Intelligence ‘Indispensable’ in Human Origins

William Dembski, a leading Intelligent Design proponent, argues in a new paper that “an evolutionary process unguided by intelligence cannot adequately account for the remarkable intellectual and moral qualities that we see exhibited among humans.”

Dembski’s paper, “Reflections on Human Origins,” was published in the July issue of Progress in Complexity, Information and Design, the journal of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design, which seeks to retrain the scientific imagination to see purpose in nature. The society provides a forum for formulating, testing and disseminating research on complex systems such as Intelligent Design through critique, peer review and publication.

“The evolutionary literature treats the evolution of humans from ape ancestors as overwhelmingly confirmed,” Dembski wrote in the abstract of his paper. “Moreover, this literature defines evolution as an inherently material process without any guidance by an underlying intelligence. This paper reviews the main lines of evidence used to confirm such a materialist view of human evolution and finds them inadequate.... “The bottom line is that intelligence has played an indispensable role in human origins,” he wrote.

Dembski, the Carl F.H. Henry Professor of Science and Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, is the general editor for the journal. To read the paper on human origins, visit www.iscid.org.