Harmonizing Intelligent Design and Evolution!

Tuesday, November 15, 2005  

Harmonizing Intelligent Design and Evolution

The idea that Intelligent Design is in contradiction to Evolution is rooted in the belief that God created the world in six days as described in the Bible. The Bible also tells us that the creation of the sun succeeded that of Light, and that Earth was there even before the Chaos. In the Sun’s absence, it is difficult to understand what the source of light was on the first few creative days, or what constituted a day in the first place, since the notion of day and night hinges on the sun being there.
The idea that Intelligent Design is in contradiction to Evolution is rooted in a strict religious belief that the Bible provides an accurate depiction of God’s work.
Throughout the many years that passed since Jesus was crucified, the church has given in (although reluctantly) to the realities that the world is round, that it revolves around the sun rather than the contrary, and that Earth is not the center of the universe. These revolutionary and daring thoughts fought their way to ultimate victory over stringent religious beliefs, so that today, even those who view the Bible as God’s exclusive dictation admit to its legitimacy.
The world is very complex. Life and its origin are still a mystery. And the Laws of Nature or Physics that make it all work the way they do are and have been determined by something or someone that various people identify as Mother Nature, God, or Allah. There is no contradiction between Physics and the belief in a supreme force, call it whatever you wish.
For the same reason, there is no contradiction between having a supreme force, a designing mind, and Darwin’s Evolution, as long as we accept the fact that Mother Nature, or God, opted for the Evolutionary process as their design choice.
The only contradiction is the one that is confined to bridging the creation story in the Bible with Darwin’s theory. It is easily bridged if the belief in God, the belief in a supreme designing force, is divorced from the belief that the Bible was written by it. If we accept the fact that humans authored the Bible after they became literate, then Intelligent Design and Evolution can walk together, get married, and live in peace and harmony with each other. It is that simple.