Intelligent Design vs Creationism

 (My title implies antagonism between Intelligent Design and Creationism which is ironic because Creationists embrace Intelligent Design)


It is indeed ironic that Science rejects Intelligent Design and attempts to force Darwinism to "fit" all aspects of life's diversity in spite of knowing exactly  what the "mechanism"  of Intelligent Design is and Creationists reject Darwin and embrace Intelligent Design yet have no clue what that "mechanism" is other than "magic" by a "magical god.."

The reason BOTH sides are clueless is because neither side has any idea who "Elohim"  is that was revealed in the Book of Genesis and verified in the "flesh" 2000 years ago by Yeshua ben Joseph.  Intelligent Design is not only how God Created many forms of life in the past and I dare say throughout His Cosmos but it is how "man". ..Created in God's Image.... is "designing" life today by Recombinant DNA.  (ie;GMO's)  Sadly, however, ....because man is in a "fallen state of sin"... he does NOT have the WISDOM of "Elohim" to "create" wisely and won't until Jesus returns and restores the planet to God's Kingdom. (Individual believers ARE restored to the Kingdom through the Blood of Christ but the planet is NOT restored until the return of Christ.)

BTW DonRL....mules cannot produce their "own kind"....a donkey and a horse is required because all mules are sterile.   AND Creationists do not "need" mechanisms to explain Creation because they have "magic."   Since "magic" is an opinion, ...not a reality,....God's "gift" of Science can and DOES reveal God's Creative action. The God revealed in the flesh by Jesus Christ is PERFECT and.His Laws are PERFECT.....therefore...."magic" or violation of His Laws is non-sequitur. 



Aristotle Rediscovered: What Exactly Is the "Mechanism" for Intelligent Design?
Michael Denton April 21, 2015 3:22 AM | Permalink

Aristotelesarp.jpg

In a post yesterday, I responded to a question from Discovery Institute's Chairman of the Board, Bruce Chapman ("A Maze with One Exit: Why Evolution Had No Choice"). He goes on to query me about how the direction in nature's evolution was imparted:

    Darwinists often ask what they seem to regard as a killer question: If there is intelligent design, what is the mechanism for it? Of course it's possible to reply that the question is intended as a trap -- which it often is -- or the result of faulty thinking, a "category error," and that what ID does is not to identify a mechanism but rather the existence of agency. I'm not sure that suffices, though. What do you suggest?

Bruce alludes here to an important point: the evidence for intelligent design is not undermined by conceding that the mechanism by which the design was executed is not understood. However, this does leave the question unanswered as to how the evolutionary process was directed, or to put it another way, how the designs manifest in the biological world were actualized.

As I see it, at least part of the answer must involve a return to the pre-Darwinian typological view of nature and the conception that the entire tree of life and all its constituents types (or branches) were built into the order of things from the moment of creation and that special "laws of form" or natural agency -- Aristotle's substantial forms -- have directed the course of organic evolution over the past four billion years.

On such a view, the "types" (insects, mammals, man), or more specifically the ground plans or deep homologies or patterns shared by all the members of a type, would represent a finite set of changeless natural forms, as with atoms or crystals. The determining laws, the biological laws of form, would be analogous to the laws that determine forms in the inorganic world: laws of crystallography, laws of chemistry, etc. What this amounts to, of course, is a modern restatement of Aristotle's notion of forms as active agencies in nature, responsible for the generation of the particular set of biological forms or types manifest in life on earth.

Note that I am referring here to the generation by "laws of form" of the underlying ground plans of the types and not the adaptations built upon these ground plans.

So what is the evidence that nature is ordered to actualize the forms of life on earth, that is, for the existence of laws of form or Aristotle's entelechies? What is the evidence that nature herself is the ultimate directive agency, that a designer's plan was enacted via natural agency?

Well, there are firstly two lines of circumstantial or indirect evidence. There is the failure of Darwinian bottom-up explanations of the origin of the types, particularly those patterns or body plans, etc., that appear to be non adaptive. Then there is the failure to provide a convincing explanation of development in terms of a set of instructions in the genes. These are not trivial failures. Insofar as mechanistic bottom-up explanations fail -- and cumulative selection and gene-directed development are bottom-up causal explanations for phylogeny and ontogeny respectively -- then the only available natural causal alternative account of the actualization of life's forms in phylogeny and ontogeny is to postulate the existence of directive forces in nature, that is, laws of form that have executed a designer's plan.

