It is difficult to confront orthodoxy of any kind. Its defenders use any means, fair or foul, to defend generally accepted theory, doctrine, or practice. We have seen countless examples of this over the years. Consider the problems of Copernicus and Galileo as they challenged the ancient geocentric view of the universe.

Over the past century and a half the Darwinian theory of evolution has become scientific orthodoxy, replacing the previously held religious belief in God’s creative acts as described in the Book of Genesis. Unfortunately, the Darwinian model created a real problem for people who believed in God. As this new theory described it, all life as we know it came from an undirected series of organic changes occurring over eons of time. The complex life forms we see today evolved from a simple unicellular organism via a process called natural selection. God was not necessary, nor was he involved.

Darwinian theory had a profound influence in science, in philosophy, and in education. For some, it has become a secular religion, an idee fixe, and they will defend it with their dying breath.

Yet, Darwin’s theory has it challengers, and in recent years more and more scientists have come to question many of its assumptions. One of the more serious attacks against Darwinian theory comes from those who point out the extreme complexity of the basic organic cell from which Darwin believed all life forms evolved. Darwin thought of the cell as a simple blob of protoplasm, but over the past 75 years scientist have discovered that the cell is an exceedingly complicated molecular machine, and among is components is an amazing genetic code that carries all the information required to create a living organism. No one understands how undirected chemical and organic processes could have created such a marvelous machine, and years of study have only deepened the mystery.

As scientists examined the cell and its genetic code, some of them became convinced that there is no way that the cell and code could have been created aside from some directing intelligence. Thus arose the theory of intelligent design. This is not necessarily a religious theory, but it does have theistic implications. Intelligent design theorists do not question the role of evolution in producing changes within species, but they do challenge the idea that the Darwinian theory explains the origin of life or the relatively sudden appearance of entirely new forms of life in the past.

Traditional Darwinists and neo-Darwinists defend their beliefs with ferocity. Anyone who suggests the reality of intelligent design is liable to be thrown out of academia and ostracized by the biological sciences community. After all, scientists usually confine themselves to searching for natural causes and explanations. Militant atheists are even more vicious in their attacks on the designers. Nevertheless, many prominent scientists are beginning to question the old Darwinian model and look for new answers about the mystery of life.

For a better understanding of the controversy, I suggest you read Intelligent Design and The Return of the God Hypothesis by Stephen Meyer.