"You and I have a disagreement over the mechanisms God uses to govern
nature -- although we agree that He is totally in control moment by
moment. It seems to me -- and I realize you may disagree emphatically --
that it is not God's intention to give us a detailed description of the
methods He uses in His governance in Scripture. Rather He seems more
concerned with telling us Who He is and how we can have a right
relationship with Him. We seem to be looking at the world through quite
different paradigms, and we ought to give some attention to what those
paradigms are -- if that's possible :-)."
Picking up on this, I would like to pose a question. Can we Christians
who hold to a TE or PE position (or some close variation of these) agree
on the following points, or something like these?:
1. The biblical data, by itself, does not settle which of these two
interpretations is correct - or incorrect (possibly both).
2. The means of distinguishing between the two, or rejecting the two,
depends on observation and interpretation - in the same way science
normally operates.
3. In agreeing to this, we allow each other the latitude to be influenced
by our peculiar understanding of how God operates - while recognizing that
this is an expression of personal perspective, and not something that
follows as a "proper understanding of the God revealed in the Bible".
I post these points as a suggestion of what we might agree to. If
something of this sort seem reasonable, please suggest corrections and
refinements. I, for one, think it would be worthwhile if many of us could
make some progress in stating something of substance concerning what we do
agree on. I hope others, also, will find this worthwhile.
Gordie