Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between Science and Theology

Contemporary issues in biology and Christian theology are still dominated by the legacy of 19th-century biologist Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. Debates in evolutionary biology in relation to religious belief have been reinforced by historical myths that stress conflict over integration. More conservative branches of Christianity, often allied to particular Protestant traditions, argue for a form of popular theology that attempts to compete with science, namely, creationism. More sophisticated versions of this position may appear under the guise of intelligent design, though creationism and intelligent design are not synonymous. The mirror image of this position has developed among biologists who identify themselves as new atheists, adding further fuel to the fire of an existing controversy. Methodologically speaking, the engagement of biology and theology will depend on different philosophical presuppositions according to basic models of (a) conflict, (b) independence, (c) dialogue, and (d) integration. The biological sciences also have broader relevance to allied subject domains including, for example: (a) ecological, agricultural, animal, and environmental sciences; (b) anthropological, social, and political sciences; (c) medical sciences, including genetic science and embryo development; and (d) new technologies that include bioengineering. Theological engagement with the biological component of each of these domains is particularly intense where there are controversial ethical issues at stake that seem to challenge specific Christian beliefs about human nature or divine purpose. A more positive approach to the biological sciences that draws on research in the constructive systematic theological task, while avoiding historically naïve forms of natural theology, is starting to emerge in the literature. Within Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Christian traditions, there is a spectrum of possible positions, such that the field of science and theology as a whole tends to be ecumenical in orientation rather than divided along denominational boundaries. The Catholic and Orthodox churches, however, give greater precedence to official statements by their respective churches that then influence public reception of controversial issues in biology and theology in particular ways.

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Membaca Narasi Penciptaan Mazmur 19:1-6 Melalui Perspektif Kosmologi Intelligent Design: Irreducible Complexity

JURNAL TEOLOGI GRACIA DEO ◽

10.46929/graciadeo.v3i1.46 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Yahya Afandi

Keyword(s):

Intelligent Design ◽

Universal System ◽

Irreducible Complexity ◽

Split Point ◽

Class Status ◽

Science And Theology ◽

The Universe

This article examines: is science and theology so wide apart from each other; is the suffering of bible scholars who have a "second class" status in academic conversation impossible to end? The advancement of science which should illuminate the theological-biblical notions which are textually unexplainable in scientific detail has in fact created such a sharp split point. The idea of Intelligent design: irreducible complexity promoted by Michael J. Behe provides a kind of “theistic interstice" that can be used as a lens to see the existence of an intelligent designer of the universe narrated in Psalms 19: 1-6. The existed complexity, cannot be reduced because the condition itself is threatening the universal system. This article concludes with the identification: if the assumptions of an intelligent designer who refers to God is considered too premature; the framework of an intelligent designer then provides an imaginative space to grapple with the possibility of His involvement in the universe. Abstrak Artikel ini mempertanyakan ulang: Apakah ilmu pengetahuan dan teologi alkitabiah sudah sedemikian jauh terpisah satu sama lain? Apakah penderitaan para sarjana kitab suci yang diklaim berstasus “kelas dua” dalam percakapan akademik mustahil diakhiri? Kemajuan ilmu pengetahuan yang semestinya menerangi terminologi teologis-alkitabiah, yang barangkali memang secara tekstual tidak dijelaskan secara detail-ilmiah khususnya isu kosmologi dan kosmogoni, nyatanya justru telah menciptakan titik pisah yang begitu tajam. Gagasan kosmologi Intelligent design: irreducible complexity yang diusung oleh Michael J. Behe memberi semacam “celah teistik” yang dapat dipergunakan sebagai lensa untuk melihat kemungkinan keberadaan Sang Perancang Cerdas semesta raya dalam narasi Mazmur 19:1-6. Kerumitan yang ada, tidak dapat dikurangi, tidak boleh tidak ada. Mengingat situasi tersebut justru berpeluang mengancam sistem semesta. Artikel ini diakhiri dengan identifikasi, bahwa jika dugaan perancang cerdas yang merujuk kepada keberadaan Tuhan dinilai terlalu prematur, maka pemikiran intelligent designer menyediakan ruang imajinatif-intelektual untuk menggumuli kemungkinan keberadaan dan keterlibatan-Nya atas semesta.

