From RJS at Patheos:
Ten years ago, when I first started writing on science and faith, Intelligent Design was a hot topic. It was in the news and high on the agenda for many in my local church. Today it has slid into the background, occasionally mentioned, but there are often other fish to fry. Greg Cootsona devotes a case study in his recent book (Mere Science and Christian Faith: Bridging the Divide with Emerging Adults) to the topic of intelligent design but not more than this because it is not one of the major issues for the emerging adults in his target audience.More.
Okay, but with respect to the term “emerging adults,” are we talking about Millennials, many of whom doubt that Earth is a sphere? They do not like having to think.
Here is a classic in what empties churches, once adulthood gets tough:
I am a Christian because there is evidence within creation for a creator. The heavens declare the glory of God. The intricacy of a biological cell and the formation of a child likewise declare the glory of God.
The Intelligent Design movement pushed beyond this sense of awe and wonder declaring the glory of God to propose design as a scientific observable.
If design in nature is not a “scientific observable,” nothing is.
“The glory of God” is – if not so anchored – a concept to which one should give it no more attention than one would give to a hippie explaining his social theories.
See also: Do Millennials doubt that Earth is “round”?
And What becomes of science when the evidence does not matter?