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Intelligent Design

What is Intelligent Design:

"The theory of intelligent design holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection."

Intelligent Design claims that intelligence can also be detected in biological designs, such as the flagellar motor. They compare this looking at Mt. Rushmore and recognizing that it didn't happen by natural processes, but was the work of intelligence.

Does this mean every time someone sees the Virgin Mary in a piece of cheese toast, an intelligent agent intervened? 'Virgin Mary' toast fetches $28,000

For the record, I have no reason to doubt that the universe is the billions of years old that physicists say it is. Further, I find the idea of common descent (that all organisms share a common ancestor) fairly convincing, and have no particular reason to doubt it. I greatly respect the work of my colleagues who study the development and behavior of organisms within an evolutionary framework, and I think that evolutionary biologists have contributed enormously to our understanding of the world. Although Darwin's mechanism--natural selection working on variation--might explain many things, however, I do not believe it explains molecular life. (Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution p. 5)

I clearly write in my book Darwin's Black Box that I am not a creationist and have no reason to doubt common descent. In fact, my own views fit quite comfortably with the 40% of scientists that Scott acknowledges think evolution occurred, but was guided by God.*

Does Intelligent Design require a supernatural designer?

William Dembski believes that the intelligent agent behind Intelligent Design must be non-physical, i.e. supernatural. From The Act of Creation: Bridging Transcendence and Immanence, by Dembski:

"Moreover, it is a transcendent design, not reducible to the physical world. Indeed, no intelligent agent who is strictly physical could have presided over the origin of the universe or the origin of life."

Intelligent Design and God

The Discovery Institute's (the primary promoter of ID) plan to use Intelligent Design to promote Christianity is spelled out in their Wedge Strategy

"…which has come to be called the theory of intelligent design (ID). Design theory promises to reverse the stifling dominance of the materialist worldview, and to replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions."

William Dembski cites the Bible's Book of John as the foundation of intelligent design. Dembski in Touchstone Magazine. Volume 12, Issue4. July/August, 1999:

"Intelligent design is just the Logos theology of John's Gospel restated in the idiom of information theory."

William Dembski states in A Reply to Henry Morris that

"ID is part of God's general revelation," and "I've found that it opens the path for people to come to Christ."

Reviews of Intelligent Design Videos

The next question is, what or who is the intelligent agent?

William Dembski states that the universe displays features of having been designed, and concludes that

"no intelligent agent who is strictly physical could have presided over the origin of the universe or the origin of life."

This clearly states that the intelligent agent is a non-physical, thus, by definition, supernatural.

Why Won't Scientists Debate Intelligent Design?

Intelligent Design View
Intelligent Design is a valid alternate theory to evolution and should be openly debated. What are the evolutionists afraid of? Are their theories so fragile that they won't hold up in a debate?

Evolutionist View
For the same reason that we don't debate flat earth proponents such as the Flat Earth Society. If the IDers will do some real research and have it peer reviewed so that they elevate their views to the level of science, then we will debate them. But simply saying that evolution doesn't have all the answers and therefore there must be an intelligent designer is not science.

Opinions from Others

List of Peer-Reviewed Intelligent Design Articles

Discovery Institute - Peer-Reviewed & Peer-Edited Publications Supporting the Theory of Intelligent Design

Do we live on a planet that was
specially created for life?

Does the size relationship between the Sun and Moon make the Earth unique for scientific exploration?
Is the Earth located in the “sweet” spot of the galaxy?

Are these claims valid or pseudoscientific nonsense?

These claims and others are explored in the
"The Privileged Planet"

Other Information

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