I've recently decided to commit myself to skepticism concerning evolutionary theory. While I have been seriously religious for several years prior to this point, that actually hasn't been the primary motivating factor propelling my recent skepticism. In fact, for a time I was an atheist, and I personally mocked Intelligent Design advocate Michael Behe at a presentation he made during my time as an undergraduate. I'm by no means a hard-line dogmatic Creationist, and I don't particularly believe I have anything to gain by questioning evolutionary theory.
Why, then, the skepticism? For one, I haven't gotten the sense that most promulgators of evolutionary theory are actually honest about the epistemological hurdles one has to jump over to actually propose a coherent theory. Second, until recently I haven't had much contact with intellectually serious proponents of Intelligent Design and evolutionary skepticism. While I may change my position on this as I learn more, I'm very excited by the tradition out of which David Berlinski comes.
One thing that I've noticed as I've begun coming forward with many of my objections is that I am being too rationalistic. Evolution is defended precisely because it does not assume a rationally ordered world. This gives me some pause. The creationists are supposed to be the ones stewing in their irrational prejudices, not the evolutionary materialists.
Part of my philosophical project, as it will be articulated in greater depth, is to advance a form of Christian Neoplatonism. Plato's emphasis on the importance of the study of mathematics to the good life will be a feature of this project, and this will ultimately tie into the mathematical objections to evolutionary biology advanced by Schutzenberger, Berlinski, and others. For the record, I personally adhere to an Augustinian framework hypothesis with respect to the origin of the world and am supremely deferential to allegorical interpretations of scripture.
So more to come...
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If we eschew rationalism, there is indeed the stochastic shuffle of evolution as one explanation of life on Earth.
Nevertheless, in what other domains would we find pause? Physics would also need to be reconciled in some way to this state of affairs. Presumably the ultimate contingency of physical law is implied.
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