Walter Hicks wrote:
>
>
> george murphy wrote:
>
>> This is not an accurate statement of either my view or (I
>> think)
>> Howard's. I certainly wouldn't say that "God [is] doing nothing
>> anymore" but
>> that God is acting within the limits of the patterns characterizing
>> natural
>> processes. This need not mean that all the information was stored
>> somewhere
>> in the first seconds of the universe. We don't understand how the
>> requisite
>> information can be generated by natural processes but that points to
>> a need for
>> better scientific understanding rather than an appeal to direct
>> divine action,
>> which would be a classic example of a God of the gaps argument.
>
> Why is valid for scientists to assume that all unknown phenomena must
> be explained by "God acting within the limits of natural causes", but
> invalid for anyone to suggest that perhaps God may have had a direct
> hand in it? The Bible seems to suggest that God is not shy about
> interacting with His Universe.
1) Scientists qua scientists say nothing at all about how God acts
but only about how natural processes occur within the world. Speaking
about how God does or does not act in relation to those processes is a
matter of theology rather than natural science.
2) I have not said that suggestions of God's direct action outside
"the limits of the patterns characterizing natural processes" is invalid
but IMO the best theological approach, consistent with the belief that
God's character is revealed most fully in the cross, is to emphasize
that God does, as much as possible, act withinin those limits. For more
detail see my article "Chiasmic Cosmology and Creation's Functional
Integrity" in the March 2001 PSCF.
3) Certainty God interacts with the universe. The question at
issue here has been "How?"
Shalom,
George
George L. Murphy
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
"The Science-Theology Interface"
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Dec 23 2001 - 07:23:21 EST