intelligent design
The theory that life, or the universe, cannot have arisen by chance and was designed and created by some intelligent entity.
intelligent design Quick reference
A Dictionary of Zoology (5 ed.)
... design The assertion that certain features of the universe and of living organisms are best explained by supposing them to result from an intelligent cause rather than an undirected process such as natural selection . Its proponents maintain that intelligent design is a scientific hypothesis, but that claim is rejected by the scientific community. The US National Academy of Sciences has stated that intelligent design and other claims of supernatural intervention in the origin of life are not science because they cannot be tested by experiment, do...
Intelligent Design Quick reference
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3 ed.)
... Design . The hypothesis that in order to explain life it is necessary to suppose the action of an unevolved intelligence (not necessarily God). Though widely thought to be a form of creationism , this description is misleading, since Intelligent Design accepts that evolution has occurred. The movement began in the 1980s. In 2005 a judge in Delaware ruled that Intelligent Design was not a science, and teaching it flouted the USA...
intelligent design Quick reference
A Dictionary of Biomedicine (2 ed.)
...intelligent design The belief that biological systems are so complicated that they must have been designed by a rational creator (aka God). As complicated biological systems are gradually understood and their evolution clarified, so the proponents of this neocreationist doctrine change their ground. It is not a scientific...
intelligent design Quick reference
A Dictionary of Philosophy (3 ed.)
... design The view that biology exhibits phenomena that cannot be explained by natural selection, and that it is therefore good science to attribute them to a guiding intelligence. The view is itself a mutation of creationism . Its view of biology has been rejected by nearly all practising biologists, and its view of both biology and science has been rejected by American courts who viewed it, correctly, as an attempt to sneak religion into the science curriculum in schools. The landmark case was Kitzmiller vs. Dover School Board, brought in Pennsylvania...
intelligent design Quick reference
The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (2 ed.)
... design the theory that life, or the universe, cannot have arisen by chance and was designed and created by some intelligent...
Intelligent design Reference library
Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable (2 ed.)
... design . The theory, proposed by a small minority of scientists (mostly Christians and mostly in the United States), that the complexity of life, the universe and everything requires the existence of an intelligent, supernatural designer, and cannot be explained by orthodox scientific ideas such as Darwin's theory of natural selection. The vast majority of scientists reject intelligent design as no more than ‘creationism in a cheap tuxedo’ (a phrase coined by Leonard Krishtalka , director of the Natural History Museum, University of Kansas), in other...
intelligent design Quick reference
Fowler’s Concise Dictionary of Modern English Usage (3 ed.)
... design is a disarmingly reassuring term for the belief that life should be explained as the creation of an intelligent agent (i.e. God) rather than as the result of a process of natural selection. Dating from the mid-19c in America, it intentionally disguises the element of faith and belief that is involved in such a view, and represents an aggressive attempt to rationalize the irrational as a reaction to the scientific arguments of evolutionists. Many see the term as a dishonest evasion, and it should be used with great care, as it comes with a great...
intelligent design
King John Reference library
Michael Dobson, Will Sharpe, and Anthony Davies
The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare (2 ed.)
...by Ralph Richardson ( 1931–2 ), Paul Scofield ( 1945 ), and Richard Burton ( 1953 ). The most critically admired production of the later 20th century was undoubtedly that of Deborah Warner for the RSC ( 1988 ). Gregory Doran directed Guy Henry as John in a briskly intelligent, intimate, and moving production in the RSC’s Swan theatre ( 2001 ), the company tackling the play again in 2006 as part of the Complete Works Festival , with Richard McCabe and Joseph Millson as John and the Bastard respectively, in a psychologically probing and politically...
Richard III Reference library
Randall Martin and Anthony Davies
The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare (2 ed.)
...adaptation in 1700 , only half of whose lines were by Shakespeare. Cibber cut Edward IV, Clarence, Margaret, and Hastings, but the simplified historical narrative appealed to actors and audiences, as Garrick ’s performances from 1741 onwards confirmed. Edmund Kean ’s intelligently expressive and emotionally intense interpretation was praised by Byron in 1814 . Charles Macready tried briefly to revive Shakespeare’s play in 1821 , but Cibber continued to dominate until Henry Irving ’s productions in 1877 and 1896–7 . Yet these also severely cut...
