Intelligent Design

I've seen way too much misunderstanding of Intelligent Design (ID), including in a recent article by a prominent rabbi. Let me try to explain what it is. Note that I showed this to a fellow at the Discovery Institute to make sure that I am explaining this properly.

ID is not the belief that God created the world in six days. Nor is it the belief that creatures are too complex to have come about randomly. It is the theory that it can be convincingly inferred (not quite proven but close) that creatures were intentionally designed rather than a random product. It doesn't claim to prove anything about God but merely disputes Darwinism's contention that the course of life's history was entirely unguided.

ID does not disprove or even necessarily contradict evolution, if evolution is defined as change over time. The issue at stake is the mechanism that drives evolution. Indeed, ID theorists accept not only that complex life has evolved and changed over the course of hundreds of millions of years but that all lifeforms extant today probably descend from a common ancestor. ID does not necessarily support belief in God, though it does lend plausibility to such belief. ID theorists are careful not to identify the "designer" at all. Therefore, rejecting ID does not necessarily mean rejecting an intelligent designer. Nor does it mean accepting evolution. And accepting ID does not mean accepting a divinely created world. Nor does it mean rejecting evolution.

Again, rejecting ID does not necessarily mean rejecting an intelligent designer. It certainly does not mean accepting Darwinian Evolution -- that is, the random mechanism of Darwinian Evolution. It merely means being unconvinced that there is a strong inference to made that there is an intelligent designer, even if one believe that such a designer exists. And accepting ID does not mean accepting a divinely created world. Nor does it mean rejecting the common ancestry of all animals.

See the Discovery Institute's FAQ for more detail.

Keep this in mind while reading a recent article in a Jewish publication and see if the author recognized this. In general, this article's topic is addressed well in Rabbi Slifkin's forthcoming book, The Challenge of Creation. Those interested are directed there.

(You might also want to read the statement on evolution by the RCA and note that it quotes more "significant Jewish authorities" than just R. J.H. Hertz.)