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Essay / Intelligent Design - 1316
Intelligent design, also called ID, is a concept that has its earliest origins in the 4th century BC in the works of Plato's Timaeus where he describes supreme wisdom and intelligence as the creator of cosmos. In the Metaphysics, Aristotle developed the idea of a natural creator of the cosmos. One of the most famous ideas in intelligent design dates back to the 13th century, when Thomas Aguinas described the concept of design as the fifth of five proofs of the existence of God in his work Summa Theologia. The term intelligent design has been used several times in recent years, but its usage was unrelated to current usage of the word, such as in an 1847 issue of Scientific American. The intelligent design movement, as we know it today, began between the late 1980s and early 1990s. In order to fully understand what exactly intelligent design is, a definition given by the Discovery Institute is used. They describe intelligent design as “certain features of the universe and living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not by an undirected process such as natural selection.” The Discovery Institute, a conservative Christian think tank, is a leading proponent of intelligent design. In their definition, the name of a specific designer is intentionally omitted but simply mentions that it must exist. However, opponents of intelligent design believe that this designer is the Christian God. This has also been the subject of much debate within the movement. Intelligent design cannot be understood until a few other concepts are understood. The first is the theory of evolution. It was the brainchild of Charles Darwin. The theory holds that all life is related to and descends from theoretical knowledge and proposes to fill this gap with an intelligent designer, which therefore proves that an intelligent designer exists. The final thought is: can we believe in the theory of evolution and the theory of an intelligent designer? Could it simply be that an intelligent, all-powerful, all-knowing designer created humanity and simply used evolution as a means to achieve this? Could this be his smart plan? The answer to all these questions remains unknown. So the debate over intelligent design versus evolution continues. For now, God has not given us the intelligence to know for sure. I don't think the existence of God can or will ever be proven using scientific principles. It's based on faith. Faith is, after all, the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. If it could be proven, it would no longer be faith.