Intelligent design... what do you think?

Question

We were discussing this at youth group the other night. Intelligent design is like combining evolution with christianity. like genisis had like metaphors and such. but i feel like... hypocritical but thats what i'd like to believe. What do you think?

Answer 1

It's the theory that allows for the universe to have been created by The Flying Spaghetti Monster! Note that if you believe in Intelligent Design, you get to pick your own intelligent designer.

Answer 2

I'm glad you are talking about Intelligent Design at youth group. It is an important philosophy that is worth considering. Don't let anyone on here tell you it doesn't make sense; it is completely logical and coherent.

What I am against, however, is teaching Intelligent Design at school in science classes. You should be able to point out a couple of important ways why Intelligent Design is NOT a scientific theory - the most important of which is that it is not possible to test the theory through experimentation or the collection of empirical data. In this way, then, it doesn't completely bridge the gap between science and faith. The two are simply different types of knowledge; you cannot interchange them.

I'd be curious to know some specifics about how Intelligent Design is being presented at your youth group. Any insights you can add?

Answer 3

Evolution does not really make any statements that are mutually exclusive to creationism. For example, does the theory of evolution say anything about how or why the universe came into existence? No, it simply describes the behavior of organic molecules WITHOUT attempting to explain where organic molecules came from or WHY they behave the way they do. Just think of evolution as a description of HOW god created life on earth. You can either believe that he literally made clay statues out of dirt one day and breathed life into them, or you can see the story as a metaphor for the creation of life from organic molecules (dirt, really) over a span of billions of years.

Listen, really - the evolutionists are just describing scenerio where various elemts combine into molecules and collectively adapt to the environment. Ask them why atoms behave in such a way? Who decided that atoms would behave this way? Where did the atoms come from? In an infinite spread of possibility, why do these 92 elements that behave this way exist.

The whole argument is moot. Do yourself a favor and move past it. There are for more relevent and interesting questions to ponder...

Answer 4

I believe in both creation and evolution, but I think my theory is different from the conventional intelligent design concept.

I believe that whoever added up the time periods of the Bible was incorrect. I believe that between Chapters 2 and 3 of Genesis there was a period of time of perhaps millions of years during which the earth evolved all around the Garden of Eden.

I came to this conclusion by asking myself a few questions like, why did God need to build a garden, what was He protecting Adam and Eve from? Wasn't the whole earth one big ole garden? Also, if He made Adam in His image, and part of that image is eternal and timeless, why wasn't Adam made this way? Another question was, what was the lie the serpent told Eve? He said "surely you will not die" and they didn't, not for hundreds of years. Yet God specifically told them not to eat it or they would die. So what was the lie?

Do I have proof? Naw, this is just my own intellectual reasonings based upon what the Bible says, rather than listening to the teachings of our forefathers, who could be wrong.

Answer 5

Intelligent design is not science, it is a belief.

God reveals and man observes. There is nothing about intelligent design that does not depend on God existence, and science can not proof or disproof the existence of God.

As for your youth group, stick with God and his word, and stop worrying about other things. Evolution is a scientific theory that tries to explalins facts (observation by two or more people). Christianity is a belief that God fulfilled his promise in Jesus (Jesus means God helps/saves/deliver); God raised Jesus from the dead (our hope for eternal life), and Jesus will return.

Answer 6

Faith Is Needed
Since it is not possible to scientifically demonstrate either evolution or special creation, faith is required to accept either teaching. But faith in the right thing is not wrong. The Bible says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). A British wit once described "evil lution" as "the substance of links hoped for, the evidence of fossils not seen." How right he was!
Broadly speaking, people fall into one of three categories:
Creationists: Those who believe that a supernatural Being (God) made the universe as recorded in Genesis chapter one. The Church of God International, along with millions of Bible-believing Christians and Jews, falls into this category.
Evolutionists: Those who believe that the universe came into existence billions of years ago and that life on earth evolved of its own accord by some inexplicable power. One does not have far to look to find many who hold this view.
Theistic Evolutionists: The theistic evolutionists attempt to integrate the two doctrines. However, the doctrines of creation and evolution are so strongly divergent that reconciliation is totally impossible. Theistic evolutionists believe that God was involved in the creation, but that He took thousands-perhaps millions or billions (do we hear "trillions"?)-of years to do so. Although many hold this view today, such syncretism reduces the message of the Bible to insignificance. The conclusion is inevitable: There is no biblical support for theistic evolution.
Does It Really Matter What One Believes Concerning the Origin of the Universe?
It matters a great deal what we believe concerning the origins of the universe and of life itself because if the universe and life on earth evolved over billions of years, then:
The Genesis account of creation and the hundreds of Bible verses that refer to the creation are pure fiction. In other words the so-called Holy Bible is, itself, riddled with the very thing it strictly forbids: lies, suppositions, and superstitions.
Virtually all the Old and New Testament writers were deluded-because they all believed in the creation. This would include all the prophets of old, all the apostles, and even Jesus Christ Himself.
If life on earth evolved of its own accord, it would mean that man is not accountable for his actions to a supernatural Being, and that we could make or break so-called "moral laws" with impunity. After all, "if there is no God, there cannot be a Judgment Day. So why bother about moral behavior: let us eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die."
In the final analysis, if evolution is true and the Bible is false, there would be no sin, since there would be no God, no Lawmaker, and no laws to break. It follows that, if there were no laws to break-and the Bible defines sin as "the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4)-there would be no sin. If there is no sin, we would not need a Savior to redeem us from the penalty of breaking those laws (Romans 6:23) and Christ would have died in vain. In short, evolution is a complete denial of everything the Bible stands for.
These are the inevitable conclusions that will flow in the wake of a society that rejects the basic teaching that God created the universe. The matter of origins is very important because society's behavior and destination depend upon it. In his book, Evolution or Creation? (page 2), Henry M. Morris, Ph.D., confirms this point. He writes:
"Each person needs, more than anything, a sense of his own identity and personal goals, and this is impossible without some sense of his origin. What a person comes to believe about his origin will inevitably condition what he believes about his destiny."
Lenin is quoted as saying that religion is the opiate of the people, but the truth is that evolution is the opiate of the atheist!

Answer 7

I certainly believe that evolution is irrefutable. The notion that a higher being set evolution in motion, however, is very compelling. I do believe that exists some sort of life force / God / spiritual collective / something that is responsible for creating and arranging the myriad criteria for life to exist. That spiritual being does not need to interfere with the chain of life it created (free will).

Answer 8

Intelligent Design is creationism, aka a higher spiritual being created all matter that we see today. You should watch the video tapes by Dr.Kent Hovind on YOUTUBE. It'll explain what creationism and the dangers of evolution.

Answer 9

Atheists hate it and so do most Christians but Einstien and many other great scientists believe in it. I do as well. It does not have to be evolution and Christianity it is just saying that all creation is guided by a higher power.

Answer 10

It's not possible to reconcile religion and science.

What is so intelligent about it? What's with male's nipples, appendix, panda's thumb, tail bone, behaviors in animals that aren't necessary to reproduce, the eye has to flip the image projected to see it right side up, hair on your arms, legs and other unnecessary places?

What was the 'designer' thinking?