-----Original Message-----
From: Howard J. Van Till [mailto:hvantill@novagate.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2001 3:08 PM
To: Moorad Alexanian; george murphy; rdehaan237@aol.com
Cc: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: Re: Staged developmental creation.
Process theology, on the other hand, sees the existence of both God and a
World as inseparable. To put it in Q&A form:
Why is there a universe rather than no universe?
Because there is a God whose existence is necessary. Furthermore, an
essential part of Godıs nature is to be intimately related to a World. In
Griffinıs version of naturalistic theism, "what exists necessarily is not
simply God, as traditional theism holds, or simply the world of finite
existents, as atheism holds, but God-and-a-world." [Reenchantment Without
Supernaturalism, p. 140]
--If the conventional theistic view is correct, that God pre-existed before
the Cosmos, and will probably exist beyond, then "...to be intimately
related to a World..." can not logically be an essential part of His nature.
--As to the purpose of the universe, I would think that the Judeo-Christian
stance is that it was to house and support his living creatures. I would
personally go as far as to cite His concern for one particular branch of the
primates, but it might come off as egotistical, so I will let it go...
Norm
Norm
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Nov 07 2001 - 16:34:05 EST