Jonathan Wells

Wells was born in New York in 1942 and grew up in a family of Protestant Christian Christians in New Jersey . He studied geology at Princeton University , but dropped out of his first year. After a short work as a taxi driver, he was drafted into the army and served for two years in Germany. After his dismissal in 1966, he enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley , where he publicly abandoned the reserve service. This led to his arrest and eighteen months in Levenworth military prison. After his release, Wells returned to Berkeley, where he completed his studies in the field of geology and physics and at the same time received a second degree in biology . Jonathan Wells received two doctoral degrees, one in molecular and cell biology at the University of California at Berkeley, and one in religious studies at Yale University . He worked as a research scientist with a degree in biology at the University of California at Berkeley and head of a medical laboratory in Fairfield (California), and taught biology at California State University in the East Bay in Highward, California.

In 1974, Wells joined the Unification Movement ^[8] . He graduated from the Theological Seminary of the Association in 1978 with a master's degree in religious education ^[9] . Wells continued his studies at Yale University, receiving a doctoral degree in religious studies in 1986, focusing on the historical reaction to Darwinism ^[10] . At this time he wrote a lot about Unification Theology and taught at the Unification Theological Seminary ^[9] . Wells was on the board of directors of the Theological Seminary of the Association ^[11] . He also acted as director of the International Religious Foundation, which belongs to the Unification Movement and sponsors interfaith conferences ^{[12] [13]} .

In 1994, Wells received another doctoral degree in molecular and cellular biology from the University of California at Berkeley ^[10] . After receiving his doctoral degree, as he describes himself, he worked as a research scientist with a degree in biology at the University of California at Berkeley, and at the same time wrote critical articles about Darwinism ^[14] . Soon after, Wells joined Philip E. Johnson, former professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley, father of the Intelligent Design Movement, at the Discovery Institute . ^[9] Jonathan Wells is currently working as an employee of the Scientific and Cultural Center of this organization ^{[15] the} center of the “intelligent design” movement, and in the International Information and Design Society for solving scientific difficulties , ^[16] which also advocates the concept of “intelligent design " ^[17]

On his student years at the Theological Seminary of the Association (1976-78), Wells says: "Father Son Song Men suggested to us at the Theological Seminary of the Association one thing we had to do was pray and try to find God's plan for our lives." Later he described his plan: “To defend and clearly formulate the unification theology, especially with regard to Darwinian evolution” ^[18] .

Wells stated that his theological doctorate at Yale University, paid for by the Unification Movement ^[19], was aimed at finding and resolving the “root of the conflict between Darwinian evolution and Christian doctrine” in order to direct all the power of Christian theology to criticism of Darwinism. He said:

I found out (to my surprise) that biblical chronology played practically no role in the debates of the nineteenth century, since most theologians had already accepted geological data on the age of the Earth, so often repeated in the Book of Genesis, as a long period of time. Instead, the central focus of their controversy was the creation. ^[20]

Wells said that “the destruction of Darwinism” was his motive for studying Christian theology at Yale University and getting a second doctoral degree at Berkeley, studying biology and, in particular, embryology:

"The words of the Father [Moon Son-Men], my research, and my prayers convinced me that I should devote my life to the destruction of Darwinism, just as many of my fellow believers had already devoted their lives to the destruction of Marxism . When the Father chose me (along with about a dozen other graduates of the seminary) for the doctoral program in 1978, I was happy to meet with the opportunity to prepare myself for battle. - Jonathan Wells, Darwinism: Why I went to receive the second doctoral ^[3]

He wrote articles for the public organization of the Discovery Institute, World Net Daily newspapers, Origin and Design , and others ^[21] .

In 1997, he made a presentation on the topic “Evolution in accordance with a reasonable plan” at the International Conference for the Unification of Sciences in Washington, sponsored by the Union movement ^[22] .

In 1999, Wells debated with the New Mexico Organization for Science and Mind. ^[23] He was one of the participants in the Natural History (Journal) 2002 debate between supporters of “intelligent design” and supporters of evolution ^[24] . In 2005, he debated with Massimo Piliucci , head of the philosophy department at New York University in the Bronx, during a talk show. Un-generally accepted knowledge on the channel of the US Public Service Television. Pilucci noted that Wells “clearly lied” during the debate, distorts the current state of science, and does not understand some of the theories criticized ^[25] .

Wells is one of the signatories of the Discovery Institute's “Scientific Disagreement with Darwinism”, a scandalous petition that supporters use to promote the concept of “intelligent design”, trying to question the theory of evolution ^{[26] [27]} . He is also the author of "Ten Questions You Should Ask Your Biology Teacher on Evolution" for high school students who were published by the Discovery Institute ^[28] . The National Center for Scientific Education has released a list of answers to the questions ^{[28] [29] [30]} .

His most famous book is the book "Anti-Darwin" (in the English original "Icons of evolution: science or myth?"). In his book, Wells focused on ten examples, which he says are widely used in evolutionary lessons, which he calls “icons” ^[31] . According to Wells, these ten case studies used to illustrate and teach evolution are erroneous.

Philosopher Barbara Forrest , biologist and writer Paul Gross and geneticist Jerry Allen Coyne whom Wells quotes in his book, wrote refutations, stating that their quotations were taken out of context, their work was distorted or does not imply the conclusions made by Wells ^{[32] [33]} .

The book caused sharp criticism in the scientific community, as deliberately misleading and containing erroneous conclusions regarding the status of the theory of evolution , which is the central paradigm of biology ^[34] . Biologists Kevin Padian and Alan Gishlik in a review in The Quarterly Review of Biology noted: “In our opinion, regardless of the philosophical or religious background of Wells, his“ Icons of Evolution ”can hardly be considered a work of scientific value” ^[35] .

• Piliucci, Massimo

• Historic-Critical Analysis of Concepts Basic to the 19th Century Debate . (Edwin Mellen Press, April 1988.) ISBN 0-88946-671-8
• Jonathan Wells, Icons of Evolution . (Regnery Publishing, 2000) ISBN 0-89526-276-2
• Jonathan Wells, The Myth of Junk DNA . (Discovery Institute Press, May 31, 2011) (150 pages) ISBN 1-936599-00-7
• Jonathan Wells, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design . (Regnery Publishing, 2006) ISBN 1-59698-013-3
• Jonathan Wells and William A. Dembski, The Design of Life . (Foundation for Thought and Ethics, 2007) ISBN 0-9800213-0-8
• Jonathan Wells and William A. Dembski, How to be an Intellectually Fulfilled Atheist (Or Not) . (Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2008) ISBN 1-933859-84-9

Russian translations

• Wells D. Anti-Darwin / Trans. from English Maria Makarova. - M .: Alpina Business Books , 2012. - 288 p. ISBN 978-5-91657-397-8 Circulation 3000