Understanding Intelligent Design: Everything You Need to Know in Plain Language (ConversantLife.com®) [Paperback]

William A. Dembski (Author), Sean McDowell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2008 | Series: ConversantLife.com®

This compact guide lays out the basics of Intelligent Design, popularly known as ID. William Dembski, the dean of the intelligent-design movement, and Sean McDowell especially target readers whose understanding may have been confused by educational bias and one-sided arguments and attacks.

Commonsense and no-nonsense, with pointed examples, the authors explain

• the central theories of ID, showing why the presence of information and meaningful complexity require the involvement of intelligence
• why ID adheres to the scientific method and is a valid field of scientific inquiry
• why scientific evidence increasingly conflicts with evolutionary theories
• how both evolutionary theory and ID have religious/philosophical underpinnings, and why this causes so much controversy
• how both systems of thought have radical implications for our culture--and what readers can do about it

Clarifying crucial issues, this key resource gives nonspecialists a solid grasp of one of today's foundational religious-scientific-cultural concepts.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William A. Dembski, PhD, speaks worldwide on intelligent design and is frequently featured in newspaper articles and on radio and TV shows, among them ABC's Nightline and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. A mathematician, philosopher, and research professor, Dembski has published widely and is the author/editor of more than a dozen books, including The Design Inference and No Free Lunch. He lives in Texas.

Sean McDowell is an educator and a popular speaker at schools, churches, and conferences nationwide. He is author of Ethix: Being Bold in a Whatever World, coauthor of 77 FAQs About God and the Bible, Experience Your Bible, and Understanding Intelligent Design, and general editor of Apologetics for a New Generation and The Apologetics Study Bible for Students. He is currently pursuing a PhD in apologetics and worldview studies. Sean’s website, www.seanmcdowell.org, offers his blog, many articles and videos, and much additional curriculum.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (July 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0736924426
• ISBN-13: 978-0736924429
• Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 5.9 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #284,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A well written introduction to the subject October 7, 2009

By A. Perumal

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I highly recommend this book as a quick-read introduction to the intelligent design side of the origin of life debate. I was originally a bit skeptical of this book and only read it at the urging of a friend; so with low expectations I began reading, found it surprisingly illuminating, and finished it in two sittings. Despite several typos, I found it well-written, lucid, and engaging, and most importantly, to my relief it didn't seem to over-reach. I welcomed its brevity. As a shorter book its value is more to frame the argument than to definitively settle the debate.

In reviewing many of the other reviews, I was disappointed, not surprisingly, to find the response to this book so highly polarized: if one believes God created it all then one loves this book, but if one thinks that evolution explains the origin and development of life then one hates this book.

Therefore, in the interest of full disclosure: I'm an MIT-educated engineer that enjoyed attending lectures by the fabulous and late Stephen Jay Gould (the father of punctuated evolution) while in college. I am very well read in science (I am a huge fan of Alan Guth, Brian Greene, and Alan Lightman) and typically prefer to avoid science-related books written by openly avowed Christians.

I am also a Christian that believes in God our creator, but one that often disagrees with and occasionally is embarrassed by fellow Christians' understanding and analysis of science. Regarding my view on the origin of life, I would best be described as an old world creationist: I believe in the Big Bang, that the universe is 13-14 billion years old, the earth 4-5 billion years old, and that dinosaurs lived 230-65 million years ago (and I think that Jack Horner's theories on the evolutionary link between dinosaurs, specifically small therapods, and birds has a lot going for it).

I rated this book 5 stars less for settling the debate and more for well-framing the ID side of the argument. Intelligent design, at least as the authors present it, is less something to shake my head at and more a welcome facet to the discussion. Regardless of your personal views, I highly recommend this book as a constructive step toward a healthy debate.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS is the book to read... December 15, 2012

By R. Alexander

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

if you wish to understand "Intelligent Design" or explain it to one of the many "Darwinists" that you no doubt know!
Dembski has drawn much professional criticism over his well-reasoned arguments, and this book shows why; he is so good at presenting his ideas that the current conformist "scientific" establishment actually fears him.
Easy to read and understand, yet informative enough to keep reading again and again, I would describe it as the one book to have on the subject!

25 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent review December 5, 2008

By Darwin Researcher

Format:Paperback

This easy to follow 233 page book is one of the best summaries of the evidence and arguments for Intelligent Design (ID) in print. The authors answer most of the common objection against Intelligent Design in a very convincing manner that should convince anyone except diehard Darwin fundamentalists. As the controversy continues to heat up I expect more debates and books, but this book should become a classic. In an excellent section the authors review what can be done to help others understand what ID is and why it is important to science. The section on irreducible complexity was excellent as was the section on a fine tuned universe. All in all a superior well documented and well argued logically presented book.