Time & Perspective Quote by Phillip E. Johnson

Johnson frames “scientific naturalism” less as a method than as a metaphysical lock on reality: a “permanently closed system” whose rules are defined in advance to exclude outside agency. The phrasing is strategic. “According to” gives him the posture of neutral reporter, but “version of cosmic history” subtly demotes mainstream science to one narrative among many, not the best-tested account. “Permanently” and “never” do the heavier lifting: they turn a practical rule of scientific explanation into an absolute creed. By the time he drops the parenthetical “like God, for example,” the punchline has already landed. Naturalism isn’t merely cautious; it’s portrayed as deliberately God-proof.

The intent is to shift the argument away from evidence and toward gatekeeping. Instead of debating fossils, genetics, or deep time, Johnson spotlights the boundary conditions of science: what counts as an admissible cause. That move matters because it recasts disagreements over evolution as disagreements over philosophical fairness. If the system is “closed” by definition, then design or divine action can’t lose on the merits; it can only be ruled out procedurally.

Subtext: science is being accused of smuggling in a worldview while presenting itself as neutral. This line belongs to Johnson’s broader role in the intelligent design movement, where the goal was often to brand methodological naturalism as an ideological commitment, then argue that excluding supernatural explanations is a kind of cultural or institutional bias. The quote works rhetorically by making the audience feel the courtroom tilt: the verdict seems predetermined, so the trial itself becomes suspect.