Charles B. Thaxton (born 1939) is a proponent of special creation who went on to become one of the first

intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins". Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for its bold attempt to ...

authors, and Fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture.

Biography

Thaxton earned a doctorate in

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistica ...

from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

. He went on to complete post-doctorate programs in the history of science at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and the

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

laboratories of

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , ...

. Thaxton has co-authored several books, including ''The Mystery of Life's Origin'' and ''The Soul of Science''. In ''The Mystery of Life's Origin'', Thaxton argues for " Special Creation by a creator beyond the cosmos", and asserts that Special Creation holds "that the ''source that produced life'' was intelligent". He was the editor of the first edition of the

textbook, ''

Of Pandas and People ''Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins'' is a controversial 1989 (2nd edition 1993) school-level supplementary textbook written by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon, edited by Charles Thaxton and published by the Texas ...

''. The book was featured prominently in ''

Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District ''Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District'', 400 F. Supp. 2d 707 (M.D. Pa. 2005) was the first direct challenge brought in the United States federal courts testing a public school district policy that required the teaching of intelligent design ...

'' and the sequence of drafts that show the transition between the terms "creation" and "creator" to "design", "designer", and "intelligent design", proved important in the judge's decision. Thaxton stated that he preferred intelligent design to creationism because he "wasn’t comfortable with the typical vocabulary that for the most part creationists were using because it didn’t express what I was trying to do. They were wanting to bring God into the discussion, and I was wanting to stay within the empirical domain and do what you can do legitimately there."Thaxton, C. "Deposition of Dr. Charles Thaxton, 53:5–11" (Kitzmiller v. Dover Area Sch. Dist, 400 F. Supp. 2d 707, M.D. Pa., July 19, 2005). Thaxton and his wife, Carole Thaxton, run the "KONOS Connection," which is a non-profit educational Christian organization in Fayetteville, GA. Konos celebrated its 15-year anniversary in December 2016. He also teaches at Charles University.

Bibliography

*Charles B. Thaxton, Walter L. Bradley, and Roger L. Olsen. ''The Mystery of Life's Origin: Reassessing Current Theories''. (Philosophical Library, January 19, 1984) (Foreword by Dean H. Kenyon) *Charles Thaxton and Nancy Pearcey. ''The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy''. (Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois 1994) *Charles Thaxton, Percival Davis, and Dean H. Kenyon. '' Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins'' ( Foundation for Thought & Ethics, 1989, 1993)

References

External links

KONOS Connection
- Ran by Charles Thaxton *
Online articles of Charles Thaxton
Discovery Institute *
Christianity and the Scientific Enterprise (I)
by Charles Thaxton {{DEFAULTSORT:Thaxton, Charles Intelligent design advocates American Christian creationists Discovery Institute fellows and advisors Iowa State University alumni Harvard University alumni Living people American physical chemists 1939 births