Affirmation 1 -- There is a Creator

HomeThe Four AffirmationsThere is a Creator

 

Affirmation 1

There is a God. The design of the universe points inescapably to a
designer and creator.

 

Introduction

Does God exist or not? Consider the implications of the answer to this question. If a Creator exists, do we owe Him (or whatever it is–as yet undetermined) any obedience, etc.? This page focuses on the question of whether there is a Creator. I’ll leave the identification of that Creator for another time (and another page).

Since random natural processes cannot have encoded information in DNA and gradual natural selection cannot have created biological mechanisms that are irreducibly complex, there has to have been a designer. Those are pretty strong statements, and I don’t simply expect you to take my word for it. Please take some time and review the evidences referenced below. I believe you will come to the same conclusion Anthony Flew (“the world’s most notorious atheist”) did. You can click here to see the book he has published about his conversion to belief in a Creator. Simply stated–whether this designer is the God of the Bible, Allah, an ancient advanced species from outter space, or a cosmic chicken, there must have been a first cause, a designer behind the design.

 

A Perspective on Intelligent Design (ID)

Intelligent Design (ID) will win the day.  The reasons it hasn’t already are several.  Much of it is that it just takes time for naturalism’s inertia to die.

Another reason is that it is being promoted in ways that are counter productive.

While ID has significant impacts on science, it is not science and it was never supposed to be science.  It is a philosophy of science. It is not in competition with evolution*; it is in competition with naturalism, and it should be discussed and debated in this way.  In the classroom it is enough to teach that there must have been an intelligence behind the cosmos.  Theologians  (appropriately) and philosophers can pursue the answer to “who was this intelligence?”

The worst thing people can do to promote ID is to link it to Biblical creationism– especially young earth creationism.  Unfortunately that is exactly what many well meaning Christians have done.  Now when people in the media or at school board meetings claim ID is “religion” (false–but it’s not science either… see above) we have given them the ammunition to do so.

I firmly believe in the Genesis account of creation.  I also do not trust unqualified school teachers to teach my children about God.  Also, I’m far more concerned with my children’s theology than with their biology.  Let schools stick to science (and its philosopical foundations).  The children can and should learn about God at home and in the church.

Let’s neither be surprised nor discouraged when the worldly think in a worldly way.  Evangelism is not changing peoples minds about science and politics, it is the proclamation of the gospel.  These other things will follow as the result of changed hearts..

* ID destroys the foundation of evolution (scientific naturalism) instead.

 

 

Unlocking the Mystery of Life

Unlocking the Mystery of Life tells the story of contemporary scientists who are advancing a powerful but controversial idea—the theory of intelligent design. Using state-of-the-art computer animation, the video transports you into the interior of the living cell to explore systems and machines that bear the unmistakable hallmarks of design: Rotary motors that spin at 100,000 rpm. A biological information processing system more powerful than any computer network. And a thread-like molecule that stores instructions to build the essential components of every living organism on earth.

 

Has Science Buried God?

Andy Davis offers a response to this claim.

 

Expelled! The MovieCould the tide be turning?:  From the Overview Page: Stein’s heroic and, at times, shocking journey confronting the world’s top scientists, educators and philosophers, regarding the persecution of the many by an elite few.
Ben realizes that he has been “Expelled,” and that educators and scientists are being ridiculed, denied tenure and even fired – for the “crime” of merely believing that there might be evidence of “design” in nature, and that perhaps life is not just the result of accidental, random chance.

 

Darwin's black boxDarwin’s Black Box : The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution by Michael J. Behe.
Within the biochemistry of living cells, he argues, life is “irreducibly
complex.” This is the last black box to be opened, the end of the road for
science. Faced with complexity at this level, Behe suggests that it can only be
the product of “intelligent design.” Read the reviews at Amazon

 

 

Creation HypothesisThe Creation Hypothesis: Scientific Evidence for an Intelligent Designer,
J P Moreland, editor (March 94, 335 pages) P.J. Moreland and a panel
of scholars examine arguments and evidence from astronomy, physics,
bio-chemistry, paleontology, and linguistics as they evaluate the creation
hypothesis. Review Amazon

 

 

Mere CreationMere Creation: Science, Faith & Intelligent Design, William A. Dembski,
editor InterVarsity Press (Sept., 1998), 448 pp. Nineteen experts trained in
mathematics, mechanical engineering, philosophy, astrophysics, ecology,
evolutionary biology, and other disciplines challenge the reigning ideology
of materialistic naturalism on both scientific and philosophical grounds, as
they press their case for a radical thinking of established evolutionary
assumptions.  Review Amazon

 

 

More Classical Apologetics

Is intelligent design
the only reason to believe in a creator?  We’ve only scratched the
surface.

Here are a some of their other works:

Streaming Videos

 

A Wealth of Resources

Here is a web site and
two pages with more resources than you should ever need.  Don’t let the
sheer volume of these resources scare you away.  Each has helpful summaries
of the articles, commentaries, audio files, etc.  Browse around and dig in
.  As time permits I hope to review some of the articles and make
recommendations.