Q&A on the Nature of Science
and Intelligent
Design
An excerpt from the Judgment Day
Educator's Briefing Packet
Q: What is science?
A: Science is a systematic form of inquiry, based on
observation, prediction, reasoning, and testing, that explains
how the natural universe works and seeks to continually
advance our knowledge. Science operates by means of the
scientific method—the formulation of hypotheses
that are consistent with observed phenomena and the subsequent
testing of these hypotheses to determine their validity.
Scientific knowledge is constantly refined or
altered by new evidence; if a hypothesis can be disproved by
experimentation, scientists reject it and formulate a new
hypothesis that better fits the observed data.
Q: Isn't evolution just a theory, not a fact?
A: In science, a theory is a well-supported systematic
explanation of some aspect of the natural world that
incorporates facts, scientific laws (such as the laws of
gravity and thermodynamics), and tested hypotheses. A fact is
an observation that has been repeatedly confirmed. Evolution,
defined as descent with modification, is a theory
supported by overwhelming evidence, facts, inferences, and
tested hypotheses.
Q: What is intelligent design?
A: Intelligent design, or ID, is the idea that certain
features of the universe and life are too complex to have
arisen by natural causes and instead are best explained as
being the product of an intelligent designer.
Q: Why not teach intelligent design, or creationism,
alongside evolution?
A: The federal courts have ruled that creationism,
creation science, and intelligent design are not science but
instead endorse a specific religious belief. Therefore,
these topics are not appropriate content for a science
classroom. Neither ID nor any other form of creationism has
met any of the standards of a science and cannot be tested
using the scientific method. On the other hand, evolutionary
theory, like all other science, is founded on a growing body
of observable and reproducible evidence in the natural world.
The state of knowledge in evolutionary biology is the product
of 150 years of rigorous challenges using the methods of
science, whereas intelligent design is not supported by
scientific evidence. Teaching evolution alongside these
other approaches would imply that creation science and
intelligent design meet these same high standards of
testability, and they do not.
Q: Can you accept evolution and still believe in
religion?
A: Yes. The common view that evolution is inherently
anti-religious is simply false. All that evolution tells us is
that life on this planet could have arisen by natural
processes. For many people of various faiths, showing that
something is due to a natural process doesn't take it outside
the realm of the divine. Religious thinkers across the ages
have written that merely showing that something is natural
puts it within the influence of God, the creator of all
nature. By definition science cannot address supernatural
causes because its methodology is confined to the natural
world. Therefore science has nothing to say about the nature
of God or about people's spiritual beliefs. This does not mean
science is anti-religious; rather, it means science simply
cannot engage in this level of explanation.
