The Good Gift

The Truth & Beauty of Creation

Salvo was created 20 years ago, largely to publish evidence against the great origin myth of the modern age, whose core tenet holds that in the beginning there was nothing—and that nothing (and no One!) made the heavens and the earth: it all just happened by chance.

To counter this quasi-religious faith, which is based in materialism and includes total adherence to Darwinism, a school of Intelligent Design theorists coalesced in the 1990s. ID posits that an unbiased study of the cosmos and the life it holds reveals intricate complexities and fine-tuning of conditions necessary for life that argue against any of it coming into existence as the result of chance.

Exceedingly Good

This disagreement between theists and materialists is about observable physical realities. But ID points to something beyond matter as well: Mind. Mind is something we experience every day: the personal, conscious—dare we say, spiritual—“self.” Moreover, the world is more than a physical artifact designed by a cosmic Mind. William A. Dembski, one of the pioneers of ID, ended his article “Signs of Intelligence: A Primer on the Discernment of Intelligent Design” with this claim:

The world is a mirror representing the divine life. The mechanical philosophy was ever blind to this fact. Intelligent design, on the other hand, readily embraces the sacramental nature of physical reality. Indeed, intelligent design is just the Logos theology of John’s Gospel restated in the idiom of information theory.

It’s personal. In the beginning was the Word (Logos), “and the Word was God…. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1–3). Logos means more than a mere word; it is reasoning itself, purposeful communication.

When Creation was completed, “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” In both the Hebrew and Greek versions of the Old Testament, the words for very are best rendered “exceedingly,” while the word for good also means “beautiful,” “delightful.” Creation didn’t just “work” like a functional machine—it was also incredibly wonderful and beautiful, planned and executed for a purpose. To assert that neither Mind nor Wisdom has anything to do with our world is to chalk it up to blind chance. But the opposite of Wisdom is foolishness, which has long been attributed to those who say, “There is no God.”

ID research continues to refute the claims of Darwinism and its devotees. We hope that the cumulative weight of evidence will eventually bury Darwinism for good.

Discoverable Excellencies

Perhaps the tide is turning away from materialism toward faith. Today, many young people are investigating traditional Christian beliefs and practices and joining biblically minded churches in encouraging numbers. They are seeking, in the words of Saint Paul, whatever is “true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable,” everything that is “excellent and worthy of praise.”

Paul knew that whatever is excellent is discoverable—knowable and not a matter of personal preference or determined by subjective “values.” Beauty is there to be discovered. That which is worthy of praise is part of the real and fixed moral universe. It will endure because it is God’s creation, brought into being by his Word, which will never pass away.

You, dear reader, are here for a reason. Your life is a gift because there is a Life-Giver. Be confident defending, in both word and deed, all that is good, true, and beautiful. These will endure. For in the end, as Scripture says, “The mouths of liars will be stopped.”

Thank you for joining us on this journey. Carry on!

—I am grateful to those who have given Salvo their time and talent, especially Terrell Clemmons, Jerry Janquart, Anita Kuhn, co-founder Richard A. Moselle, Bobby Maddex, Casey Luskin, Thomas Buchanan, Bob Perry, Amanda Witt, Robin Phillips, Nicole King, Denyse O'Leary, Hugh Ross, Jonathan Witt, and so many others.