We believe in one God,
the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
Begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light,
True God from True God,
Begotten, not made;
of the Same Essence as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
He came down from heaven;
He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered and was buried.
The third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the Right Hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
and to life in the world to come.
Amen.
Classical Christianity has always believed, taught and confessed God as The Creator. In my more than 40+ years of teaching (both in secular and Christian schools), I have found “Intelligent Design” as proposed by William Dembski to be a helpful model. According to Dembski, “Whenever we infer design, we must establish three things: Contingency, Complexity, and Specification” (Beckwith).
“Contingency,” by which we mean that an event was one of several possibilities, ensures that the object is not the result of an automatic and hence unintelligent process.”
“Complexity,” writes Dembski, “ensures that the object in question is not so simple that it can readily be explained by chance.”
“Specification ensures that this object exhibits the type of pattern that is the trademark of intelligence” (Behe, Dembski, & Meyer).
I have found this analogy adapted from my experience in Information Technology to be instructive:
If I found contingent, complex, and specific information (e.g., a computer virus planted from an email attachment) destroying my intellectual property, I would not say, “Look what Nature has wrought!” Instead, I would infer that a Coder had Intelligently Designed this diabolical program to destroy my data!” In like manner, when I find contingent, complex, and specific information in DNA structures, I infer evidence for a Coder–NOT chance over Time.
References
Beckwith, F. J. (n.d.). Intelligent Design in the Schools. Retrieved from CRI: https://www.equip.org/article/intelligent-design-in-the-schools/
Behe, M.J., Dembski, W.A. and Meyer, S.C. (2000).Science and Evidence for Design in the Universe, The Proceedings of the Wethersfield Institute (9). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.