April 2009 - Vol 4, Issue 7

WHO IS OUR 'INTELLIGENT DESIGNER'? (Part 5)
The enormous complexity of living things was indeed "a black box" for Charles Darwin and his contemporaries. This has been carefully explained by Michael Behe in his book, "Darwin's Black Box" (New York: The Free Press, 1996).

But Professor Behe, a Roman Catholic theistic evolutionist (cf. ibid., p. 239), like most Intelligent Design theorists, is amazingly naïve concerning the ultimate success of their campaign against materialistic evolutionism: "I remain optimistic that the scientific community will eventually accept intelligent design, even if the acceptance is discreet and muted. The reason for optimism is the advance of science itself, which almost every day discovers new intricacies in nature, fresh reasons for recognizing the design inherent in life and the universe" ("Signs of Intelligence," p. 101).

While he is certainly correct about Darwin, the truth of the matter is that no one even today can fathom the significance of the complexities of the universe without God's help! In the central chapter of the book of Job we read: "But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living...It is hid from the eyes of all living...God understandeth the way thereof; and He knoweth the place thereof...And unto man He said, Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.'" (Job 28:12, 13, 21, 23, 28).

Apart from the revelation which God has given to us of Himself in the Bible, everything in the universe remains a "black box." Not even the Intelligent Design Movement can penetrate this box, because they have officially denied the Lord Jesus Christ His rightful place in their thinking, and thereby have rejected "all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:2, 3).

But who is the "god" -- "the intelligent designer" -- that ID theorists point to? Behe asserts: "While I argue for design, the question of the identity of the designer is left open. Possible candidates for the role of designer include: the God of Christianity; an angel -- fallen or not; Plato's demi-urge; some mystical new age force; space aliens from Alpha Centauri; time travelers; or some utterly unknown intelligent being" ("Intelligent Design," p. 251).

When offered such choices to replace their materialistic reductionism, will many scientists today reject all of the false "intelligent designers" and turn to Christ as "the way, the truth, and the life," and wholeheartedly agree with Him that "no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6)? No, this will not happen.

Instead, "in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud . . . lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof" (2 Tim. 3:1-5).

Can we take seriously, then, the prediction of Dr. Kenneth Poppe, executive director of the International Foundation for Science Education by Design, that, "in no more than ten years [from 2006], maybe as few as five, strict Darwinism will be a minority belief not only among people in society but also among science researchers and science educators. Within this time frame you will see a revolution where more and more politicians and board members vote to allow or encourage - in some cases even require - public school science teachers to cover some form of alternatives to natural evolution in their classes...It is time for natural evolution to wave the white flag of surrender" ("Reclaiming Science From Darwinism" [Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2006], pp. 289, 290).

This spirit of triumphalism which pervades ID literature is dangerous. It ignores God's written revelation concerning the true condition of the human heart/mind, and the absolute necessity of the transforming work of the Holy Spirit of God through regeneration.

Furthermore, there can be no waving of "the white flag of surrender" on the part of materialistic evolutionism until the Second Coming of Christ. The Lord Jesus did not teach His disciples to pray for a widespread recognition of an unidentified Designer. Instead, He told His disciples to pray "after this manner" - "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:9, 10).

This is not defeatism. It is divine realism. What kind of a kingdom will this be? Until the kingdom comes, how can we really help people who grope in the darkness of Darwinian evolutionism?

To Be Continued...

WHO IS OUR "INTELLIGENT DESIGNER'? (Part 6)
Intelligent Design theorists insist that they want Darwinian evolutionism to disappear and truth to prevail in the academic and scientific world.

They believe this can and must be done without any appeal to the Word of God. "In contrast to traditional creationism, the ID proposal relates only to a designer, without identifying the designer or specifying whether the designer is natural or supernatural." Furthermore, "Intelligent design is not anti-evolution" (H. Wayne House, ed., "Intelligent Design 101" [Grand Rapids: Kregel Publishing, 2008], pp. 212, 175). But note the infinite difference between the IDM strategy and God's plan: their strategy collapses in the presence of human depravity, while His plan includes a perfect solution to this problem, and will therefore succeed. That is why God can assure us that when His Kingdom comes, "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea" (Isa. 11:9).