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Thought Experiments as a Tool for Undermining Methodological Naturalism

Religions ◽

10.3390/rel10020127 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 127

Author(s):

Travis Dumsday

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Experimental Work ◽

Intelligent Design ◽

Thought Experiments ◽

Methodological Naturalism ◽

The Status ◽

Metaphysical Naturalism ◽

Science And Theology ◽

Near Future ◽

Near Death Experiences

There is a substantial literature on the question of whether methodological naturalism (MN) is and/or should be among the principles operative in the natural and social sciences; moreover the status of MN has been one of the battle grounds in prominent debates regarding the demarcation lines between science and theology (e.g., the debate over whether intelligent design hypotheses can ever count as genuinely scientific). I review some concrete examples of the use of thought experiments in this context, and argue that there are realistic thought experiments showing how metaphysical naturalism (MTN) could be subjected to empirical falsification; that in turn implies that MN should not be employed universally as an operative principle in the sciences. I conclude by discussing some recent actual experimental work concerning near-death experiences (NDEs), work which may point towards the likelihood of just such empirical falsification taking place in the relatively near future.

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How does id work? Two neglected arguments against intelligent design creationism

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e616352011-196 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Ted Cloak

Keyword(s):

Intelligent Design

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John Ray, physico-theology and afterwards

Archives of Natural History ◽

10.3366/anh.2011.0038 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 328-348 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

R. J. Berry

Keyword(s):

Eighteenth Century ◽

Intelligent Design ◽

Trinity College ◽

Natural Theology ◽

Biblical Interpretation ◽

John Ray ◽

The Way

Ray's most widely read book was his Wisdom of God manifested in the works of creation (1691), probably based on addresses given in the chapel of Trinity College Cambridge 20 years previously. In it he forswore the use of allegory in biblical interpretation, just as he had done in his (and Francis Willughby's) Ornithology (1678). His discipline seeped into theology, complementing the influence of the Reformers and weakening Enlightenment assumptions about teleology, thus softening the hammer-blows of Darwinism on Deism. The physico-theology of the eighteenth century and the popularity of Gilbert White and the like survived the squeezing of natural theology by Paley and the Bridgewater Treatises a century after Wisdom … , and contributed to a peculiarly British understanding of natural theology. This undergirded the subsequent impact of the results of the voyagers and geologists and prepared the way for a modern reading of God's “Book of Works” (“Darwinism … under the disguise of a foe, did the work of a friend”). Natural theology is often assumed to have been completely discredited by Darwin (as well as condemned by Barth and ridiculed by Dawkins). Notwithstanding, and despite the vapours of vitalism (ironically urged – among others – by Ray's biographer, Charles Raven) and the current fashion for “intelligent design”, the attitudes encouraged by Wisdom … still seem to be robust, albeit needing constant re-tuning (as in all understandings influenced by science).

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On Purpose

10.23943/princeton/9780691195957.001.0001 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Ruse

Keyword(s):

Intelligent Design ◽

Ancient Greece ◽

Western Thought ◽

History Of ◽

Historical Thought ◽

The Way

Can we live without the idea of purpose? Should we even try to? Kant thought we were stuck with it, and even Darwin, who profoundly shook the idea, was unable to kill it. Indeed, purpose seems to be making a comeback today, as both religious advocates of intelligent design and some prominent secular philosophers argue that any explanation of life without the idea of purpose is missing something essential. This book explores the history of purpose in philosophical, religious, scientific, and historical thought, from ancient Greece to the present. The book traces how Platonic, Aristotelian, and Kantian ideas of purpose continue to shape Western thought. Along the way, it also takes up tough questions about the purpose of life—and whether it's possible to have meaning without purpose.

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Gaming the Establishment Clause: Intelligent Design in the Public School Classroom

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.1967109 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Dan Weddle

Keyword(s):

Public School ◽

Intelligent Design ◽

Establishment Clause ◽

The Public ◽

School Classroom ◽

Public School Classroom

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Evolutionary Writings

10.1093/owc/9780199580149.001.0001 ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

Charles Darwin

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Intelligent Design ◽

Charles Darwin ◽

Global Impact ◽

The World ◽

Correspondence Project ◽

Darwin Correspondence Project ◽

Descent Of Man ◽

Controversial Nature ◽

Beagle Voyage

‘Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.’ On topics ranging from intelligent design and climate change to the politics of gender and race, the evolutionary writings of Charles Darwin occupy a pivotal position in contemporary public debate. This volume brings together the key chapters of his most important and accessible books, including the Journal of Researches on the Beagle voyage (1845), the Origin of Species (1871), and the Descent of Man, along with the full text of his delightful autobiography. They are accompanied by generous selections of responses from Darwin’s nineteenth-century readers from across the world. More than anything, they give a keen sense of the controversial nature of Darwin’s ideas, and his position within Victorian debates about man’s place in nature. The wide-ranging introduction by James A. Secord, Director of the Darwin Correspondence Project, explores the global impact and origins of Darwin’s work and the reasons for its unparalleled significance today.

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