Who Is Our "Intelligent Designer"? Part 3

Read Part 1 and Part 2.

The Bible is completely clear on the issue of Intelligent Design: “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20 KJV).

Here the apostle Paul informs us that Adam and Eve could discern God’s “eternal power and Godhead” by “the things that are made,” because “the invisible things of him” were “clearly seen”—not by animals, but by men (beginning with our first parents)—”from the creation of the world.”

But the fall brought about a profound change. When Adam and Eve rejected the clearly revealed will of God, being overwhelmed by a sense of sin and shame they had never known, they tried desperately to hide from their God: “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked… . and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden” (Gen. 3:7-8).

Every human from then until now (with the blessed exception of our Savior, Jesus Christ) has been conceived in sin (Ps. 51:5); and in those rare moments of spiritual conviction, we agree with the prophet Isaiah: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way” (Isa. 53:6).

That is why it takes much more than brilliant ID arguments and the finite pressure of human rationalism to turn men back to God. Some ID scholars actually believe that within the next generation or so they will succeed in accomplishing “a paradigm shift” in the entire academic or scientific world.

For example, Philip Johnson encourages his followers “to inspire a lot of people to start doing intellectual work based on the right questions … As the discussion proceeds, the intellectual world will become gradually accustomed to treating materialism and naturalism as subjects to be analyzed and debated … Eventually the answer to our prime question will become too obvious to be in doubt” (Signs of Intelligence, [Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2001], pp. 37-38).

Then Johnson unveils his famous “wedge” strategy to change the thinking of materialistic scientists: “The metaphor of a wedge portrays the modernist scientific and intellectual world, with its materialist assumptions, as a thick and seemingly impenetrable log. Such a log can be split wide open, however, if you can find a crack and pound the sharp edge of a wedge into it … My own writings and speaking represents the sharp edge of this wedge. I make the first penetration, seeking always to legitimate a line of inquiry rather than to win a debate, measuring success by the number of significant thinkers I draw into the discussion, rather than by the conclusions that they draw for the present” (Ibid., p. 38).

Our success, Johnson assures us, “is all but inevitable … [because] we are making a point of elementary logic that is irresistible once it is understood. The only obstacle to a breakthrough is the long standing prejudice [of materialism] … A prejudice like that can be protected for a while, but in the end reason always breaks through” (Ibid., p. 40).

The same optimism characterizes the writings of most design theorists, because their official exclusion of the God of the Bible from their discussion really leaves them no other power-system than their own finite intellects for changing the hearts and minds of materialists. Jonathan Wells thinks that “biologists should trust their common sense.” Surely, “they would be better off following the evidence wherever it leads … Once [the neo-Darwinian monopoly in biology] is broken, we may expect to see dramatic scientific progress in understanding how embryos develop” (Ibid., p. 40).

Such thinking actually sets up an enormous barrier against the true Intelligent Designer of the universe, Jesus Christ the Lord. In effect, He is being told to stay out of the battle. Since ID experts believe they can handle the enemy with their own resources, He is not needed. But Christ told us, “Without me ye can do nothing [of eternal value and significance]” (John 15:5).

Mark Cadwallader, board chairman of Creation Moments, Inc., concludes: “Even if you could store the contents of a thousand creation science books in your brain and had the ability to share that information in a clear, convincing way, it still wouldn’t be enough to persuade even one person to abandon their belief in Darwinism or their unbelief in God” (August, 2008; www.creationmoments.com).

Is this really true?

Dr. John C. Whitcomb has been a professor of Old Testament and theology for more than 50 years and is widely recognized as a leading biblical scholar. He taught at Grace Theological Seminary (Winona Lake, IN) from 1951-1990 and gained much recognition for his work on The Genesis Flood (Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company), which he co-authored with Dr. Henry Morris in 1961. That book has been credited as one of the major catalysts for the modern Biblical creationism movement. His ministry homepage is Whitcomb Ministries, and his sermons are available at SermonAudio.com.