Why is No one talking about Intelligent Design?

One of the complaints I saw launched over twitter a few times immediately following the Nye vs. Ham debate was the lacks of positions present. The two views most mentioned were theistic evolution and Intelligent Design.

For many Christians the Intelligent Design movement has been the compromise many are willing to take. It doesn’t require a literal 6-day interpretation of the Genesis 1 story, and there actually seems to be science going on. *For an alternative reading of Genesis I recommend reading JohnWalton’s “Lost world of Genesis 1”

But is Intelligent Design all that we want it to be? In a recent article the Pope’s astronomer was quoted as calling Intelligent Design “bad theology.” He also said he would baptize an alien if he got the chance, but more on that in an upcoming post.

There seems to be a lot of controversy surrounding Intelligent Design movement, so I want to deconstruct some of its claims so we can better look at why so many Christians want to cling to it. Again I am not interested in blogging my support for any one position on origins but in better understanding the origins of our worldviews and motivations for choosing a position. I want Christians to be better people, not necessarily better in an argument.

Let’s begin by separating the claims that Intelligent Design makes.

Science: The universe demonstrates elements of design. Examples include the fine-tuning of natural laws to support life and the irreducible complexity of biological forms. This framework can be used to understand our past and make predictions about the functionality of parts of the natural world.

Philosophical: The presence of design suggests a designer with intention and purpose behind his methods. (This does not tell us if the designer is God or something else)

Religious: The best explanation for a designer is the Christian God.

I would agree with the Pope’s astronomer that at its core Intelligent Design is “bad theology,” because like its’ near cousin Creationism it falls into the trap of placing God in the gaps of science. As Science expands its knowledge and idea of God shrinks. For example, Intelligent Design argues that science will never explain how the first living organisms could organize to create and become the biologically complex creatures we know today. This is not a scientific claim. This is a claim made from its philosophical interpretation of the data that a designer exists and is purposeful in his/her methods.

But could Intelligent Design be right about a Designer? Yes. But the science doesn’t tell us that. We make that philosophical conclusion ourselves. And more often times that not we draw that conclusion because we want our idea of God to be right, not because we are in awe of God. If we were truly in awe of God we would be more willing to accept the mystery around us.

As Christians we should not find satisfaction any of these mutually exclusive theories.  The Bible does teach us to believe that God is the creator of everything, and I believe see should interpret the world through the faith we have in God. I see God’s glory and creativity expressed in the natural world, but that belief does not come and go with the tides of new scientific theories. It is founded in the faithfulness of God to his people.

For more ideas like this read "Origins" by Deborah and Loren Haarsman. 

“A God who let us prove his existence would be an idol” – Bonhoeffer

Check out my upcoming book at www.adhogan.com