinian claims that provide the interpretive framework for work in so many fields today (including much of the work being done by scientists who are also Christians).

In this issue we focus on a book published by MIT Press in the spring of 1999: Tower of Babel: The Evidence Against the New Creationism, by Robert Pennock. Since Pennock's book includes a substantial critique of Phillip Johnson, we asked Johnson to respond, with a rejoinder from Pennock. In the November/December issue, we'll take up one of the principal strands of Pennock's argument: the analogy between biological evolution and the evolution of human language.

Our hope is that this discussion, which will be continued in future issues, will produce more genuine engagement, more careful argument, and perhaps even more illumination than is generally afforded by treatments of this subject.

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