Joe Carter at Evangelical Outpost has been going back and forth for awhile with (it seems) Christians and non-Christians who regard intelligent design as an untenable explanation for the physical universe.

This debate is part of a larger, on-going fracas between people who do not believe in a Creator – which is not the same as unbelief: you can be a Christian and not adhere to every doctrinal position – and those who do believe in a Creator – which is not synonymous with Christianity: other faiths believe in a Creator, too, e.g., Judaism. This debate, in turn, falls into the more generalized category of the tension that exists for many between their faith and the seemingly incontrovertible facts of science.

Such discussions, when characterized by light rather than mere heat, serve a variety of purposes. First, the interactions are educational and provide ballast for those of us who are seeking more information and viewpoints about a particular issue. Second, they tend to be heuristic and/or dialectic: one thought gives rise to another, and various thoughts often merge to create a different and sometimes better idea. Third, engaging people with opposing or disparate views can result in “iron sharpening iron,” something many of us duller folks could use a bit more of – or, should I say, “something of which many of us duller folks could use a bit more”?

As usual, however, I want to take this to a different level. (Valuable tip to new bloggers: when you lack sufficient information, sophistication, or intelligence to participate in these kinds of dialogues, shift the focus. This makes you (a) look as though you’re really wise, and (b) look like you’ve already considered all these points being made, have dismissed them, and have moved on to the really important issue that normal people can’t perceive but you can.)

Two observations: one about the difficulty of believing the Bible; one about the difficulty of believing the Bible. (Another free tip: whenever possible, speak in paradoxes or contradictions. People will think you’re really smart, a misperception or deception that is invaluable for those of us who aren’t actually smart.)

The difficulty in believing the Bible is itself twofold. There is, it seems, within non-Christians as well as Christians what naturalist Thomas Nagel, in his book The Last Word (pp. 130-131), has termed a “cosmic authority problem:”

“In speaking of the fear of religion, . . . , I am talking about . . . the fear of religion itself. I speak from experience, being strongly subject to this fear myself. . . . I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God and, naturally, hope that I’m right in my belief. It’s that I hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God; I don’t want the universe to be like that . . . My guess is that this cosmic authority problem is not a rare condition and that it is responsible for much of the scientism and reductionism of our time. One of the tendencies it supports is the ludicrous overuse of evolutionary biology to explain everything about life, including everything about the human mind” (emphasis mine).

This is a philosophically insightful exposition of Ps 14.1a: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Sin has conditioned us to resist God: we may find other gods or faiths appealing, but apart from the grace of God no one genuinely seeks for the true God. There are no “seekers” (Rom 3.10-12), only people being drawn (“seekees”?).

Even for Christians – not to mention non-Christians – submitting to the ultimate authority of God is not easy. We suffer from this “cosmic authority problem” that causes us to balk at absolute truth that has been revealed to us and need only be believed. It is an affront to our esteem to have our reasoning powers and creativity take a back seat to anyone, even if the Anyone happens to be omniscient.

When it comes to cosmogony, the author of Hebrews tells us how, how, and how. “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (Heb 11.3). How did the universe come into being? it was created by God; how did He do it? by His word; how do we know this? by faith.

Ultimately, it seems to me, the issue of whether or not there is intelligent design is a matter of faith, both for the non-Christian and the Christian. The former, not having faith, is left to his or her own devices to makes sense of the universe; the latter, not having enough faith, is also left to his or her own speculations and conclusions. Who can fault the non-Christian for doing the best they are capable of doing given their limited perspective?

This does not make these non-ID Christians bad or disobedient. It just means that, at least in this one particular area, it is hard for them to exercise faith. Should they quit investigating? Of course not, but at some point they will have to address the faith component of the issue. In an earlier post, I mentioned that it is hard for me to get my mind around a physical kingdom of God on earth: my faith is weak at this point. Who can say they have no doubts are areas of weak faith?

The problem is usually not lack of information; if anything, we tend to have too much information. Reading the objections and perceptions of others may change our minds, but more often than not it only results in a further polarization and hardening of the attitudes.

The resolution of the tension between science and Christianity, I think, comes down to faith, as does the resolution of our “cosmic authority problem.” Fortunately, knowing God or knowing Him better is the solution to both.


2 Cor 1:13