So both these failures point in the same direction. They result in a consilience of very powerful circumstantial evidence that leads back to laws of form and ultimately to Aristotle. In fact, these two primal failures are pretty straightforward predictions of Aristotle and the laws of form in biology of the pre Darwinian era. And as Sherlock Holmes pointed out, the true explanation of a phenomenon is the one that remains, however outré, after all other explanations have been excluded. If the evolutionary origin of "X" cannot be accounted for in terms of natural selection or development explained in terms of the genes, even after exhaustive attempts, then natural agency is the only "naturalistic" fallback position. In effect, an explanation positing "laws of form" wins by default.

Another line of circumstantial evidence, but one that is more positive, arises from the now widely accepted notion that that the cosmic environment is fine-tuned for life as it exists on earth. This environmental fine-tuning is in fact so extraordinary that it suggests almost irresistibly that the laws of nature will also turn out to be fine-tuned for the origin and actualization of the specific forms of life on earth. This again points to the existence of a set of special generative biological laws of form, or if you prefer, Aristotle's entelechies.

To me, these three lines of circumstantial evidence taken together seem conclusive. Only a paradigm based upon "laws of form" can provide a coherent and consistent explanatory framework for all three.

However, in addition there are more direct lines of evidence. Arising from recent advances in fundamental biological knowledge, this evidence too supports the existence of laws of biological form and the existence of a finite set of definite types as intrinsic natural features of the world order (as, again, with atoms and crystals). To begin with, as has been acknowledged since the early 19th century, the types are very robust and have persisted essentially as unchanged patterns or ground plans in diverse lineages for millions of years. Recent developmental studies have revealed additional aspects to this extraordinary robustness, showing that the types are generated during development in extraordinarily diverse ways, utilizing different genes, different gene circuits, different developmental modules, etc. In other words, the same end is achieved by different means, as dramatically witnessed, for example, in the different routes/genes/developmental mechanisms involved in the actualization of the insect body plan.

In addition, it is well established that the embryo is shaped by epigenetic biophysical and biomechanical forces and NOT by the genes. Yes, the genes provide the raw material -- base matter -- but it is the shaping of this raw matter by physical forces that gives us the specific architecture of the embryo. These forces arise from the emergent viscoelastic properties of individual embryonic cells and cell collectives -- layers of cells, clumps of cells, etc. Self-evidently the physical properties of one cell (the initial egg) are very different from the physical properties of a ball of cells (the morula), and a hollow ball (blastula) has different properties again.

This succession of unique physical properties in the developing embryo that occurs during ontogeny is not specified in the genome. What is also very intriguing about the biophysical and biomechanical forces that shape embryos is that they represent a clear case of top-down causation where the overall biomechanical state of the embryo influences downwardly the behavior and state of all the constituents in the embryo. Even the expression of genes is now known to be regulated to a degree by the mechanical state of the whole embryo itself and its constituent cells. Hence my interest in Aristotle's substantial agencies, which shape "base matter" into the higher architecture of life.

Consider the cell membrane. Even such a simple form is shaped by physical forces external to the genes. This iconic form is the result of a very important physical force, the hydrophobic force (by which water forces together non-polar solutes such as lipids of the membrane into insoluble clumps). The membrane film that spontaneously surrounds all living cells on earth does not form in a non-polar solvent such as ethane or any other organic solvent. In other words, a specific physical force external to the matter of the membrane and certainly not in the genes or specified by the genes is primarily responsible for shaping the cell membrane. Matter is important and the characteristics of matter are important but the final form is determined by a basic physical force or natural agency acting on the matter. It is this interaction between matter and a natural agent external to it that generates the architecture of the cell membrane.

Consider a simple analogy. The differing physical properties of a developing cell or embryo are analogous to the succession of different material properties of a mass of water as the number of individual molecules in increased. One molecule of water is insufficient to make a round drop of water. But billions will form a small drop, which will adopt a spherical shape fashioned by surface tension (a natural law). As the mass of the drop increases, it adopts a pear shape given by surface tension and the force of gravity on earth (two natural forces). As the amount of water in the drop increases, eventually gravity pulls it to the ground. If it falls into a pool of water, it makes a characteristic splash, a complex form that includes a short vertical liquid column that exists only for an instant and a series of small waves radiating out from the point at which the drop hits the water. Eventually, if the mass of water is sufficiently great, forming a pool of water or eventually an oceanic-sized body of water, wave forms may occur on the surface driven by the force of air moving over the water and the density of the water held under gravity.



In this example, different natural laws and different physical processes that apply to different masses of the same matter -- water -- generate a whole succession of forms. The matter is the same but the forces external to it impose a diversity of shapes.

