From: Howard J. Van Till (hvantill@chartermi.net)
Date: Tue Jul 22 2003 - 13:47:54 EDT
I had said,
>> To put it as succinctly as possible, for inanimate
>> things and fine-tuning the ID argument is, "If the RFEP is true, then the
>> universe was 'intelligently designed' (meaning #1)." In the case of living
>> organisms, however, the ID argument is just the opposite, "If the RFEP is
>> false, then some living things must have been 'intelligently designed'
>> (meaning #2)." Heads I win, tails you lose.
Richard replied,
>
> I see your point here, but I wonder if its really a "heads I win tails you
> lose" postion. I mean it seems perfectly logical to me to assert RFEP in the
> limited sense of Fine-tuning necessary for the chemistry of life while
> denying RFEP is sufficient for the evolution of life.
skip a bit...
> Again, I don't see any inconsistency in 1) Asserting fine-tuning necessary
> for the natural evolution of elements necessary for life and 2) the
> impossiblity of biogenesis and the evolution of species through natural
> processes alone.
>
> Are you asserting an inconsistency between my #1and #2?
Yes. It has to do with the character of the God/World relationship. If God
is related to the world in such a way implied by your 2), then God is both
able and willing to perform form-imposing interventions as the means of
actualizing new creatures. Such intervention would fall into the category of
"coercive divine action" -- action in which God coerces the "stuff" of the
universe to do something (assemble into some particular form) contrary to or
beyond what it could do by means of its God-given capabilities.
However, if that is the case, then the fine tuning of your 1) is entirely
unnecessary. For instance, if there were no way for the C-12 nucleus to form
naturally, God could just coercively intervene to make some. No need to have
the nuclear energy levels "just right."
So one question is, If coercive form-imposing action is consistent with the
character of God and of the God/World relationship, then why would God go
through all of the "trouble" to do the (unnecessary) fine tuning thing? When
you have a coercive form-imposing option available, why not save a lot of
creative effort and employ it more generally?
Howard Van Till
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