Jonathan Wells (intelligent design advocate)


John Corrigan "Jonathan" Wells was an American molecular biologist, cell biologist and theologian. He was an advocate of intelligent design, a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God.
Wells joined the Unification Church in 1974, and subsequently wrote that the teachings of its founder Sun Myung Moon and his own studies at the Unification Theological Seminary and his prayers convinced him to devote his life to "destroying Darwinism." After earning a doctorate in religious studies from Yale University in 1986, Wells became the director of the Unification Church's inter-religious outreach organization in New York City. In 1994, he earned a second doctorate in molecular and cellular biology from the University of California, Berkeley. He became a member of several scientific associations and published in academic journals.
In his book Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth?, Wells argued that a number of examples used to illustrate biology textbooks were erroneous or exaggerated. Wells said that this shows that evolution conflicts with the evidence, and so argued against its teaching in public education. Some reviewers of Icons of Evolution have said that Wells misquoted experts cited as sources and took minor issues out of context, basing his argument on a flawed syllogism. Wells's views on evolution had been rejected by the scientific community.

Biography

Early life and education

Wells was born in New York City in 1942 and grew up in New Jersey. He was raised a Protestant Christian. After high school, he attended Princeton University, where he studied geology on a full scholarship but dropped out in his junior year. Following a brief stint as a taxi driver, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and spent two years serving in Germany. After his discharge in 1966, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he publicly refused to report for reserve duty. This resulted in him being arrested and being incarcerated for eighteen months at the Leavenworth military prison. Upon his release, Wells returned to Berkeley and earned a Bachelor of Science with a major in geology and physics and a minor in biology in 1970.
In 1974, Wells joined the Unification Church of the United States. He graduated from Unification Theological Seminary in 1978 with a master's degree in religious education. Wells then earned a Master of Arts in 1980 and a Ph.D. in religious studies from Yale University in 1986, focusing on historical reactions to Darwinism. During this time, he wrote extensively on Unification theology and taught at Unification Theological Seminary. His doctoral dissertation at Yale, completed under theologian David Kelsey, was titled, "Charles Hodge's critique of Darwinism: The argument to design".
In 1994, Wells earned a second doctorate, a Ph.D. in molecular biology and cellular biology, from the University of California, Berkeley. His doctoral dissertation at Berkeley was titled, "A confocal microscopy study of microtubule arrays involved in cortical rotation during the first cell cycle of Xenopus embryos". Among his doctoral advisors at Berkeley was the herpetologist David B. Wake.

Career

After receiving his second doctorate, Wells worked at a position he described as "a post-doctoral research biologist at Berkeley, writing articles critical of Darwinism." Shortly afterwards, Wells joined Phillip E. Johnson, the father of the intelligent design movement, at the Discovery Institute. He served as a fellow at the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, the hub of the intelligent design movement, and at the International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design, which also promotes intelligent design.
Wells was on the Board of Trustees of the Unification Theological Seminary until resigning in 1997 to return to teaching. He also acted as the director of the International Religious Foundation, a Unification Church affiliated organization which sponsors interdenominational conferences.
Wells had written on the subject of marriage within the Unification Church, and had been called a "Unification Church marriage expert" by church sources. Wells defended Unification Church theology against what he said were unfair criticisms of it made in 1977 by the National Council of Churches.
Wells appeared on a panel at Harvard with Stephen Palumbi in November 2001, which his supporters lauded as a "home run". Other observers stated that Wells' performance was "uneventful".
Wells died on September 19, 2024, his 82nd birthday.

