Charles B. Thaxton (born 1939) is a proponent of

special creation In Christian theology, special creation is a term with varying meanings dependent on context. In creationism, the term refers to a belief that the universe and all life in it originated in its present form by fiat or divine decree. Catholicism u ...

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, Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for it ...

authors. He was a Fellow of the

Discovery Institute The Discovery Institute (DI) is a conservatism in the United States, politically conservative think tank that advocates the pseudoscience, pseudoscientific concept Article available froUniversiteit Gent of intelligent design (ID). It was fou ...

's Center for Science and Culture, and is currently a Fellow of the Discovery Institute.

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, statistical mech ...

from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

. He went on to complete post-doctorate programs in the

history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and the

molecular biology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

laboratories of

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

.Charles Thaxton Biography
,

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 In Christian theology, special creation is a term with varying meanings dependent on context. In creationism, the term refers to a belief that the universe and all life in it originated in its present form by fiat or divine decree. Catholicism u ...

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 Te ...

''. The book was featured prominently in '' Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District'' 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 Creationism is the faith, religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of Creation myth, divine creation, and is often Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific.#Gunn 2004, Gun ...

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, founded the "KONOS Academy," which is a private Christian school in Tyrone, Georgia, United States. Konos celebrated its 20-year anniversary in December 2021. He also teaches at

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

in Prague.

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
,

*
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