Lucy,
Interesting point. Yes, I would think that your "turning water into wine" by
adding microdots of Cabernet to water would be construed by most of us as a
trick. Sort of, "if you can do it, so can I." That's how I would approach
an illusionist. Yet, according to John, when Jesus turned water into wine,
"He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him."
(John 2:11). So, maybe it's not so much the miracle itself as the person
who performs the miracle. I would think, though, that the reaction of the
wedding guests in Cana was not, "that's got to be a trick, because in Jesus
can do it, we can." Note that only John mentions this miracle (as far as I
was able to determine).
If Jesus were to walk among us today, how would he reveal his glory to us?
Maybe not by turning water into wine, but possibly by doing something that
we would clearly recognize as something out of the ordinary. (As I write
this, I rack my brain to think of an example but the only thing that comes
to mind is cold fusion)
I believe that God is involved in all processes, from what we have become
used to, the commonplace, to the unusual, the miracles. The electron cloud
around a nucleus would collapse or disperse without God's involvement.
Chuck
-----Original Message-----
From: Lucy Masters [mailto:masters@cox-internet.com]
Sent: Wednesday May 23, 2001 6:03 PM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: [Fwd: [Fwd: Griffin #2]]
Lucy replies:
You asked for a suggestion. I guess I might start by posing the
question: Is there any such thing as a creaturely process?
For example, let's suppose I start working in the chemical lab at our
local research hospital. In my spare time, I figure out the exact
percentages of different chemicals which make up a fine glass of
Cabernet. Further, I fuss around until I figure out how to condense all
of the ingredients EXCEPT the H2O so that I'm left with tiny microdots
of highly concentrated chemicals. I go to a cocktail party and tell
everyone that I can "turn water into wine" just like Jesus. I fill
everyone's wine glass with water, tell them to close their eyes, and pop
one tiny microdot into each glass. Seconds later, they open their eyes
to find Cabernet. Because I'm not Jesus, they wouldn't call this a
miracle. They'd call it magic.
But more to the point, was God involved in this process? Well, to my
way of thinking, God is involved in all processes. He provided me with
the intelligence and energy to figure this thing out. He provided all
of the chemical ingredients needed to make water into wine.
Should the folks at the table think God was not involved? Was Jesus
MORE involved in his miracle than I in mine simply because we don't know
**how** Jesus turned water into wine? Further, if we DID know how Jesus
did it, would it no longer be a miracle?
So...I would like to entertain the idea that there is no such thing as a
"creaturely process."
Is my thinking skewed?
Lucy
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