Session 1 INTRO Sept 14 Basic Definitions

Key Figures in Intelligent Design Reaction of Science Community Session 2 PART I – UNDERSTANDING WHAT EVOLUTION TEACHES Sept 21 Terminology: Scientific Method

Experimental vs Historical Science Variations & Mutations

Geologic Column Species vs. Kinds

Basic Darwinism Natural Selection Gradualism Theory vs. Fact Session 3 Darwinism Then and Now Sept 28 Scopes Trial 1925 Life in the Test Tube Miller-Urey experiment Microevolution vs. Macroevolution Relating Species B Back to Species A Morphology – comparing anatomy Genetics – comparing DNA

Evolution’s Tree of Life? - not so fast! Session 4 Critique of Darwinism – Its Inadequacies Oct 5 Common Ancestry Evolution of the Horse

Large Scale Evolution &Transitional Forms Expectations of a Transitional Form Brackets of Evolution Reptile to Mammal Evolution Problems with Anatomical Comparisons – Morphology Inadequacy of the Fossil Record Dating methods – general

Problems with Gradualism

Session 5 Critique of Darwinism – Its Inadequacies (cont) Oct 12 Incapacity of DNA for New Body Plans

The Cambrian Explosion The Body Plans Argument

The Problem of Producing New Cell Types Denying Evolutionary Mutations and the Flood Does Evolution Contradict the Bible Speciation – the existence of a wall

Does Darwinism Contradict the Bible?

Species vs. Kinds Neo-Darwinism – today’s theory Discovery of the Cell Chromosomes Genes Genetic Mutation – how it works The Modern Synthesis Punctuated Equilibrium

Session 6 PART II – CREATIONISM THEN AND NOW Oct 19 Progressive Creationism/Theistic Evolution

Scientific Creationism Young Earth Movement Radiometric Dating in Detail New Results for Young Earth – T-Rex Fossil

Oct 26 ~ break ~ Session 7 PART II – CREATIONISM THEN AND NOW (cont.) Nov 2 Refuting Age Dating Techniques (cont.) Grand Canyon Dating Misfire Future Possibilities of Refutation Day-Age Interpretation

Gap Theory Flood Geology Evidences Against Flood Geology

Session 8 PART II – CREATIONISM THEN AND NOW (cont.) Nov 9 Evidences Against Flood Geology (cont.)

Humans and the Dinosaurs ICR – Evolution Debates Answers in Genesis The Case of the Pyramids

Session 9 PART III – INTELLIGENT DESIGN Nov 16 Beginnings and Key Researchers Reaction of Science Community Problem of Increasing Information Irreducible Complexities The Mouse Trap example Blood Clotting – the Grand Cascade Human Eye Computational Ability of the Retina Session 10 Irreducible Complexities Nov 23 The Bacterial Flagellum Signature in the Cell Protein Synthesis

Session 11 Basic of Mutations – Add-Change-Delete in information units Nov 30 Probability of Amino Acids and Proteins by Chance Session 12 Intelligent Design (cont) Dec 7 Specified Complexity Dec 14 - break - ? Session 13 Intelligent Design (cont) Dec 21

Intelligent Design Overview What is Intelligent Design? A Critique of Evolution – its Inadequacies Intelligent Design has arisen to answer the many areas of evolutionary theory that have disappointed honest and candid scientists over the last 150 years. Darwinism began with admitted faults and unfulfilled expectations. The New Darwinism and other alternative theories have tried to overcome these objections, but leave many key questions unsatisfactorily answered. Our concern is with atheistic or materialistic evolution rather than theistic evolution. The atheistic form is what is being taught in high schools, colleges and universities and the version our children will encounter the most. Theistic evolution, discussed later, may answer some of the criticisms of evolution by filling the need with a God who is monitoring the process. But science actually has no use for theistic versions because their mainstay idea is that nature is fully capable without supernatural aid. Evolutionists of the 20th century now consider evolution an established fact, first proclaimed by men like Goldschmidt and Huxley:

“Evolution is a fact for which no further evidence is needed.”

