Here's something I wrote up while I was at Calvin. Perhaps it will
help.
TG
<bold><bigger><bigger>God's Interaction with the World
</bigger></bigger></bold>
"We believe that the same good God, after He had created all things,
did not forsake them or give them up to fortune or chance, but that He
rules and governs them according to His holy will, so that nothing
happens in this world without His appointment" (Belgic Confession,
Article XIII). Although origination is usually the first thing we
think of when we speak of God as Creator, the Scriptures have a much
richer notion of "creator" that includes the notions of sustenance,
governance, and providence. In Reformed systematic theologies, these
concepts are often treated under the heading of Divine
Providence.<bold>
To call God Creator is to call Him the Sustainer. </bold>God not only
originated the world, but he sustains it moment by moment. The
existence of the world continues to be <underline>radically</underline>
dependent on Him. Scripture verses in support of this relationship
between God and his Creation are the following: "for in Him we live
and move and exist" (Acts 17:28); "He (Christ)...sustains all things by
his power" (Heb. 1:3); "in Him all things hold together" (Col. 1:17).
Were God to remove this sustenance, the creation would cease to exist.
This is no pantheistic doctrine that makes the creation out to be God.
Nor is it a doctrine of continuous creation whereby God re creates the
universe moment by moment.
<bold>
To call God Creator is to call Him the Governor. </bold>God not only
governs by law and ordinances as described earlier, but He is
intimately involved in its moment by moment workings. "He sends forth
springs...He causes the grass to grow...Thou dost give them (animals)
their food...Thou dost open Thy hand" (Ps. 104 passim.). "He causes
the vapors to ascend...makes lightnings for the rain...brings forth
the wind" (Ps. 135:5-7). "He gives snow like wool; He scatters the
frost like ashes. He casts forth His ice as fragments" (Ps.
147:16,17)."Who gives the sun for light by day...who stirs up the sea"
(Jer. 31:35). See also Job 38, 39 passim. God's rule in the Creation
is attested to by all the Reformed creeds. The Belgic Confession
(Article XIII) says that he "did not forsake them or give them up to
fortune or chance, but that He rules and governs them according to His
holy will." The Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter V, Section 1)
says that he "doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures,
actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least". This
governance extends to chance events (Prov. 16:33). The Westminster
Confession of Faith (Chapter V, Section 2) while acknowledging God as
the "first Cause" affirms that "he ordereth them (all things) to fall
out, according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily,
freely, or contingently. It also recognizes that "God, in his ordinary
providence, maketh use of means" (Chapter V, Section 3).
<bold>To call God Creator is to call Him the Provider. </bold>Often in
Scripture and in the Confessions, this Divine Governance is set in the
context of God Providence. "They all wait for Thee, to give them
their food in due season. Thou dost give to them, they gather it up;
Thou dost open Thy hand, they are satisfied with good" (Ps. 104:27,
28). "Who covers the heavens with clouds, who provides rain for the
earth, who makes grass to grow on the mountains. He gives to the beast
its food, and to the young ravens which cry" (Ps. 147:8, 9). "But if
God so arrays the grass of the field...will he not much more do so for
you?" (Matt. 6:30). The Heidelberg Catechism Question and Answer 27
says: "What do you understand by the providence of God? Providence
is the almighty and ever present power of God by which he upholds, as
with his hand heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them
that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food
and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty--<italic>all
things</italic>, in fact, come to us not by chance but by his fatherly
hand.
These doctrines of sustenance, governance, and providence are
foundational for understanding the relationship between God's role in
creation and providence and the fruit of an investigation of the world
using the tools of science. Order and regularity in the operation of
the world, features of the world presupposed by practioners of science,
result from God's lawful creation and his regular governance. The
Scriptures go one step further and recognize that regularity in the
functioning of the universe is a manifestation of the faithfulness of
God. God has made a covenant and governs in a manner consistent with
that covenant (Jer. 31:35,36; 33:20-26).
God's governance structures the created world, and God is free to
govern how He pleases. This provides the underpinning for the
empirical nature of modern science. We may not presuppose how the
world is or how God has chosen to govern it. We have to investigate
the world to discern patterns and regularities that exist as a result
of God's governance. It may be the case that there are certain
boundaries that we simply accept as givens. These boundaries, however,
are conditions that we run into as we explore the creation and are
empirically derived not imposed on our study of creation by some
philosophical system. Examples of such boundaries may be
life/non-life, sensory/non-sensory, human/non-human, etc. Of course,
if scripture reveals such a boundary, then we must accept it. In my
reading scripture emphasizes only one such distinction,
human/non-human, i.e. only human beings were created in the image of
God.
An additional consequence of these doctrines is that<bold> </bold>there
is no natural/supernatural distinction<bold>. </bold>In one sense all
of creation is "supernatural", i.e. God is always actively involved.
At times I think that we ought to dispense with this
natural/supernatural language because it gives the impression that
normally things occur according to their "natures" apart from the
Divine governance. <bold> </bold>The distinction ought to be between
ordinary/extraordinary or regular/irregular. Ordinary events are no
less acts of God than miracles. In the miracle God does not act
contrary to natural laws (for there are no such things), but contrary
to his normal manner of governance. "Miracles" everyday would
conflict with God's covenant faithfulness described<bold> </bold>above.
It seems that the miraculous is to shock us into listening to God and
His spokesman at key events in redemptive history. This is due in part
to the fact that in our sinful state we no longer see God at work in
the ordinary events of life.
TG
>Hi folks:
>
>I am looking for examples of verses in the bible that attribute God's
>action to processes for which we have physical explanations. For
>example, Psalm 147, "He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the
>earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills."
>
>If you can think of one or two (or better more) could you send them
to
>me. Thanks.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Joel W. Cannon | (318)869-5160
>Dept. of Physics | (318)869-5026 FAX
>Centenary College of Louisiana | cannon@alpha.centenary.edu
>P. O. Box 41188 |
>Shreveport, LA 71134-1188 |
>
>
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Terry M. Gray, Ph.D., Computer Support Scientist
Chemistry Department, Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado 80523
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