Opposition to Darwinian evolution

Of his student days at Unification Theological Seminary, Wells said, "One of the things that Father advised us to do at UTS was to pray to seek God's plan for our lives." Wells later described that plan: "To defend and articulate Unification theology especially in relation to Darwinian evolution."
Wells stated that his religious doctoral studies at Yale, which were paid for by the Unification Church, focused on the "root of the conflict between Darwinian evolution and Christian doctrine" and encompassed the whole of Christian theology within a focus of Darwinian controversies. He said:
Wells said that "destroying Darwinism" was his motive for studying Christian theology at Yale and going on to seek his second PhD at Berkeley, studying biology and in particular embryology:
Wells's statement and others like it are viewed by the scientific community as evidence that Wells lacks proper scientific objectivity and mischaracterizes evolution by ignoring and misrepresenting the evidence supporting it while pursuing an agenda promoting notions supporting his religious beliefs in its place.
He has written articles for the Discovery Institute, WorldNetDaily, Origins & Design, and other sympathetic publications attacking evolution and defending intelligent design. In 1997, he presented a paper entitled "Evolution by Design" at the Unification Church sponsored International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences in Washington, D.C.
In 1999, Wells debated with the New Mexicans for Science and Reason. He was one of the contributors to Natural History magazine's 2002 debate between intelligent design advocates and evolution supporters. In 2005, he debated Massimo Pigliucci on the PBS talk show Uncommon Knowledge. Pigliucci said that Wells "clearly lied" during his debates and misrepresented his agenda and science, as well as not understanding some of the theories he tried to attack.
Wells is one of the signatories of the Discovery Institute's "A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism," a petition which the intelligent design movement uses to promote intelligent design by attempting to cast doubt on evolution. He is also the author of "Ten questions to ask your biology teacher about evolution" for high school students, which is published by the Discovery Institute. The National Center for Science Education has issued a list of answers to the questions.

''Icons of Evolution''

In 2000 Wells published his book Icons of Evolution, in which he discusses 10 examples which he says show that many of the most commonly accepted arguments supporting evolution are invalid.
There have been 12 detailed reviews of Icons, from scholars familiar with the subject matter, which have come to the consensus that the book's claims are a politically motivated exaggeration and misrepresentation of a scattering of minor issues. Scholars quoted in the work have accused Wells of purposely misquoting them and misleading readers. Jerry Coyne wrote of Icons, "Wells's book rests entirely on a flawed syllogism:... textbooks illustrate evolution with examples; these examples are sometimes presented in incorrect or misleading ways; therefore evolution is a fiction."

Kansas evolution hearings

In 2005, Wells participated in the Kansas evolution hearings, which were boycotted by mainstream scientists. There Wells testified:
Prior to the evolution hearings, in December 2000 after the Pratt County, Kansas, school board revised its tenth-grade biology curriculum at the urging of intelligent design proponents to include material that encourages students to question the theory of evolution, The Pratt Tribune published a letter from Jerry Coyne challenging Wells's characterization in an article of his work on peppered moths, saying that his article appended to the Pratt standards was misused and being mischaracterized:

''The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design''

In 2006, Wells published his second major book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design, which was part of a series published by Regnery Publishing. The book was praised by Tom Bethell, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science, but was described by Reed A. Cartwright of The Panda's Thumb weblog as being "not only politically incorrect but incorrect in most other ways as well: scientifically, logically, historically, legally, academically, and morally." Cartwright also edited a chapter-by-chapter critique of the book. A quote from the book linking evolution to eugenics, abortion and racism appeared on Starbucks paper cups in 2007.

HIV/AIDS denialism

In 1991, Wells and his mentor Phillip E. Johnson signed an open letter which said in full:
Wells and Johnson have been criticized, along with others, for their questioning of the scientific and medical consensus that HIV causes AIDS. In the Washington University Law Review, Matthew J. Brauer, Barbara Forrest, and Steven G. Gey faulted Wells, Johnson, and others for denying the HIV/AIDS connection and promoting denialism via a petition which did not have any scientific support.

Publications

Dissertations

Wells, John Corrigan. 1986. CHARLES HODGE'S CRITIQUE OF DARWINISM: THE ARGUMENT TO DESIGN. Ph.D. Dissertation, Yale University, 265 pages.
Wells, John Corrigan. 1994. A confocal microscopy study of microtubule arrays involved in cortical rotation during the first cell cycle of Xenopus embryos. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 124 pages.