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Nancy Pearcey is coauthor of How Now Shall We Live? (with Charles Colson) and The Soul of Science (with Charles Thaxton).Illustration by Paul Turnbaugh

The dominant view in science today is naturalistic evolution, which claims that the universe is the result of an unguided, undirected process, explainable strictly in terms of chance and natural law. Design theory proposes a third cause& amp;mdash;intelligent design& amp;mdash;and claims that evidence for design in the universe can be detected empirically.Here's a summary of the major positions that fall under this category:

THEISTIC EVOLUTION: Many versions of theistic evolution reject design, and are identical scientifically to naturalistic evolution. But some versions propose that design was "frontloaded" into the initial conditions of the universe and its laws, so that creation would unfold over time in the way God intended.

OLD-AGE or PROGRESSIVE CREATION: God guided the process of development, injecting information at key stages in the development of the universe and life to design new forms of organization.

YOUNG-AGE CREATION: God created the universe and the major life forms within a short period of time (some say six literal days), about 10,000 (rather than billions of) years ago. For more information about intelligent-design theories, visit the Access Research Network Web site at www.arn.org.

Christianity Today first reported on the intelligent design movement in early 1997. That same year, we also published a series of articles on Michael Behe and Darwin's Black Box, as well as a profile of Philip Johnson.In November, we reported on the Discovery Institute's Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture and how it is "reshaping" the origins debate. Last month, we focused on the ongoing controversy over the Michael Polanyi Center at Baylor University, which supports research into intelligent design.Books & Culture's September/October 1998 issue features a lively debate on intelligent design between Michael Behe and Rebecca J. Flietstra. That same issue also included a discussion between Philip Johnson and Robert Pennock on the scientific status of intelligent design theory.Karl W. Giberson and Donald A. Yerxa offer a thorough history of the creation/evolution debate, up to and including the Kansas school board decision, in an article in the November/December 1999 issue of Books & Culture. A December 8 edition of ChristianityToday.com's "Amassed Media" looked at several articles in other magazines related to the Kansas school board decision on evolution.The Origins Web site features a variety of articles in defense of intelligent design. It also offers the "virtual offices" of William Dembski, Philip E. Johnson, and others. Criticisms of Michael Behe's work, and the intelligent design movement in general, can be found on the pro-evolution Talk.Origins Archive.Touchstone magazine has recently produced a double issue on intelligent design featuring essays by many of the major players in the movement. Unfortunately, the articles aren't available online, but the issue can be ordered here.Nancy Pearcey, the author of this article, has co-written a number of articles with Chuck Colson for Christianity Today, including "The Devil in the DNA." She is also the co-author, with Colson, of the bestselling How Now Shall We Live? She reviewed Darwin's Black Box for Books & Culture in 1996. [print only]

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May 22 2000, Vol. 44, No. 6