Richard Goldschmidt, American Scientist 1952

Julian Huxley, Evolution after Darwin 1960 Intelligent Design theorists are clarifying that this may be merely a sociological fact than an evidentiary fact. Meaning it is more a fact about prominent beliefs than a fact based on evidence (J. Richards, Discovery Institute, Heritage Foundation.) Intelligent Design was not developed especially to revive creationism, but to apply the designer model to explain the same data, including those elements still in doubt. However, this is to be construed as theistic evolution – that an Intelligent Designer used evolution as His means. This is an important distinction. It is a critique of evolution on its own merits. Yet spokesmen and researchers in Intelligent Design consciously avoid creationists references and don’t include biblical information as arguments in their thesis. This may give the false impression that they are Bible averse or secular. The vast majority of proponents and writers are committed Christians in their personal lives with a conservative view of the Bible. The chief reason biblical import to Intelligent Design is consciously avoided is based in the observation and experience that society has become overtly prejudiced against scientific creationism and fundamental Christian teaching in general. To begin from that premise is to ensure alienation of the desired audience that could be evangelized. It’s not to say that the Bible is the offending party or creating the problem, but rather how society has come to view it, hence the need for another approach that can hope to arrive back in the Bible message.

Is this then a case of being ashamed of the gospel? Not if you see things from the standpoint of approach rather than outright compromise. You won’t get unbelievers to re-consider the Genesis account if you present Scientific Creationism, per se. You may achieve that end if you introduce folks to the idea of design in contrast to unguided nature. Once you win that argument, turning a person over to the Genesis account as a record of how the Designer reached out to man in the spiritual dimension may become much easier.

Historical Development of Movements

Key Researchers and Authors

Order of Logic - Ideologically

Key Concepts The key concept that promotes Intelligent Design as scientific is the application of Darwin’s own principle – seek the explanation for the best cause (vera causa) of data and observations (On the Origin of Species, Sect 168) As such Intelligent Design attempts as a pretext to critique and solve evolution’s key problems while also re-explaining evolutions concordant data. While many ID proponents are Christian and believe the Designer to be the God of the Bible, ID is promoted as a theory that only demands the designer be intelligent and sufficiently powerful. An Alternate Scientific Hypothesis to Evolution Despite early researchers like Michael Behe serving as one of the seminal pioneers for Intelligent Design, his own institution of residence posts this caveat: “It is our collective position that intelligent design has no basis in science, has not been tested experimentally, and should not be regarded as scientific.” LeHigh University, Pennsylvania. This appears to be a scientific assessment of ID in the manner of a peer review. Yet the reaction from mainstream science and educators has been surprisingly unscientific. In fact, a dispassionate observer might conclude this is an ancient religious war still raging. A common justification is the caveat in the Lehigh statement – it has not been tested experimentally. If that is the critical condition, then evolution is in the same boat – it can’t be tested experimentally either- meaning there are no experiments that test for an observation of evolution’s key claim. This is really a conflating of experimental science with historical science. [we will expand this at the Scientific Method ] A Movement to Reform Education About Teaching Origins Intelligent Design also desires to revisit the failed platform creationists attempted in getting an alternative to evolution added to school curriculum. A first step was to coin a new title that would not prejudice educators and legislators with creationism. Unfortunately, the audience has become so allergic to the mere vapors of creationism that the new title did not remain masked for long. Despite all the effort to distinguish ID separately and neutrally, educators are ready to dismiss it as another way to sneak creationism its religion into schools.

Basic questions about the origin of life present two different truth claims: Some believe these can be seen as compatible, but affirming the conservative claims of each there will be conflict without some compromise, and currently science isn’t budging much. Basic Course Outline We will break out the course material in three main sections: Part I – Understanding What Evolution Teaches

We need to discuss evolution first for two reasons: 1. Intelligent Design uses the terminology of Darwinism and modern science to present

its main points. It’s very important to have a good grasp on what those terms and concepts mean; and also to know how Darwinism is being criticized and refuted.

2. Christians are often criticized for not understanding evolution correctly or for harboring misrepresentations of evolution from creation activists. Getting the basics right will go a long way to opening discussion with our adversaries.

Part II – Creationism Then and Now

It’s very important to also understand the context in which Intelligent Design has come to be placed. Creationist movements have a history and in many cases there are mistaken approached from the past we can learn to avoid. Included here will be the earliest reactions to Charles Darwin from the church, the famous Scopes-Monkey Trial in Dayton Tennessee (1925), and recent venues like the Creation-Evolution debates of the 1970’s and 80’s, Institute for Creation Research, and Answers in Genesis.

