Re: asa-digest V1 #692 (fwd)
Joel Cannon (cannon@alpha.centenary.edu)
Fri, 9 Jan 1998 14:01:58 -0600 (CST)>
> John W. Burgeson wrote:
> >
> > George Murphy wrote:
> >
> > "The _theological_ problem with the claims of Behe _et al_ & the
> > whole ID movement is that they insist that certain natural phenomena
> > _compel_ us - if we're intellectually honest - to acknowledge God at
> > work, & that independently of faith in Christ."
> >
> > I am really puzzled at this assertion, George. At the NTSE, this idea was
> > thrashed out in excrutiating detail. AT NO TIME did I hear the ID folks
> > assert any such thing and on several occasions I am quite sure I heard
> > them specifically and pointedly deny such an idea.
> >
> > What the ID folks do assert (IMHO, of course) is that certain natural
> > phenomenon suggest strongly an intelligence other than ours -- an
> > "intelligent agent," in Newton's terminology. There is no (IMHO again)
> > requirement that the IA be "God," or even a "supernatural" being(s).
> > There is also no asserting that the IA even exist! But there is an
> > assertion that the IA MAY exist, and that ingnoring that possibility (in
> > science) is a "bad thing."
>
> OK, I've been somewhat hyperbolic in describing the ID claims,
> but I think perhaps you're being a bit elliptic. If all ID amounted to
> was what you describe, it would get about the amount of attention
> Crick's directed panspermia does (or perhaps less since he's got a Nobel
> Prize). The reason ID has come to be seen as such a crusade, with its
> own journal, conferences, &c, is its use as a natural theology argument.
I think George is correct here. At the NTSE conference I heard more
than Bergy did. It seems to me that they say both things. When talking
to scientists I hear what Bergy said. When talking to Christians or
when involved in apologetics George's statement surfaces. At the very
least, they don't discourage its apologetic use.
It does seem odd that a book not containing the words "God" or
"Jesus" could win Christianity Today's book of the year award.
This seems to capture the dichotomy.
BTW Burgy, you didn't give me a candidate for an intelligence that was
neither human or divine. If I missed it in paring down my email, my
apologies.
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