front-loaded design

On this episode of ID the Future, biologist Ann Gauger responds to a negative review of the new Crossway anthology Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique, arguing that parts of the review are confused and contradictory. For instance, Denis Lamoureux uses classic design language while denying design. He says design is all front-loaded so that random evolutionary processes can produce designed outcomes, thus changing the meaning of both “random” and “evolution.” He accuses ID of being theologically driven, apparently unaware that it’s theistic evolution that is theological. And he seeks to support faith through appreciation of the wonders of nature while insisting that appeals to evidence of design in nature somehow undermine faith.

This video episode of ID the Future features Dr. Stephen Meyer, author of Signature in the Cell, discussing the proposal of some theistic evolutionists that all of God’s design of the world must have been “front-loaded” at the beginning of the universe. This is based on his essay in God & Evolution Protestants, Catholics and Jews Explore Darwin’s Challenge to Faith.