How does ID differ from Creationism

Creationism

Begins with Special Revelation



ID Begins with either General Revelation

(or some personal blend) Note: A commitment to Special Revelation likely drives many ID-advocates interest in the Origins debate, but it is not the starting point of the ID argument.



Creationism:

Employs Specific Biblical Text, with strong commitment to a particular school of interpretation.



ID:

Avoids referencing Biblical Text

Individual ID advocates show strong tendency to literary over literal interpretations of the opening chapters of Genesis.



Creationism:

Assumes Design, Argues FROM Design.


ID

Argues “to” Design.

Is intelligent design the same as creationism?No. The theory of intelligent design is simply an effort to empirically detect whether the "apparent design" in nature acknowledged by virtually all biologists is genuine design (the product of an intelligent cause) or is simply the product of an undirected process such as natural selection acting on random variations. Creationism typically starts with a religious text and tries to see how the findings of science can be reconciled to it. Intelligent design starts with the empirical evidence of nature and seeks to ascertain what inferences can be drawn from that evidence. Unlike creationism, the scientific theory of intelligent design does not claim that modern biology can identify whether the intelligent cause detected through science is supernatural.


Honest critics of intelligent design acknowledge the difference between intelligent design and creationism. University of Wisconsin historian of science Ronald Numbers is critical of intelligent design, yet according to the Associated Press, he "agrees the creationist label is inaccurate when it comes to the ID [intelligent design] movement." Why, then, do some Darwinists keep trying to conflate intelligent design with creationism? According to Dr. Numbers, it is because they think such claims are "the easiest way to discredit intelligent design." In other words, the charge that intelligent design is "creationism" is a rhetorical strategy on the part of Darwinists who wish to delegitimize design theory without actually addressing the merits of its case.