> Matter in Random Motion (MIRM): If an event occurs with everything (for
>every particle) happening according to the probabilities predicted by
>Quantum Mechanics (QM). // Of course, in calling this "matter" I'm
>including "energy" and am assuming that all forces/fields/... are also
>operating.
>
> Theistic Action (TA): If God is somehow active in changing "what would
>have happened, according to MIRM" into "what actually happens."
I think the MIRM definition, if it is salvageable at all, needs to be
divided up in order to get at the real issues. How about these three
divisions:
MIRM-1: completely independent of God
MIRM-2: dependent on God only in the way a running watch is dependent on
its maker
MIRM-3: under God's sustenance, concurrence, etc.
category MIRM-1. As Terry Gray has pointed out, most Christian theology
(and I would add that this view does not necessarily entail Calvinism)
affirms that MIRM-2 is also an empty set. Given that, I'm not sure any
useful distinction, even ontological, remains between MIRM and your
"Smoothly Blending Theistic Action." Again I'd raise the question of
what category thunder and lightning are in, and whether there is any
reason to insist (or even expect) that the evolution of life must be in a
different category.
I'd also add that "random" is the sort of word that can muddy the waters,
as evidenced by its frequent misuse in caricatures of evolutionary theory
and also the danger of going onto tangents on interpretation of quantum
mechanics which I think is not very relevant to the issue at hand. How
about just using a term like "natural law" for this category?