R. Gil Student of Hirhurim, laments the lack of Orthodox Jewish intellectuals engaging in the debate over so-called intelligent design. While some rabbis and Orthodox scientists have weighed in on the issue (some much better than others), the issue certainly doesn’t arouse the same interest as it does in Christian circles. In my comment to his post, I wrote:
I think the reason is because there is no Torah position on evolution. That evolution is compatible with Torah has been proven conclusively. But the merits of the theory itself should be left to scientists.
I want to expand on that. As anybody who reads this blog knows, I think the implications, both scientific and philosophical, of evolutionary theory and naturalism in general are incredibly important and I’ve suggested a number of ways to deal with some of the difficulties (see here, here, here, & here). However, I think that the theologian and philosopher of religion should limit himself to dealing with the compatability of scientific ideas with theological ones. Whether or not evolution - or any theory for that matter - is compatible with Torah is very important and I believe, in the case of evolution, the answer is “yes” (as did such Torah giants as R. Soloveitchik, R. Kook, & R. Hirsch). But whether or not evolution itself is scientifically compelling or whether it sufficiently accounts for the empirical evidence are not questions non-scientists are equipt to answer.