By: Giovanni Freiberg

Giovanni Freiberg — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:19:03 +0000

Keep working remarkable piece of work!

By: Tony Feiger

Tony Feiger — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:19:18 +0000

I have a very different view of “Intelligent Design and Christianity”.
The statement that God is like an artist, who “does not know in advance exactly what he or she hopes to make”, is particularly disturbing. The orthodox view of God is that He sees all of time at once. Isaiah 46:10 says “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”
On the one hand, I agree with you that God created all matter. In Hebrews 11:3, we see, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”
On the other hand, God is revealed again and again as the one who formed (and forms) matter according to His purposes. In Gen. 2:7 the Bible says God formed (or fashioned) man from the dust of the earth. In Gen. 2:19 we see that God formed the beasts of the fields and the birds of the air from the ground. In Gen. 2:22 we learn that God made (or built) a woman from the rib of a man.
God is also portrayed as a craftsman over and over again in the Bible. In Psalm 8:3-4, we see, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” As for man, in Psalm 139:13 God is praised as an artesian, “you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
The image of God as a potter is seen many times in the Bible. One clear example is Isaiah 45:9, “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?” See also Isa. 29:16, Isa. 46:8, Jer. 18:6, and Rom. 9:21.
From the many Old Testament references above, it is clear that the idea that God formed the universe intentionally, with purpose, is a Hebrew concept, predating the Platonic concept you refer to.
As the Apostle Paul made clear, God’s power and nature can be realized by studying His creation, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made…” (Rom. 1-20).
This is where the relationship between “Intelligent Design and Christianity” comes in. “Intelligent Design” is simply the idea that certain features of our universe are best explained by an intelligent cause, rather than a blind natural process. I believe that this idea is compatible with the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths.
I would tend to look to the Holy Scriptures as the ultimate source of truth, not other ancient writings or “science-in-vogue”, which presupposes that God does not exist.
The fact that some phenomena is experimentally repeatable and can be described by a mathematical equation, does not mean that God is not involved. Furthermore, in spite of your suggestion, the religious conviction of many is growing, not retreating with science. In fact, I would argue that the more we learn about our universe the more we “see” the hand of God. Even as we learn more, we discover more which we cannot explain.
God is much bigger than you imagine. Open your mind, study the universe and worship Him for all He has purposefully done.

Comments on: Intelligent Design and Christianity

By: Giovanni Freiberg

By: Tony Feiger