Re: Dembski essay, part II

David Campbell (bivalve@mailserv0.isis.unc.edu)
Thu, 23 Apr 1998 13:32:03 -0400

>Dear David,
>
>Given the interparticle forces, physicists do not yet know why a crystal is
>the lowest energy state for given temperature and pressure. Of course, the
>design lies in the laws themselves. Who designed the laws? Also, who
>sustains the laws? Do they sustain by themselves????

I believe that God designed and sustains the laws (perhaps better stated as
"the "laws" describe how God usually acts in nature"). It's getting back
to Howard Van Till's question- when someone says they believe in ID, do
they mean that God made the laws and enforces them or are they thinking
about "crafty" intervention, not under the operation of natural laws?

Biological evolution by natural selection will choose one of the functional
options out of many possibilities. As far as I can tell, Dembski's design
detector doesn't differentiate between such mediated design as natural
selection or crystal formation and interventionist design such as creation
ex nihlo.

David C.