Digging Deeper Responses to Course 1 – Wondering What to Believe

[Nicki Stars]

Concerning the complexity of the creation in Lesson One, the thought occurs to me that, not only does an intelligent design require a designer, but the more complex the design, the more intelligent the designer. For example, birds build nests, but you won’t see them reconstructing the Eiffel Tower or building a high-rise office building. Beavers build dams, but it’s not likely you will see them building something as sophisticated as Hoover Dam. These complicated designs require intelligent designers. Left alone, less intelligent creators produce less intelligent creations. So, one can only imagine the incredible Super Intelligence (God) exemplified in every aspect of the creation. Actually, no – such intelligence is really “unimaginable”!

[Rene' Stroud]

Hi Nicki… I’m glad to see that we share the same appreciation for the incredible complexity of the creation. I agree with your analogies referencing birds and beavers – ;o) In my research, I’ve come to understand that life, as we know it in this present universe, depends upon three things: matter, energy, and the teleology—intelligence, purpose, direction—that guides that energy, matter, and all living things. Dr. Michael Egnor (2011), a professor and vice-chairman of neurosurgery at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, discusses the vital role that teleology plays in creating and sustaining life, saying:

Up to modern times, people have tended to understand teleology in one of two ways: intrinsic teleology and extrinsic teleology. Intrinsic teleology is the classic Aristotelian/Thomist teleology, an inherent tendency for directedness in each thing. Extrinsic teleology is the view that directedness is imposed on a thing from without. Extrinsic teleology often invokes complexity as evidence . . . So design in life is obvious, and there exists several thousand years of the deepest thinking applied to understanding the nature of this design . . . The use of teleological language in biology isn’t “legitimate”. It’s indispensable. The heart pumps. Flagella are for locomotion . . . Biology is teleological, and obviously manifests purpose. Parts of living things are for something (circulation, locomotion, excretion, etc.).

All I can say to that is “Wow… just wow!” And yet, shouldn’t these truths be pretty much self-evident to each and every one of us?

Reference:

Egnor, M. (2011). <em style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; color: var(–bb-body-text-color);”>Teleonomy and teleology. Retrieved from the Egnorance blogsite at: http://egnorance.blogspot.com/2011/07/teleonomy-and-teleology.html