<<I have heard the epithet "God of the gaps" frequently. It seems to be a
label used for views in which God's action seems to be confined to the
voids in our knowledge. But that's about all I know about it. Do any of
you know anything of the history of this phrase? >>
The phrase is used pejoratively to claim that theists invoke God whenever
our understanding of naturalism is incomplete. As far as I can determine,
it was first used against Asa Gray. One writer says:
"Gray may be accused of believing in a 'God of the gaps.' He argued that
God was required to direct the course of evolution for completely random
variations would never lead to advancement. helpful variations would be
cancelled by unhelful ones, and no progress would be made. And since
naturalists did not know the source of these variations, they must be the
hedden means by which God directed evolution. Gray's logic appears to be
that since the source of variations is inscrutable, then it must be divine.
Gray opened himself up to the danger that if later scientists discoverd the
mechanism of variations, and showed them to be random indeed, then his
picture of the providential driving wind of God would look superfluous."
[Blackmore, The Great Evolution Debate, p. 114]
Phil Johnson has been accused, also, of using a futile God of the gaps
argument. But, as he responds in Reason in the Balance: "Theistic
evolutionists' standard use of the phrase 'God of the gaps' to discourage
consideration of nonnaturalistic possibilities, for example, comes straight
out of their implicit methodological naturalism." [RITB, p. 211]
I think there is an "atheism of the gaps" argument, too. Naturalists will
run into gaps and say, "Wait, there is a naturalistic explanation
somewhere, and someday we will find it," thus foreclosing any consideration
of non-natural possibilities. Evidence of intelligent design (e.g.,
biochemical systems) is then ignored because of a philosophical bias.
Anyway, I've never quite understood why "God of the gaps" should be such a
nasty concept. We have gaps all over the place--such as the origin of
matter and the appearance of consciousness. It has been revealed just Who
filled those gaps. What's the problemo?
Jim