Thank you for your comments. We believe that God is in control instant by
instant but we do not really know how He does it. We merely see and
experience the effects of His actions. However, our explanations do not
constitute science as the word "science" ought to be understood. That is the
qualm I have with theistic evolution. What they expound is not science but
could very well be the correct explanation. The trouble with the
amalgamation of science and our Christian faith is that we can only use it
as a way of combating the excesses of radical evolutionists. We do that not
with Scripture or our ideas but by finding holes in their very own science.
Take care,
Moorad
-----Original Message-----
From: Keith B Miller <kbmill@ksu.edu>
To: asa@calvin.edu <asa@calvin.edu>
Date: Friday, June 04, 1999 10:30 PM
Subject: Re: Dino-Birds
>Moorad wrote;
>
>>Bob has raised a good point--that natural selection cannot foresee the
>>future. I should like to ask the following question to you all: What or
Who
>>determines the possible outcomes granting the fact that natural selection
is
>>governing the future outcomes? An honest answer to this question will
>>definitely lead to God--the law Maker and Giver! Here is an example of a
>>question that at first seems to be a scientific question that, on
attempting
>>to answer such a question, leads to God. Of course, the same can be said
of
>>all the laws that men discover. Whence comes the laws of nature?
>
>There are different ways of thinking about how God directs His creation to
>His purposes. How this is viewed would depend on how "independent" one
>understands the creation to be. Independence would here mean the extent to
>wish God grants freedom to His creation (an analogy with human free will
>could be made). There is a lot of interesting debate on this, and I don't
>yet have a clear theological position.
>
>Regardless, I do not think it appropriate to think that new structures or
>features are coerced by God from creation that would otherwise be
>maladaptive. In that case new unadaptive traits would have to be
>maintained by God in opposition to the "natural" processes he had already
>established. However, new traits could certainly arise as selectively
>neutral features, or as secondary biproducts of other features which have a
>high selective value.
>
>Keith
>
>
>
>Keith B. Miller
>Department of Geology
>Kansas State University
>Manhattan, KS 66506
>kbmill@ksu.ksu.edu
>http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~kbmill/
>
>