>Agreed, but perhaps the question that TE's might need to ask themselves
>is, when they get to heaven, what if they find out that God did much
>more supernaturally than their scientific research models ever
>allowed, will they feel regret at being too influenced by non-theistic thought?
I believe we will all discover when we see the Lord, that He is in control in
many ways we cannot conceive. I strongly suspect that whatever our
orientation, we will find that we were frequently looking in thw rong place
for signs of God's activity. Not that God isn't active everywhere, but we
are still prone to be looking in the wrong place for God, as Elijah
evidently was in I Kings 19. In any case I would rather be pleasantly
surprised at the scope of God's activity than disappointed :-)
>
>This might seem a silly consideration to a scientist, but to me it is an
>overriding one. I strongly believe that "the whole world is under the control
>of the evil one" (1Jn 5:19) and therefore I try to train my thoughts to
>be resistant to naturalistic "just-so stories". :-)
>
On the other hand, as a Calvinist, surely you recognize that God is in
control. True, he temporarily ceded some degree of authority to Satan, but
remember that Satan had to have God's permission to harm Job, and remember
that he has promised not to let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. Of
course we ought always to be on guard against Satan's wiles. But there are
numerous issues besides origins, which have a more direct effect on our
ability to do His will. And it is possible to concentrate on one issue to
the extent that others aren't given adequate attention. We need to train
our thoughts to resist the evil one wherever he pops up, but we also have
to remember that the victory was already won by Jesus. Otherwise we may
worry too much about what a defeated enemy can accomplish.
Bill Hamilton | Vehicle Systems Research
GM R&D Center | Warren, MI 48090-9055
810 986 1474 (voice) | 810 986 3003 (FAX)