Note also the change is not always continuous. The moment when the drop falls to the ground is a strikingly saltational outcome when a critical mass is reached. In the case of a developing embryo, the situation is far more complex because the matter of the embryo is changing as patterns of gene expression change. Consequently the physical forces that apply are far more complex. But at least to some degree, the analogy still holds.

It is too early to figure out just how constraining the various physical forces may be and just how many forms nature is allowed to craft out of the cellular matter of embryos. But the increasing acknowledgement that physics plays a critical role in shaping embryos is a very big step toward an answer. If physics does lend a hand in the making of organic form -- analogous to the way it shapes a drop of water -- I think it is a near certainty that it will turn out mother nature is a constraining mistress and that she will only permit a limited set of forms or types.

Finally, what was the mode of origin of the forms or types during evolution? One clue is provided by ordinary ontogeny and by the water-drop analogy. Some new properties might emerge gradually, as in the change from round to pear-shaped drop of water. In other cases, there may be a saltational change like that from pear-shaped drop to "splash." As I see it, laws of form may have exerted changes that were very gradual. Such was probably the case with the establishment of pentadactyly in the origin of the tetrapod limb. Or they may have done so very suddenly. Such was perhaps the case with the origin of human linguistic ability. In all cases change is non-Darwinian but executed by natural agency or law.

Number 44

There are ALL kinds of SIGNS that the restoration of the Kingdom of God on this planet is imminent and Israel plays a "key role" in this event..   Obviously May 14, 1948 and June 7, 1967 that  fulfilled the "Fig Tree" Prophecy were the SIGNS that started the "count down clock." The lunar eclipses and solar eclipses tied to Jewish Holy Days in the past when significant events occurred in Israel's history and especially these celestial events occurring today during this "Shemitah" year point to what may be the most significant SIGN yet and it may involve the President of the United States.

.......obama and his supporters,  AND Iran may be the ONLY people on Earth that actually believe the Iran nuke deal is about limiting Iran's nuclear weapons program. Why is this? It is not just Israel that opposes the deal.....most Americans do, most of the free world does and so does most Muslim nations!   There has to be a reason and it's not because obama has the wisdom of Solomon!   I suspect it's not even about his legacy or feeding his over active narcissistic ego!  I fear it is about attempting to fulfill Psalm 83:4. I suspect this is why obama was elected.  Since he can't fulfill the Psalm directly...he is making it possible for Iran to complete the evil.  I honestly believe that he and the "elite power brokers" of this planet AND the entire religion of Islam have been "seduced" and are "pawns" of the powers revealed in Ephesians 6:12.




'Mystic' rabbi issues ominous warning on eve of blood moon
Concerns '44th president of United States'
Published: 15 hours ago



Christians are not the only ones looking for meaning in the plethora of signs aligning in the heavens.

A rare alignment of four blood moons and a total solar eclipse unfolding during a Shemitah year and on biblical feast days, has a Jewish rabbi in Israel asking for special prayer.

And issuing an ominous warning.

Rabbi Amram Vaknin, described as a “mystic rabbi living in southern Israel,” is urging all Jews to pray and repent as the third Blood Moon of a tetrad cycle approaches, according to a report in Breaking Israel News.

Vaknin is not easily dismissed because he reportedly predicted the events of the Gaza flotilla and the Carmel forest fire in 2010, the Operations Pillar of Defense of 2012 and Protective Edge of 2014.

He warns that Israel is facing great judgment and potential danger at this time, according to the report.

The rabbi’s concerns have a lot to do with the number 44 and the current U.S. president.

One of Vaknin’s students, Gil Nachman, spoke to Breaking Israel News and, quoting the rabbi, explained that the numeric value of the Hebrew word for blood, dam, which is 44, alludes to the 44th president of the United States.

Vaknin predicted that the 44th president would “bring bloodshed (dam) to the Jewish people.” It should be noted that the rabbi made this prediction before President Barack Obama’s election to office, according to Breaking Israel News.

Vaknin believes that only 44 plus one, or 45, can counter the danger represented by the blood moons. This, he says, is Adam, or Man, which in this case refers to the Messiah.

“Blood Moons” author, Pastor Mark Biltz, said he agrees with Vaknin’s numerology.

“Because when you add the letter aleph to dam you get adam and aleph has a numeric value of one,” Biltz told WND.

Obama-Iran deal ominous for Israel

The next blood moon is set for Saturday night, April 4, on Passover.

