Universal Design Intuition & Darwin’s Blind Spot

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Science seems to have wandered some time in the wilderness for all of its advances, leaving the path of conviction and following a path of doubt

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Douglas Axe[i] recently published a book Undeniable: How Biology Confirms Our Intuition That Life Is Designed[ii], in which he attempts to show how science, as well as our own experiences and observations, belie a world that is full of design and evidence of a designer. Though he is vilified by hardline New-Darwinists and others who cling to that tired model of life in spite of mounting evidence against it, others have recently acknowledged his contributions to science.[iii]

In the book and elsewhere, Axe highlights a phenomenon that he calls universal design intuition. According to Axe, pre-school age kids on the whole look at the world and attribute it to a God-like designer.

He isn’t alone in this observation, and it isn’t just the advocates of intelligent design who confirm the phenomenon. It has been recognized even by people who are…

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Intellect and Faith

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Photo by Tyler Drendel - Sunset at Fermi Lab
Photo by Tyler Drendel – Sunset at Fermi Lab

Following from part one of two – being honest about the who and what of our underlying presuppositions…

Think about it: can a finite being measure or define, let alone manipulate, an infinite God?

If God is “big” enough to create a universe so large that we cannot see past the beginning or the end, how do we expect to measure such a God?

We are more comfortable in our own element. We can understand the what and the how of the world we live in, but the who is another matter altogether. Non-believers go no further and declare, the “what” and the “how” to be all there is.

At the same time, believers should not be afraid of facts or science. Facts and science help us to know and understand the what and how of creation – and they point to the Who. If we have an attitude open to the Who, we will see the evidence for God. In fact, it will seem self-evident. If a person wants “proof” before belief, such a person will never be satisfied – especially when the proof is a priori limited to the what and the how.

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Jesus Alone

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(c) Can Stock Photo / Nuketa

The words in the blog post I am reblogging here are honest, genuine and raw. Take a moment to read what Rae has to say before reading on here:

I type these words with the heaviest of hearts. My deepest fear realized. I am at a breaking point in my faith. Of that I am certain. I don’t know how much longer I can believe in a God who allows such intense misery and unbearable agony befall those whom He loves. I’ve read the […]

via More Than I Can Bear — Real as the Streets

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Religious Pluralism Sounds Nice, but Is It True?

It should be no surprise, if there be such thing as truth, that people all over the world would have some knowledge and understanding of the truth. Thus, we should not be surprised at all to find aspects of truth in all the world religions.

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One expression of pluralism is the idea that all truth claims are equally valid. (Pluralism doesn’t necessarily require this.) So does that include the truth claim that all truth claims are not equally valid? Think about it. This expression of pluralism that is quite popular today is already in trouble right from the start.

Religious pluralism is “the acceptance of all religious paths as equally valid, promoting coexistence”.

Religious pluralism sounds nice, and the motives for wanting to believe in religious pluralism are largely nobles ones. The idea of religious pluralism is born out of a desire for unity, respect for others and harmony, but can we live by it?

That we want religious pluralism to be true doesn’t mean it is true. We would like for gravity not to be “true”, especially while climbing a ladder, but wishing it so does not make it so.

My thoughts today are spurred on by a presentation by Vince Vitale on religious pluralism. You might want to listen to what he has to say about it before or after considering my thoughts.[i] He addresses several bad assumptions and several good desires that lead to pluralism. I only address two of the three assumptions here.

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Man: Insignificant or Extraordinary?

While we might be strongly tempted to feel utterly insignificant in light of the vast expanse of the universe and yawning eons of time, think again.

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When we look at the universe and the vast expanse of space we tend to feel insignificant in comparison. When we consider the billions of years the universe has existed in comparison to our few years strutting on the world stage, we truly feel insignificant.

When we consider the entire length of human existence, it is a drop in the bucket of time that the earth and the universe have existed. If we accept the figures that modern science tell us, “modern humans” have existed for about 200 thousand years[i]. If the earth is about 4.6 billion years old, humans have existed less than one half of one half of one percent of the time that the earth has existed (0.00043%).

When you consider that the universe is about 14 billion years old, our meager 100 or fewer years is absolutely insignificant in comparison. Yet, these numbers and the sheer size of the universe should not make us feel as insignificant as we seem to feel. Just the opposite!

We should feel extraordinary that we even exist!

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