From: Keith Miller (kbmill@ksu.edu)
Date: Fri Sep 12 2003 - 13:59:29 EDT
> Now some take the Bible as literal and think that we came into existence a few
> thousand years ago and that what we see of history in the universe did not
> actually transpire. That is: God presented us with a universe with the history
> 'built in". Most here like to ridicule such a notion. I wonder how many of
> these
> have ever conducted simulation of some technical aspect within their filed. If
> so, I am certain that they work within simulated environments with a history
> built into it. I run simulations ot check the dynamics of certain systems. It
> could never even be done if I had to work from the ground floor in machine
> language to do everything. It would be nonsense for me to use anything other
> than a structure from a previous simulation -- even if "just" the compiler..
>
> Should I believe that God is less wise than his creations? That he has to
> start
> form scratch with His simulated background for us?
No, we should believe that God is much MORE wise and powerful than us. Your
analogy above reduces God to a human engineer. God, unlike a human
engineer, is not constrained just to manipulate an existing creation. God
is Creator and thus had free choice over the properties and capacities of
the stuff of creation. God made the original stuff.
It is also clear from scripture, from the history of God's people, and from
our own experience, that God is a God of process. The process matters to
God. God does not appear to be interested in just cutting to the chase and
getting to the final objective. The process of getting there is the
objective. That in my mind is what sanctification is. It is also clear
that suffering and pain is part of that process - a process which God
himself experienced in the incarnation and cross.
A long creative history is just what I would expect from the God of history.
Furthermore, a long creative history emphasizes God's care for the creation.
All the myriad of organisms that have come and gone on this planet were
there for God's pleasure alone. They gave praise to God long before
humanity was there to see and worship.
Keith
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Fri Sep 12 2003 - 11:51:47 EDT