Intelligent Design (ID) theory is the idea that living things have all the marks of design because they are, in fact, designed. However, some critics contend that proponents of ID are coy about the identity of the designer, who they really believe is God. Yet many of the major ID proponents have been quite open about who they think the designer is. And they also make it clear that these are personal beliefs, perhaps with philosophical or historical justification, but not conclusions of science. The fact is that Intelligent Design theory makes no attempt to identify the designer behind biological life. However, it also makes no attempt to prevent individual ID advocates from coming to their own conclusion regarding the identity of the designer. For example, Michael Behe states:
[M]ost people (including myself) will attribute the design to God — based in part on other, non-scientific judgments they have made — I did not claim that the biochemical evidence leads ineluctably to a conclusion about who the designer is. In fact, I directly said that, from a scientific point of view, the question remains open… The biochemical evidence strongly indicates design, but does not show who the designer was.
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Reference
Michael J. Behe, “Philosophical Objections to Intelligent Design: Response to Critics,” July 31, 2000, http://www.arn.org/docs/behe/mb_philosophicalobjectionsresponse.htm.
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