Michael W. Tkacz, associate professor of philosophy at Gonzaga University, recounts that one day, he received a phone call from a professor of philosophy at a nearby private, religiously affiliated college who had just returned from an international conference devoted to challenges to evolutionary biology from intelligent design (ID) theory. He had something of a complaint to make about the absence of ‘Thomists’ and ‘Catholics’ in the ID movement and its challenge to Darwinism. Since the time of Charles Darwin there has been vigorous debate between Christian creationists and Darwinian evolutionists. Neither side has been especially interested in what Catholic Thomism might contribute to the discussion. Secular Darwinians often view Thomists as just another species of literalists attempting to substitute the Book of Genesis for good biology. On the other hand, Protestant creationists often have viewed Thomists as already halfway to secularism and naturalism, depending too little on a literal reading of Scripture and too much on philosophical reasoning.

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