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Seeking a Signature

Seeking a Signature

In this article, Venema offers his review of Stephen Meyer's book Signature in the Cell.
Oct 19, 2011 
Dennis Venema 
Design, ID Movement
From Intelligent Design to BioLogos

From Intelligent Design to BioLogos

In this paper, Venema tells the story of his transition from support of Intelligent Design to the view that God uses evolution as a creative mechanism.
Oct 19, 2011 
Dennis Venema 
Design, BioLogos, ID Movement
The Cambrian 'Explosion', Transitional Forms, and the Tree of Life

The Cambrian 'Explosion', Transitional Forms, and the Tree of Life

Geologist Keith Miller examines the "Cambrian Explosion", a period of rapid evolutionary diversification approximately 575 million years ago, and whether it poses a challenge to evolutionary theory.
May 02, 2011 
Keith Miller 
History of Life, Fossils
Evolutionary Creation: A Christian Approach to Evolution

Evolutionary Creation: A Christian Approach to Evolution

Professor Denis Lamoureux presents the theory of evolutionary creation, which claims that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit created the universe and life through an ordained, sustained, and design-reflecting evolutionary process. The view of origins, says Lamoureux, fully embraces both the religious beliefs of biblical Christianity and the scientific theories of cosmological, geological, and biological evolution.
Apr 25, 2011 
Denis Lamoureux 
Creation & Origins, Genesis, Ancient Cultures
The Biblical Creation in its Ancient Near Eastern Context

The Biblical Creation in its Ancient Near Eastern Context

"As a Christian and a biblical scholar, I care both about Scripture as truth and about the ongoing scholarly conversation regarding the composition of the Hebrew Scriptures. And so, when I was asked to speak on the story of creation in Genesis 1, I welcomed the opportunity to give my thoughts on the interaction between this text and its ancient Near Eastern context."
Apr 25, 2011 
Joseph Lam 
Creation & Origins, Genesis, Ancient Cultures
Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography in the Bible

Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography in the Bible

Brian Godawa looks at several aspects of ancient cosmography (descriptions of the universe) that also appear in the Bible, and what these aspects of the text mean for our understanding of Scripture.
Apr 25, 2011 
Brian Godawa 
Creation & Origins, Ancient Cultures
Intelligent Design, Thomas Aquinas, and the Ubiquity of Final Causes

Intelligent Design, Thomas Aquinas, and the Ubiquity of Final Causes

In this paper, Baylor philosophy professor Francis Beckwith distinguishes between Intelligent Design (ID) and Thomistic Design (TD).
Apr 22, 2011 
Francis Beckwith 
Design, ID Movement
Design in Nature

Design in Nature

In this paper, adapted from an article from Science & Christian Belief, Dr. Oliver R. Barclay compares and contrasts the biblical view of design in nature with modern design arguments.
Apr 22, 2011 
Oliver R. Barclay 
Design, ID Movement
How can evolution account for the complexity of life on earth today?

How can evolution account for the complexity of life on earth today?

A complex biological structure with many interacting parts might appear, at first glance, as if it were originally created in its present form with all its interlocking components fully formed and intact. It doesn’t seem possible that they developed step by step via biological evolution. In Darwin’s Black Box, Michael Behe introduces a term that he and other proponents of Intelligent Design use for this concept: irreducible complexity.
Apr 22, 2009 
 
History of Life, ID Movement, Evolution - How It Works
Are gaps in scientific knowledge evidence for God?

Are gaps in scientific knowledge evidence for God?

Every field of science has unanswered questions and gaps in our understanding. Scientists typically view these as open research questions. Others sometimes argue that if science can’t explain how something happened, then God must be the explanation. Such arguments are called “god-of-the-gaps” arguments. The risk in these arguments is that science is always developing. If gaps in scientific knowledge are the basis for belief in God, then as scientists fill in the gaps, the evidence for God disappears. The God of the Bible, however, is much more than a god of the gaps. Christians believe that God is always at work in the natural world, in the gaps as well as in the areas that science can explain.
Apr 22, 2009 
 
Design, ID Movement
What is evolution?

What is evolution?

Evolution is the biological model for the history of life on Earth. While some consider evolution to be equivalent to atheism, BioLogos sees evolution as a description of how God created all life. Evolution refers to descent with modification. Small modifications occur at the genetic level (in DNA) with each generation, and these genetic changes can affect how the creature interacts with its environment. Over time, accumulation of these genetic changes can alter the characteristics of the whole population, and a new species appears. Major changes in life forms take place by the same mechanism but over even longer periods of time. All life today can be traced back to a common ancestor some 3.85 billion years ago.
Mar 28, 2009 
 
History of Life, Evolution - How It Works
What evidence do we have for evolution besides fossils and genes?

