intelligent design

is based on the flawed notion that space and time, because they exist, must be caused by something outside of space and time.

The argument for ID has proceeded on many fronts at once. Like countless theist before them, fanciers of ID regularly argue that the very fact that the universe exist proves the existence of God. The argument runs more or less like this: everything that exist has a cause... space and time exist... space and time must, therefore, have been caused by something that stands outside of space and time... and the only thing that transcends space and time, and yet retains the power to create, is God. Many Christians like yourself find this argument compelling. And yet, even if we granted its primary claims (each of which requires much more discussion than ID theorist ever acknowledge), the final conclusion does not follow. Who is to say that the only thing that could give rise to space and time is a supreme being' Even if we accepted that our universe simply had to be designed by a designer, this would not suggest that this designer is the biblical God, or that He approves of Christianity. If intelligently designed, our universe could be running as a simulation on an alien supercomputer. Or it could be the work of an evil God, or of two such gods playing tug-of-war with a larger cosmos.

is flawed because there is absolutely nothing at all to say that even if there were a designer, that it would be the biblical God, and that it would approve of Christianity... it could just as well be running as a simulation on an alien supercomputer. Or it could be the work of an evil God, or of two such Gods playing tug-of-war with a larger cosmos.

is to be rejected because design is really not all that intelligent: Over 99% of all species are extinct, and rather than optimal design, we see redundancy, regressions, and unnecessary complications... bewildering inefficiencies that result in suffering and death... species of fish, salamanders, and crustaceans that have nonfunctional eyes, because they continued to evolve in darkness for millions of years.

Over 99 percent of the species that ever walked, flew, or slithered upon this earth are now extinct. This fact alone appears to rule out intelligent design. When we look at the natural world, we see extraordinary complexity, but we do not see optimal design. We see redundancy, regressions, and unnecessary complications... we see bewildering inefficiencies that result in suffering and death. We see flightless birds and snakes with pelvises. We see species of fish, salamanders, and crustaceans that have nonfunctional eyes, because they continued to evolve in darkness for millions of years. We see whales that produce teeth during fetal development, only to reabsorb them as adults. Such features of our world are utterly mysterious if God created all species of life on earth 'intelligently'... none of them are perplexing in light of evolution.

is a theory whose conclusion flows naturally from the data itself, and to infer that biochemical systems were designed by an intelligent agent requires no new principles of logic or science.

The conclusion of intelligent design flows naturally from the data itself - not from sacred books or sectarian beliefs. Inferring that biochemical systems were designed by an intelligent agent is a humdrum process that requires no new principles of logic or science. It comes simply from the hard work that biochemistry has done over the past forty years, combined with consideration of the way in which we reach conclusions of design every day.

is not the opposite of evolution. Rather, it is the opposite of Darwinism, which says life evolved by an utterly unguided, undirected mechanism.

The first point one has to get straight in discussions like this, is that ID is not the opposite of evolution. Rather, it is the opposite of Darwinism, which says life evolved by an utterly unguided, undirected mechanism. If god directed the process of evolution, or rigged the universe to produce complex life, then that is not Darwinism - it is intelligent design.

is, unlike creationism, a science in its own right and can stand on its own feet.

Intelligent design, unlike creationism, is a science in its own right and can stand on its own feet.

is a modest position theologically and philosophically, which attributes the complexity and diversity of life to intelligence, but does not identify that intelligence with the God of any religious faith or philosophical system.

Intelligent design is a modest position theologically and philosophically. It attributes the complexity and diversity of life to intelligence, but does not identify that intelligence with the God of any religious faith or philosophical system.

 does not turn the study of biological origins into a Bible-science controversy, and is thus a position around which Christians of all stripes can unite.

Precisely because intelligent design does not turn the study of biological origins into a Bible-science controversy, intelligent design is a position around which Christians of all stripes can unite.

intelligent design, n.All

intelligent design