“So here, on Passover, when you put blood on the doorpost you have the Hebrew letter Dalet meaning door and is also the number 4 with a blood moon over it on 4/4 which is the 14th of Nisan going into the 15th of Nisan beginning the Feast of Unleavened Bread,” Biltz said.

Get the full blood moons story – straight from the discoverer – in “Blood Moons: Decoding the Imminent Heavenly Signs,” the book and the movie, both by Mark Biltz.

The concerns about Obama are also valid, in Biltz’s view, especially now that he has made a pact with Iran on the Islamic republic’s future nuclear capability.

“And here our 44th president has signed off on a nuclear agreement with Israel’s arch-enemy who has declared in no uncertain terms they will destroy Israel,” he said.


blood_moonsIt’s interesting that in Hebrew the word for Damascus is 444, Biltz said.

“And in Isaiah there is a prophecy that Damascus will cease from being a city which has never happened before in history.”

Rabbi Vaknin called for a day of prayer at the Western Wall April 1 to encourage the arrival of the Messiah and the redemption of the Jewish people and the world.

“In these critical times, Am Israel must join together to pray to Hashem to send us Mashiach Ben David! Men and women, young and old, observant or not — the more people who come, the stronger the tefilla (prayer),” Vaknin announced on his Facebook page.

The repeated number four is also important to the sage.

Along with the value of 44 and the four Blood Moons of the tetrad, this Passover brings the shortest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting just 4 minutes, 44 seconds.

Strong tradition of blood moon signs in Talmud

Vaknin is not the first Jewish religious teacher to associate the blood moon tetrad with Jewish redemption, according to Breaking Israel News.

“With the first and third Blood Moons in this current tetrad cycle coinciding with Passover, and the second and fourth with the Feast of Tabernacles, the connections to times of redemption run deep,” the site reported.

The Talmud states, “In [the Hebrew month of] Nisan our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt, and in Nisan we will be redeemed.”

Likewise, the Feast of the Tabernacles is associated in Jewish tradition with the battle of Gog and Magog, the final war that is said to precede the final redemption and arrival of the Messiah.”

This year is also a sabbatical, or Shemitah year, a once every seven years cycle in which the land of Israel is commanded to be left fallow and financial ledgers get wiped clean.

Jonathan Cahn, author of the New York Times-bestseller “The Mystery of the Shemitah,” has also issued warnings that a time of judgment is coming to America and the world in the form of possible stock market collapses and wars. But Cahn has stopped short of predicting such events. Rather, Cahn says “we should be aware” and people of Christian faith should be preparing themselves not only physically but spiritually for difficult times ahead. Even if the judgment doesn’t fall during the Shemitah year, Cahn believes it is guaranteed to come at some point if people don’t repent and turn back to God.

What’s this Shemitah business all about? WND has a free e-book that explains all you need to know in one quick read.

‘Voices of war’, then Messiah arrives at Shemitah’s end

From a Jewish perspective, Yahadoot.net notes that the sages in the Talmud included the following warning: “In the sixth [year there will be] voices [of war], in the seventh [there will be] war, and at the end of the shmitta, the [Messiah] son of Jesse will arrive.”

Although the Talmud never states in which seven-year cycle in history this will be fulfilled, the website suggested that thus far our modern period fits the description.

Breaking Israel News said not everyone agrees on the meaning of the rare tetrad of blood moons.

    “The Blood Moon phenomenon has attracted much attention of late thanks to the efforts and solar discoveries by Root Source’s Bob O’Dell and Gidon Ariel. Not everyone is in agreement as to what the Blood Moons signify. According to O’Dell, “All the prior blood moon tetrads point to a pattern of blessing on the Jewish people. They are good news for the Jews. They are a great indicator of God’s love and commitment to the Jewish people to preserve them, and a warning to those who stand in opposition to Israel.”

The Talmud discusses the significance of astronomical events in human history, stating that a solar eclipse is a warning to the nations, while a lunar eclipse signifies danger for the Jewish people, who are likened to the moon, according to the website.

“The Sages go on to explain that this is because God sits in judgment at those times, and human actions and choices are being weighed,” the site reports. “It is a time when our mistakes may come back to haunt us.

“Rabbi Vaknin adds his voice to other religious leaders calling on their followers to pray for peace and security in Israel. Christian leaders Mark Biltz and Bob O’Dell have organized a prayer gathering for Christians worldwide to pray during the 4 minutes and 44 seconds of the total lunar eclipse late Friday night.”


Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/mystic-rabbi-issues-ominous-warning-on-eve-of-blood-moon/#7BxsJJdMu0ZZ9el4.99