What evidence do we have for evolution besides fossils and genes?

Scientists have found multiple lines of evidence for evolution, not just one or two. These types of evidence are independent of each other, coming from sources as different as ancient fossils and modern genetics labs. Evidence also comes from comparing the anatomy of creatures living today. All creatures with four limbs (whether mammals, birds, or reptiles) have the same bone structure in each limb, pointing to their descent from a common ancestor. More evidence comes from biogeography. Isolated islands are missing common species found on the mainland, but are filled with many unique species that can be related by a common ancestor. Finally, evidence comes from embryonic development. As an embryo of a mammal grows, its heart develops through stages similar to fish, amphibians, and reptiles. God’s creation declares the history of life in many different ways. All these ways are pointing to a consistent picture of God creating through evolution.
Jul 13, 2012 
 
History of Life, Evolution - Evidence
Evolution and the Origin of Biological Information

Evolution and the Origin of Biological Information

In this paper, Venema explores several examples in biology where random mutation and natural selection have indeed led to substantial increases in biological information. The question of how new specified information arises in DNA, far from being an “enigma”, is one of great interest to biologists.
Oct 19, 2011 
Dennis Venema 
Design, ID Movement, Evolution - How It Works
C.S. Lewis on Evolution and Intelligent Design

C.S. Lewis on Evolution and Intelligent Design

This article is a comprehensive study of the views of Christian author and apologist C. S. Lewis on the theory of evolution and the argument from intelligent design. It explains how he would distinguish expressly philosophical arguments for a Transcendent Mind from the current claims of the intelligent design (ID) movement to provide scientific evidence for such a reality.
Oct 19, 2011 
Michael L. Peterson 
Design
Biblical Creation and Storytelling: Cosmogony, Combat and Covenant

Biblical Creation and Storytelling: Cosmogony, Combat and Covenant

The literary conventions employed in Genesis chapter 1 mark it out, not as a scientific document describing material origins, but as a theological polemic against surrounding ancient Near Eastern pagan religions. Creation language here and elsewhere in Scripture is not about establishing scientific origins of material substance and structure but about covenantal establishment and worldview.
Apr 25, 2011 
Brian Godawa 
Creation & Origins, Ancient Cultures
Why Dembski’s Design Inference Doesn’t Work

Why Dembski’s Design Inference Doesn’t Work

Mathematics professor James Bradley looks at the design argument presented in William Dembski's book The Design Inference and offers his criticisms on the accuracy of the model.
Apr 25, 2011 
James Bradley 
Design, ID Movement
Does the Cambrian Explosion pose a challenge to evolution?

Does the Cambrian Explosion pose a challenge to evolution?

The “Cambrian Explosion” refers to the appearance in the fossil record of most major animal body plans about 543 million years ago. The new fossils appear in an interval of 20 million years or less. On evolutionary time scales, 20 million years is a rapid burst that appears to be inconsistent with the gradual pace of evolutionary change. However, rapid changes like this appear at other times in the fossil record, often following times of major extinction. The Cambrian Explosion does present a number of interesting and important research questions. It does not, however, challenge the fundamental correctness of the central thesis of evolution.
Apr 23, 2009 
 
History of Life, Fossils
Isn’t the origin of life highly improbable?

Isn’t the origin of life highly improbable?

From all we know about the state of the Earth 3 to 4 billion years ago and what we know about the complexity of the building blocks of life — DNA, RNA, amino acids, sugars — no entirely plausible hypothesis for the spontaneous origin of life has been found. But this does not mean that supernatural activity is the only possible explanation.
Apr 22, 2009 
 
History of Life
What does the fossil record show?

What does the fossil record show?

Fossils provide a unique view into the history of life by showing the forms and features of life in the past. Fossils tell us how species have changed across long periods of the Earth’s history. For instance, in 1998, scientists found a fossil showing an animal at the transition from sea creature to land creature. This tetrapod had a hand-like fin, confirming a prediction of evolutionary biology. Though the fossil record does not include every plant and animal that ever lived, it provides substantial evidence for the common descent of life via evolution. The fossil record is a remarkable gift for the study of nature.
Apr 17, 2009 
 
History of Life, Fossils, Evolution - Evidence
What is the

What is the "fine-tuning" of the universe, and how does it serve as a "pointer to God"?

Fine-tuning refers to the surprising precision of nature’s physical constants, and the beginning state of the Universe. To explain the present state of the universe, even the best scientific theories require that the physical constants of nature and the beginning state of the Universe have extremely precise values.
Apr 17, 2009 
 
Design, Astronomy & Physics
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