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PRODUCTS OF INTELLIGENCE, WHAT INTELLIGENCES DO.
THINK OF AN ARCHAEOLOGIST TRYING TO DETERMINE WHETHER A
ROCK IS MERELY A RANDOM CHUNK OF ROCK OR AN ARROW HEAD.
WHEN AN INTELLIGENCE ACTS, IT LEAVES BEHIND TRACES THAT
SIGNAL ITS ACTIVITY, MUCH LIKE FINGERPRINTS.
INTELLIGENT DESIGN LAYS OUT CRITERIA FOR DETECTING DESIGN
FROM SUCH TRACES.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT THESE TRACES ARE ALWAYS
EMBEDDED IN PREEXISTING MATERIALS.
FOR THAT REASON, INTELLIGENT DESIGN CAN ONLY DETECT DESIGN
THROUGH WHAT'S ALREADY BEEN CREATED.
INTELLIGENT DESIGN IS THEREFORE NOT A DOCTRINE OF CREATION.
CREATION ALWAYS CONCERNS THE SOURCE OF BEING OF THE WORLD.
INTELLIGENT DESIGN BY CONTRAST PRESUPPOSES
AN ALREADY EXISTING WORLD.
THUS, EVEN THOUGH INTELLIGENT DESIGN IS LOGICALLY CONSISTENT
WITH THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF CREATION,
INTELLIGENT DESIGN IS ALSO LOGICALLY SEPARATE
FROM THAT DOCTRINE.
CREATION TELLS US WHERE EVERYTHING CAME FROM.
INTELLIGENT DESIGN TELLS US THERE'S AN INTELLIGENCE BEHIND
THINGS, EVEN IF WE DON'T KNOW THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF THE
DESIGN OR NATURE OF THE DESIGNER.
INTELLIGENT DESIGN IS CONTROVERSIAL BECAUSE IT
CHALLENGES THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION ON STRICTLY
SCIENTIFIC GROUNDS WITHOUT INVOKING THE BIBLE OR CREATION.