THE MAGICIAN’S TWIN

THE MAGICIAN’S TWIN is a must-see trilogy of short programs by the Discovery Institute applying some brilliant insights and arguments from C.S. Lewis to expose the fallacies of scientism and evolution and to promote the reasonableness of Intelligent Design.

The video’s title comes from a reference in C.S. Lewis that science turned into religion is just a glorified form of magic. Lewis commends science, but refutes scientism, the belief or ideology that science is the best or only test for truth of any kind. As such, scientism leads to an exaggerated trust and almost blind faith in the ability of “science,” especially science divorced from God, to answer any question and solve any problem. Lewis believes science is a necessary, important and valid way of understanding reality until it becomes a dogmatic, pseudo-religion that plays on people’s gullibility and refuses to consider new evidence that undermines current accepted theory. In other words, it becomes irrational. All of this scientism of scientific religion leads to science as power where science becomes the dictator of the culture. Since nothing is sacred to science except its own dogma, it can lead to some frightening conclusions, such as eugenics, euthanasia and socialist and fascist tyranny. Lewis believed science was good, but its sphere of influence is, and must be, limited.

The second program opens with Lewis saying Darwin and Spencer built their foundations on illusions of sand. At its most basic level, evolution says we have common ancestors, a position that’s less and less credible as time passes. Secondly, evolution believes the physical world (including the molecular and subatomic world) is run by blind, unguided processes. The second program addresses each of these canards.

For example, when the Piltdown Man (an alleged “ancestor” and “missing link” to man or homo sapiens sapiens) was discovered to be a fraud, Lewis wrote a satirical expose of the attempt to force a common ancestor. Refuting blind, unguided processes is even easier since there are common elements to diverse species, such as the eye, which are extremely complex. Those who hold to the evolutionary viewpoint for years held that there must be “junk DNA” and unnecessary parts to the body, such as the appendix or tonsils, because they occur just by chance. However, research has shown there is no “Junk DNA” and that every part of the body is important.

The final episode is an argument for Intelligent Design. Lewis moved slowly to the position of Intelligent Design. He started from the argument from Beauty, then the argument from morality, then the argument from reason, then the argument from functional complexity, and finally from the laws of nature. One of his students was a famous atheist, Anthony Flew. Lewis encouraged his students to follow the arguments wherever they lead. Flew did just that and, at the end of his life, recanted his atheism, affirmed Intelligent Design and accepted the possibility that the story of Jesus Christ in the New Testament documents might be plausible. Of course, believing in Intelligent Design is not the same as believing in the Bible or believing in God in the person of Jesus Christ. However, it does eventually lead to that point.

Based on the book of essays edited by John West and directed by West, THE MAGICIAN’S TWIN is a very good series done on a very small budget. So, the production quality doesn’t compare with broadcast television documentaries. However, the programs are fascinating and provide more reasons to reject evolution and to believe in God, including the God of the Bible.