Michael Anthony Corey

Michael Anthony Corey (1957–2011) was an American author and Christian philosopher who was most well known as an advocate of deistic evolution.

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Biography

Corey earned a Ph.D. in philosophy of science and religion from The Union Institute, a Ph.D. in the psychology of religion from Columbia Pacific University, and an M.A. in philosophy of religion and theology from Claremont Graduate School.[1] He was a deist and Christian who wrote many books on religion and science. Corey has written that he was heavily influenced by Paul Davies.

Deistic evolution

Starting with his book Back to Darwin: The Scientific Case for Deistic Evolution (1994) Corey defended deistic evolution the belief that God created the universe and intentionally set it on a course but has not interfered since and let it run by natural processes. According to Corey many early evolutionary thinkers such as Charles Darwin were not atheists but deists. He believed that deistic evolution explains the facts of life better than any other position and that scientists and religious believers should return to this view. Corey did not deny common descent and fully accepted the scientific evidence for evolution. He believed that the universe was "designed" but his book should not be confused with the modern day Intelligent design advocates.[2]

Religion

Corey was a Christian and believed that the God of the Bible created the universe and set it in motion, though he was a deist who did not believe that God intervened in any physical or biological sciences since the start and fully accepted naturalistic processes.[3][4]

Reception

Corey admitted that deistic evolution is not a science but a philosophical interpretation of the known scientific evidence. His books have received some mixed reviews and some have written that Corey as a Christian still had an anthropocentric bias.[5] Many Christians have denied deistic evolution as being compatible with Christianity and they believe it is "just one step away from agnosticism and atheism." Very few Christians have supported the views of Corey.[6] Some Intelligent design proponents have also criticised the deistic evolution of Corey.[7]

Corey has written other books such as God and the New Cosmology (1993) and The God Hypothesis: Discovering Design in Our Just Right Goldilocks Universe (2007) where he supported a fine-tuned universe which he claimed was designed by a deistic God. His arguments in these books have been accused as pseudoscience by some scientists.[8]

gollark: It seems like the sort of thing bound to lead to horrible badness.
gollark: I see.
gollark: Isn't writing, what, 5000 years old?
gollark: No, I mean how you would check that they were able to write and speak pre-language.
gollark: I'm not sure how you'd check something like that anyway.

References
  1. Mr. Michael Anthony Corey
  2. See entry for Corey in The creation/evolution controversy: an annotated bibliography by James L. Hayward (1998)
  3. Back to Darwin: The Scientific Case for Deistic Evolution by Henry E. Neufeld
  4. Abstact of Deistic Evolution
  5. Review of Back To Darwin
  6. Interdisciplinary Theology
  7. The Cardinal Dresses Darwin Up for God: Compatibilist Strategies – Do They Work?
  8. The Big Debate: Comments on the Barker-Carrier vs. Corey-Rajabali Team Debate (2004)
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