Re: [asa] Apologetics Conference

Agency can be discernible but I argue that it does NOT use the design inference approach used by intelligent design proponents. In fact, it also involves regular design rather than rarefied design. ----- Original Message ---- From: David Opderbeck <dopderbeck@gmail.com> To: Robert Schneider <rjschn39@bellsouth.net> Cc: asa@calvin.edu It's interesting how the discussion of this analogy has shifted. First, we debated the question of whether any agency at all was discernible in a rock flying out a window; then we debated whether agency could be discerned in a boulder tumbling out of a quarry. In both cases, it seems, it is not terribly difficult to determine on a practical level, at least to a degree of confidence that people use to make everyday decisions, whether any agency was involved. But then the discussion moved into the the theodicy problem. This mirrors almost exactly how many debates about design in nature go. The goalposts shift significantly and the proponent of design now must show not only that agency is a reasonable inference, but also that the theodicy problem can be solved.

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Received on Fri Nov 17 12:07:25 2006