Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between Science TheologyVoted a Book of the Year by Christianity Today The Intelligent Design movement is three things:
Although the fast-growing movement has gained considerable grassroots support, many scientists and theologians remain skeptical about its merits. Scientists worry that it's bad science (merely creationism in disguise) and theologians worry that it's bad theology (misunderstanding divine action). In this book William Dembski addresses these concerns and brilliantly argues that intelligent design provides a crucial link between science and theology. Various chapters creatively and powerfully address intelligent discernment of divine action in nature, why the significane of miracles should be reconsidered, and the demise and unanswered questions of British natural theology. Effectively challenging the hegemony of naturalism and reinstating design within science, Dembski shows how intelligent design can be unpacked as a theory of information. Intelligent Design is a pivotal, synthesizing work from a thinker whom Phillip Johnson calls "one of the most important of the design theorists who are sparking a scientific revolution by legitimating the concept of intelligent design in science." |
Contents
Recognizing the Divine Finger | 25 |
12 Signs in DecisionMaking | 28 |
13 Ordinary Versus Extraordinary Signs | 31 |
14 Moses and Pharaoh | 35 |
15 The Philistines and the Ark | 37 |
16 The Sign of the Resurrection | 40 |
17 In Defense of Premodernity | 44 |
The Critique of Miracles | 49 |
Intelligent Design as a Theory of Information | 153 |
62 Generating Information via Law | 160 |
63 Generating Information via Chance | 165 |
64 Generating Information via Law and Chance | 167 |
65 The Law of Conservation of Information | 170 |
66 Applying the Theory to Evolutionary Biology | 174 |
67 Reconceptualizing Evolutionary Biology | 179 |
Science Theology in Mutual Support | 187 |
22 Spinozas Rejection of Miracles | 51 |
23 Schleiennachers Assimilation of Spinoza | 55 |
24 Unpacking Schleiermachers Naturalistic Critique | 58 |
25 Critiquing the Naturalistic Critique | 61 |
26 The Significance of the Naturalistic Critique | 67 |
The Demise of British Natural Theology | 70 |
32 From Contrivance to Natural Law | 73 |
33 From Natural Law to Agnosticism | 79 |
34 Darwin and His Theory | 82 |
35 Design and Miracles | 85 |
36 The Presupposition of Positivism | 90 |
Naturalism Its Cure | 97 |
42 The Root of Idolatry | 99 |
43 Naturalism Within Western Culture | 103 |
Intelligent Design | 105 |
45 Not Theistic Evolution | 109 |
46 The Importance of Definitions | 114 |
47 A New Generation of Scholars | 120 |
Reinstating Design Within Science | 122 |
52 Why Reinstate Design? | 124 |
53 The ComplexitySpecification Criterion | 127 |
54 Specification | 133 |
55 False Negatives and False Positives | 139 |
56 Why the Criterion Works | 144 |
57 Irreducible Complexity | 146 |
58 So What? | 149 |
72 Epistemic Support | 192 |
73 Rational Compulsion | 195 |
74 Explanatory Power | 199 |
75 The Big Bang and Divine Creation | 203 |
76 Christ as the Completion of Science | 205 |
The Act of Creation | 211 |
82 Naturalisms Challenge to Creation | 212 |
83 Computational Reductionism | 216 |
84 Our Empirical Selves Versus Our Actual Selves | 220 |
85 The Resurgence of Design | 222 |
86 The Creation of the World | 224 |
87 The Intelligibility of the World | 229 |
88 Creativity Divine and Human | 234 |
Objections to Design | 237 |
A1 The God of the Gaps | 238 |
A2 Intentionality Versus Design | 245 |
A3 Scientific Creationism | 247 |
A4 But Is It Science? | 252 |
A5 Dysteleology | 261 |
A6 Just an Anthropic Coincidence | 264 |
A7 Applying the Math to Biology | 268 |
A8 David Humes Objections | 271 |
A9 Mundane Versus Transcendent Designers | 276 |
Notes | 280 |
Other editions - View all
Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between Science Theology William A. Dembski No preview available - 2002 |