The Second Message of Islam Reference library
Mahmoud Mohamed Taha
Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook
...from islam at the initial stage. At the initial stage, islam is merely external or apparent submission, while in the final state it is both external and internal (genuine) submission. Islam at the initial stage concerns speech and action, while in the final stage it is intelligent surrender and submission and acceptance of God both in private and in public. At the initial stage islam is inferior to ‘iman , while at the final stage it is superior to ‘iman . Many theologians whom we know today are unable to make this distinction. Religious scholars...
39 The History of the Book in the Indian Subcontinent Reference library
Abhijit Gupta
The Oxford Companion to the Book
...in 1924 but soon went into publishing, and which distinguished itself by issuing the seminal works of the historian D. D. Kosambi in the 1950s . In fact, many firms that had begun life as booksellers and distributors branched out into publishing after Independence, making intelligent use of their networks. Such was the case with *Rupa , which was founded in 1936 and became one of the largest wholesalers, distributors, and exporters in India before diversifying into publishing. *Allied , established in 1934 , took the same route and went into textbook...
Domesticity Reference library
An Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age
...aristocracy as mutually beneficial: allowing social mobility for the gentry, and moral and financial regeneration for the aristocracy. In Pride and Prejudice ( 1813 ), for example, Elizabeth Bennett 's consciousness of Darcy 's ‘pride’ is represented as the ‘prejudice’ of intelligent lower-gentry female subjectivity, whilst Darcy personifies an unbecoming ‘pride’ in not wishing to marry down into the landless gentry. With the cancelling out of these traits, class antagonism is neutralized. In Persuasion ( 1817 ) Sir Walter Elliot must be ‘persuaded’ of...
The Poverty of Fanaticism Reference library
T. J. Winter and Abdal Hakim Murad
Islam in Transition: Muslim Perspectives (2 ed.)
...be lending it His support, is conspicuously absent. It is true that we frequently hear the Qur'ānic verse which states that “God does not change the condition of a people until they change the condition of their own selves” ( 13:11 ). But never, it seems, is this principle intelligently grasped. It is assumed that the sacred text is here doing no more than to enjoin individual moral reform as a precondition for collective societal success. Nothing could be more hazardous, however, than to measure such moral reform against the yardstick of the fiqh ...
1700 to the Present Reference library
Ronald Clements
The Oxford Illustrated History of the Bible
...had transformed the understanding of the physical universe in a fundamental way. This necessarily called for a serious rethinking of the way in which the teaching of the Bible could be harmonized with this new knowledge, if its position as the primary foundation document for intelligent religious discussion were to be maintained. Newtonian physics was establishing a coherent picture of an ordered universe in which reasoned observation could trace the interconnections and interactions of its varied parts. Heaven and earth formed one world in which a harmonious...
Colossians Reference library
Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, OP and Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, OP
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...of as Christ ( see Dunn 1980 : 187–94 ). In addition to the truth of the titles given to Christ, Paul had a second reason to retain the hymn. It could be turned against the false teachers. By inserting v. 16 b – e Paul restricts the meaning of ‘all things’ ( v. 16 a ) to intelligent beings, and makes it explicit that the angelic powers are inferior to Christ who, according to the premiss of the hymn, brought them into existence and to whom they are ordered. The ineffable names of the spirit powers are drawn at random from Jewish tradition (details in ...
Class Reference library
An Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age
...who form the real and efficient mass of public opinion’ to the gentry. Reformers in societies like the National Political Union and the Birmingham Political Union insisted that ‘the People’ were the middle and working classes who together constituted the industrious, useful, intelligent, and virtuous classes. In 1830 , Abraham Hanson addressed the issue directly in a meeting to establish a Moderate Reform Union: What constitutes a people or nation? According to my opinion, it is composed of that class of inhabitants who, by their moral and intellectual...
Proverbs Reference library
K. T. Aitken and K. T Aitken
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...for their creator ( cf. 17:5 ), while to show kindness and generosity towards them is to honour him. ( 15:1–32 ) Words . v. 1 contrasts the conciliatory reply that soothes a situation and makes for reasoned discussion and the acrimonious reply that inflames it and makes intelligent discussion impossible. ‘Gentle’ ( v. 4 ) points either to the conciliatory or to the healing quality of words. Such speech promotes life, in contrast with twisted or perverse speech, which causes injury and brings death ( cf. 18:21 ). v. 23 expresses the satisfaction that...