At last, everything in creation will be seen in the light of God's perspectives and all forms of evolutionary and materialistic thinking will be totally removed from the world. But only God can accomplish this, and it will be done exclusively through His Son, the Messiah of Israel, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. These are some of His qualifications: "The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him (the Messiah), the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD" (Isa. 11:2).

All other "gods" or "designers" have failed and will fail. As God announced to Jeremiah, "The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens" (Jer. 10:11).

To qualify as the true God, and worthy of worship, one must have created the entire universe! That narrows the competition to one Person - Jesus Christ, God's Son. As God continued to explain to Jeremiah, "He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by His discretion" (Jer. 10:12).

But how do we know that this Creator is Christ, the Messiah of Israel? The New Testament is crystal clear on His identity. "For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist... that in all things He might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell" (Col. 1:16-19).

The apostle John, speaking of "the Word...made flesh," confirmed: "All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made" (John 1: 14, 3; cf. Heb. 1:2).

But many Old Testament passages predicted that Christ our Creator would be "despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isa. 53:3; cf. Ps. 22:11-18, Zech. 12:10). This is exactly what happened when He came to earth and presented Himself as the Savior of the world. His claims and His gracious offer of the Kingdom were rejected, and He was crucified. But God the Father honored His Son, and "hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:9-11).

Thus, ultimate truth cannot prevail in homes, schools or governments until Christ returns. Until that day, God warns us: "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power" (Col. 2:8-10).

To Be Continued...

New book honoring Dr. Whitcomb already in second printing
"Coming to Grips with Genesis: Biblical Authority and the Age of the Earth," a 450-page paperback which was published last fall by Master Books in honor of Dr. John Whitcomb, is already in its second printing.

This new volume contains the writings of 14 scholars on various themes surrounding the Biblical text of Genesis and the literal history of creation, the fall and the flood.

The book also contains a chapter detailing Dr. Whitcomb's life story, as well as a bibliography of his writings.

Forewords were written by Dr. John MacArthur and the late Dr. Henry Morris. The book is edited by Dr. Terry Mortenson (speaker, writer and researcher for Answers in Genesis), and Dr. Thane Ury (associate professor of systematic theology at the United Wesleyan Graduate Institute, Hong Kong).

For much more information, see the "Coming to Grips..." category on our "Links" page at www.SermonAudio.com/Whitcomb. These links will be continually updated to give you the latest information about this new volume.

Dr. Whitcomb hosts new creation video
Dr. John Whitcomb is the host for a dynamic new creation video from Eternal Productions entitled, "God of Wonders."

The video includes the remarks of many Christian leaders in the fields of Biblical and scientific creationism, and is filled with majestic images and scenes from the natural world.

To learn much more about this amazing new video, visit Eternal Productions' Web site at: www.eternal-productions.org or visit www.godofwondersvideo.org.

Dr. Whitcomb contributes to book in honor of Dr. Ryrie
Dr. John Whitcomb is one of several contributors to a new book from Tyndale Seminary Press that is written in tribute to Dr. Charles C. Ryrie.

Tyndale president Christopher Cone is the general editor of "Dispensationalism Tomorrow & Beyond: A Theological Collection in Honor of Charles C. Ryrie," which contains the writings of 17 authors in total.

For more information, or to order this volume, call (800) 886-1415, or visit www.tyndale.edu.

Hear Dr. Whitcomb speak this spring
In the month of April, Dr. Whitcomb is speaking in South Carolina, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

In May he will travel to Saskatchewan, West Virginia and Ontario.

Details regarding these trips sometimes change. For all the latest news, always check www.WhitcombMinistries.org (click on "Speaking Schedule" on the home page) or www.SermonAudio.com/Whitcomb (click on "Weblog"). Our ministry never rests online! Visit us there anytime.

We apologize for the lateness of this new Monograph. We hope you like the modifications we have made to this special double issue, and we would love to get your reactions.

Also, remember that you can always find archives of these electronic newsletters on our Web site.