Part III – Intelligent Design

While a long wait to finally address, the foregoing sections will prepare the student for the new context in which Intelligent Design resides. Here we will present the essential arguments from irreducible complexities, specified complexity, and probability studies on random chance producing the claimed effects of evolution.

Part I – Understanding What Evolution Teaches

BASIC DEFINITIONS

Evolution is Simple Terms All life forms evolved from lower forms, from an ancient common ancestor, without need of divine creation • life forms change over time • step-by-step changes • new life forms evolve from these changes • environments change over time • nature “selects” those most fit • descent from common ancestors • life from non-life • man from animals • nature has the built-in capability without an appeal to the supernatural

UNAIDED NATURE is the origin of all life forms Intelligent Design in Simple Terms Evidences of design as the origin of life forms in an Intelligent Designer – not necessarily the God of the Bible. (not how creation happened, but evidence of it) • not evolution as God’s tool • evolution is inadequate - critical structures can’t be in steps • irreducible complexities – blood clotting, human eye, proteins and the cell • abrupt appearance of new life (the Cambrian Explosion) • Improbabilities of random chance origins – astronomically high INTELLIGENT DESIGNER - best explanation for all data

Reaction of the Science Community Despite the scientific approach to Intelligent Design and their open declaration that they are not representing creationism, science has not welcomed ID into the fold. This is primarily because science is firmly entrenched in the genre that insists nature is wholly adequate in and of itself, and they have thus effectively eliminated any need to appeal to the supernatural. Besides, opening the door to a Designer is re-entering a field where the key claim cannot be demonstrated – the existence of the Designer.

So science tags Intelligent Design as veiled creationism over the objections of theorists. Schools see it as another attempt to get religion back in the classroom. Surprisingly, in other rigorously secular societies where God has been banished, evolution is still open to criticism. J. Y. Chen of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, stated:

“In China we can criticize Darwin but not the government. In America you can criticize the government but not Darwin.”

Christians often come away from Intelligent Design studies thinking they finally have convincing evidence for their evolutionist foes. While it’s true that many observations and research done in ID may not be known to the average person who believes evolution is a fact, virtually every point posed by ID and other creationist groups has been rebutted or challenged by avid and aggressive Darwinist groups. Some of those groups reveal their wholesale bias by merely posing ad hominem arguments which show they are axiomatically opposed to anything creationist despite the evidence. But other groups host credible scientists and researchers in the field who offer detailed responses creationists need to take more seriously. Missing also are return rebuttals from creationist groups, which can be discouraging. One group to mention is Talk Origins. Currently only presenting their archives of past discussions and posts online, many articles show an obvious bias and even antipathy against creationism. But many other articles are intelligently and capably authored. While this should not dissuade us from a biblical belief in God’s creation account, Christians need to be cautious in making too many sweeping statements about how unsupported the science in evolution may be, like radiometric dating and the age of the earth.

Bibliography

Michael Behe, Darwin’s Black Box, Free Press, 2006 Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker, W. W. Norton & Co., 1996 Gaylord Simpson, The Meaning of Evolution Yale Univ. Press, 1967 Stephen C. Meyer, Signature in the Cell, HarperOne, 2010 Stephen C. Meyer, Darwin’s Doubt, HarperOne, 2014

Jonathan Wells:

Icons of Evolution, Regnery Publishing, 2002

The Myth of Junk DNA, Discovery Institute Press, 2002

Phillip E. Johnson: Darwin On Trial, Inter-Varsity Press, 1991, 2010 Defeating Darwinism, Inter-Varsity Press, 1997 Michael R. Hagerty, The Chronological Gospel Commentary Primrose Lane Publishing, 2011 visit www.primroselanebooks.com

Accessing Class Handouts Class members can access all class handouts from the church’s website under the Electives page. Path: MINISTRIES . . . MEN/ WOMEN . . ELECTIVE BIBLE CLASSES Under the sign up area a link is provided for Intelligent Design Handouts Click the down arrow icon to expand document links, then click to open/download a handout.

ELECTIVE BIBLE CLASSES

Intelligent Design Handouts