In the News

Emile Schepers, contributor to the People's Weekly World Newspaper online, takes a swipe at ID...and misses.

The lead paragraph is misleading at best. Emile conflates creationism with ID and states the goal of ID is to get it taught in public schools. This is straight from the nonsensical "talking points" of anti-ID proponents.

Emile then asserts that the intelligent designer must be stupid for creating such a "bizarre array of species in nature". Why 85 different species of salamanders of the genus Bolitoglossa, which range from Mexico to the jungles of South America? Or, better yet, from my recollection, why a quarter million species of beetles worldwide? First, the idea of species must be defined. Can these salamaders or beetles interbreed, or do they just choose not to? In addition, how does Emile exhaustively know how each species fits into its ecosystem? Maybe, just maybe, each performs a needed function in a local area?

From the Christian perspective, God describes himself as not only the Creator of life, but as a playful artist, enjoying the creatures he has designed ex nihilo. Maybe if the salamanders (choose any other group of being) from one area to another don't perform needed functions in each local ecosystem. Perhaps God takes infinite pleasure in variations on a theme?

To Emile, "it would have been more intelligent to design just a single species and make them infinitely tougher and more adaptable, say the size of crocodiles, with claws, poison fangs, fur (for cold snaps) and pterodactyl wings, instead of fragile little things that fit in the palm of your hand and that curl up and die if you leave them in the sun for two minutes. What’s intelligent about designing them like that?" This unreasoned approach reminds one of Dr. Stephen Hawking's complaint that God (intelligent designer) should have just created one sun, one earth, and been done with it, not realizing that the cosmos, in all its size and gradeur is necessary, given the fine-tuned nature of the "laws" of physics. There is much that underlies the surface observations of Emile and Stephen. Yes, why not just have a dozen or so super-tough creatures and man, and be done with it! Maybe there is something to the "playful artist" concept of an intelligent designer, and perhaps an intricately complex ecosystem is necessary for the collective good of all species alive at this time in earth history?

Finally, Emile complains that ID does not even bother to answer the question, "who designed the designer?" First, the ID discipline is under no obligation to answer the question, because it is a philosophical/ theological question, not a science question. ID deals with proximal causes not ultimate causes. He states, "to posit the existence of a vast intelligence and will behind nature, and then expect people to take this on faith, is a religious-mystical stance, not a scientific one." This is a curious, self-indicting statement because materialists are doing exactly the same thing. Some ID proponents ultimately appeal to an uncaused intelligent designer, but materialists also appeal to an uncaused "creator", whether it be the materialistic "intelligence" that birthed the cosmos, or the unintelligent multiverses in the present or past (but this just pushes back the infinite regress). Reasonably and logically, material things cannot come from absolutely nothing, and it takes just as much, if not more, faith to believe that stuff comes from absolutely nothing as it does for an intelligent designer to have created the material universe. Both worldviews make a claim to some uncaused cause. In the case of materialism, the uncaused cause is ultimately absolutely nothing. The theist appeals to a non-contingent intelligent being. Emile, or any other atheist or agnostic, has not thrown down the trump card when they ask, "who designed the designer?" This needs to be pointed out to them, in a respectful and gentle manner.

For more on the question of "who designed the designer, go to the IDEA Center by clicking HERE.

For Emile's full commentary, click HERE.