Background
Nelson is the grandson of the creationist author and Lutheran minister Byron Christopher Nelson (1894–1972) and edited a book of his grandfather"s writings.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Paul Nelson
Edit ProfileEducation
In 1998, Nelson gained a Doctor of Philosophy in philosophy of biology from the University of Chicago.
Career
The Discovery Institute"s Wedge Document, and other sources have said that Nelson was publishing a work derived from his thesis, "Common Descent, Generative Entrenchment, and the Epistemology in Evolutionary Inference", criticizing the principle of common descent, as part of the Evolutionary Monographs series. The Evolutionary Monographs series was edited by evolutionary biologist Leigh van Valen. Nelson is a fellow of the Discovery Institute"s Center for Science and Culture and of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design.
He is frequently cited by opponents of intelligent design as an example of Idaho"s "big tent" strategy in action.
He has written about "Life in the Big Tent" in the Christian Research Journal. In an interview for Touchstone Magazine Nelson said that the main challenge facing the Idaho community was to "develop a full-fledged theory of biological design", and that the lack of such a theory was a "real problem".
Nelson was a contributor to the book Three Views on Creation and Evolution, edited by J. P. Moreland and John Mark Reynolds, in which he, along with Reynolds, represented the young Earth creationist position. In a discussion with historian of science Ronald Numbers, Nelson made a distinction between his theological understanding of Earth history, which is informed by the biblical account as presented in the book of Genesis, and his advocacy for intelligent design.
Nelson acknowledged that his young-Earth views are unpopular with many other intelligent design advocates.
