George Murphy's post included this comment:
> But I do think that in the whole ID-MN &c debate not enough
> attention has been given to the possibility that there are good
> _theological_ arguments
> for methodological naturalism & against at least the popular understanding
> of ID. Van
> Till's arguments about the functional integrity of creation are steps in the
right
> direction & ID proponents have been unwilling to take them with sufficient
> seriousness.
Not surprisingly, I agree. One way to describe ID's problem is that it seems
to be a program shaped primarily by its function as a reaction to the
rhetorical excesses of today's preachers of ontological naturalism. As such,
it generally accepts the fundamental ground rule of naturalism: if atoms,
molecules, cells, organisms and ecosystems have the formational capabilities
to accomplish the remarkable organizational and transformational feats that
evolutionary biology proposes, then a Creator-God is no longer needed. In
essence, the ID response is to propose a "punctuated naturalism," that is, a
formational history of the universe in which naturalistic processes (often
characterized as unguided, purposeless, materialistic, etc.) are
occasionally punctuated by episodes of intelligent design (form-imposing
acts performed by some some unidentified extra-natural agent).
My proposal is that Christians ought to lead with a card from their strong
suit: the historic Christian doctrine of creation. Whatever the universe is
and is capable of doing must be seen as a "gift of being" from the Creator.
In the context of seeing the universe as a creation, every one of its
resources, potentialities, and capabilities can then be experienced as a
manifestation of the Creator's creativity and generosity. Instead of looking
for evidence of gifts withheld (that is, looking for things that the
creation is unable to do) Christians can celebrate every formational
capability that the sciences uncover. The essence of God's creative action
is not in occasional form-imposing interventions, but in the giving of being
to a creation fully capable of accomplishing the Creator's intentions for
its formational history. Where is there evidence of God's creative activity?
Everywhere!
Howard Van Till
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