My thoughts on Evolution and Intelligent Design + books recomendations

 Ah, Evolution v creation!  It's a topic that I'm a huge nerd about, I heard about it ever since high school life science class my freshmen year and it sparks interest and sometimes heated debates within the church. In this blog post, I'll clarify four key theories: Intelligent Design, (ID) Creationism (Young Earth and Old Earth), and Evolutionary Creation. (EC) I'll tell you some books that I like and dislike in each camp disclaimer: I'm not an expert in biology, but I enjoy and appreciate the goals of science and theology. I like to think I'm well-read on this subject, even though some scientists and theologians are professionals who are smarter than me in the field. I'm just a very nerdy layman Let's define our terms   So, what is evolution?

 One meaning is change over time which no one is questioning here's a 2nd meaning the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth. Which can be religious or naturalistic. The Faith-based "Evolutionary Creation" "ECs accept evolution as the best scientific explanation we have for how life on Earth has changed over time. In biology, evolution refers to “descent with modification,” which includes the idea that all species are descended from a common ancestor over many generations. We therefore accept the scientific evidence that all life on Earth is related, including humans—which does not negate the image of God in us." https://biologos.org/common-questions/what-is-evolutionary-creation I have some disagreements with but still, I think it should be well within the Christian's right to believe in (EC) and still hold to the bible in good faith so we are still brothers and sisters in Jesus. These books are Jim Stump's book The Sacred Chain: How Understanding Evolution Leads to Deeper Faith, The Genealogical Adam and Eve: The Surprising Science of Universal Ancestry by .S. Joshua Swamidass. from his work at peaceful science https://peacefulscience.org/about/mission-and-values/, and for those who want to dig deeper.

Here are book recommendations

The Fool and the Heretic: How Two Scientists Moved Beyond Labels and for those who want to dig deeper there's the Language of God podcast hosted by Jim Stump to a Christian Dialogue about Creation and Evolution. Books that I liked but disagreed with were Finding Darwin's God by Ken Miller which is Anti Intelligent Design Baby Dinosaurs on the Ark: The Bible and Modern Science and The Trouble of Making It All Fit by Janet Kellogg Ray which critiques creationism And Intelligent Design. From an ex-creationist but still Christian. a biting read indeed!

Now let's define young earth creationism, from Oxford Languages "the belief, arising from a literal interpretation of the biblical account of creation, that the universe and living organisms were divinely created relatively recently and within a comparatively short period of time." I actually read a book defending this view that I really liked called "Defending Sin A Response to the Challenges of Evolution and the Natural Sciences." by Hans Madueme

which I thought was really good even though I disagree with it I would still recommend Defending Sin over Ham and Answers in Genesis., it is vastly different from Ken Ham's brand of Young Earth Creationism . with all honesty I disagree with Ham on almost everything. A book I did personally not like was Old Earth Creationism on Trial: The Verdict Is In Tim Chaffey Jason Lisle. A young Earth podcast that I listen to Let's Talk Creation.

Old Earth creationism (OEC) from Got Questions a bible answer website "Old Earth creationism (OEC) is an umbrella term used to describe biblical creationists who deny that the universe was created within the last 6,000 to 10,000 years over six consecutive 24-hour days. Rather, old earth creationists believe that God created the universe and its inhabitants (including a literal Adam and Eve) over a much longer period than is allowed for by young earth creationists" overlaps with Intelligent Design but with a forwardly Christian pov ) a group that I like is called Reasons To Believe here are books that I like from them Rescuing Inerrancy: A Scientific Defense by Hugh Ross, Thinking about Evolution: 25 Questions Christians Want Answered, by A.J. Roberts and a book from John Walton The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2–3 and the Human Origins Debate.

Now what about intelligent design first off what is Intelligent design? It is a big tent movement with a diverse set of beliefs young/old earth creationists common decent or not, democrat, republican, or independent on Their website "The theory of intelligent design holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." What it's not from evolution news by Granville Sewell "To Reject Intelligent Design, Here’s What You Have to Believe"

"... The text clarifies that being a proponent of Intelligent Design (ID) does not require beliefs in the simultaneous creation of all species, human uniqueness from earlier primates, or rejection of natural selection's role in antibiotic resistance. It suggests that those who think unintelligent forces of physics could create complex items like iPhones may not align with ID, regardless of belief in God. I recommend the book "Understanding Intelligent Design" by Sean McDowell and Bill Dembski for further reading. I fall into now old earth ID. What do I mean by that? I have a lot of doubts that Evolutionary Mechanisms alone can create life itself and I think there has to be an Intelligent Designer for life to even exist. Mutations and limited or universal Common descent may have played a role. and there is a Adam and Eve

So those are my thoughts Hope you enjoyed reading! Let me know your own thoughts down below. agree? disagree?

During the writing process, Grammarly generated responses to the following AI prompts:

Prompts created by Grammarly

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Okay, that was a lot of info. Hope you guys liked it let me know your thoughts did you guys  like it? How's the format? 

Citations 

“What Is Evolutionary Creation?” BioLogos, 6 Feb. 2024, biologos.org/common-questions/what-is-evolutionary-creation.

Swamidass, S. Joshua, et al. “Peaceful Science.” Peaceful Science, 20 Mar. 2023, peacefulscience.org/.

Sewell, Granville. “To Reject ID, Here’s What You Have to Believe.” Evolution News, 10 Jan. 2025, evolutionnews.org/2025/01/to-reject-intelligent-design-heres-what-you-have-to-believe/.

The Center for Science and Culture   May 1, 2009      Intelligent Design. “What Is the Science behind Intelligent Design?” Discovery Institute, 15 Oct. 2024, www.discovery.org/a/9761/.

https://www.discovery.org/b/understanding-intelligent-design/

https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Chain-Understanding-Evolution-Deeper/dp/0063350947

https://www.amazon.com/Genealogical-Adam-Eve-Surprising-Universal/dp/0830852638

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-World-Adam-Eve-Genesis/dp/0830824618#:~:text=Following%20his%20groundbreaking%20Lost%20World%20of%20Genesis%20One%2C,new%20way%20forward%20in%20the%20human%20origins%20debate.

https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Darwins-God-Scientists-Evolution/dp/0061233501

https://www.amazon.com/Baby-Dinosaurs-Ark-Science-Trouble/dp/0802879446

To help my writing process, I used these Grammarly AI prompts:

Prompts created by Grammarly

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