>IDs typically ... think to absolve themselves of any need to subject
>their theological presuppositions & positions to scrutiny while being
>able to make theological claims.
It seems to me that theories of ID make a distinction between what can
be EXPLICITLY claimed based on logically analyzed empirical evidence (this
is the actual content of ID theories) and an extrapolation to "God did it"
that could be made based on a theory of ID (this is the IMPLICIT content
of an ID theory, if the extrapolation from ID to creationism is made).
These distinctions are important, and should be respected and studied
carefully, just as the distinction made by David should be respected.
>MN is no more restricted than ID, for the latter (regardless of what its
>proponents may say) amounts to a declaration that some things (those that
>have been found to be the result of divine intervention) should not be
>investigated further by science.
1) If an event really did happen by miraculous action, then any natural
non-miraculous explanation of this event will be WRONG. So if science was
stopped here, we would be closer to the truth. But OEC (or ID) doesn't
claim that scientific INVESTIGATION should cease, just that we shouldn't
automatically assume that a natural explanation (rather than a miraculous
explanation) will be correct.
2) ID does not suggest that labeling something as "designed" should be
the end of science. For example, Behe suggests that scientists should do
more work (not less) in trying to explain the formative pathways for systems
that he claims are irreducibly complex. If the result of Behe's claims are
to stimulate this type of research, has he been a science-stopper?
>In reality, I suspect...the real objection to MN is that God has to "make a
>difference" (i.e., show off) by doing things that science can't explain.
>That's a rather inept version of Christian theology.
Yes, but (I repeat) this is not an essential part of OEC, any more than
Functional Integrity is an essential part of TE. I reject the idea that
God MUST act (occasionally) by miracle in formative history. Do you reject
the idea that God CANNOT have acted by miracle in formative history?
Craig Rusbult