Re: ASA positions on science/faith issues

On Thu, 31 Mar 2005 12:26:50 -0700 "Terry M. Gray"
<grayt@lamar.colostate.edu> writes:
> Ted,
>
> I read the piece and think it's a great perspective to share with
> families and students. One term brought a question to mind that I
> have thought about throwing out to the list from time to time (not
> to
> take us away from Randy's very important question, hopefully).
>
> It's the term "continuous creation" as one of the varietes of
> old-earth creation along side "progessive creation" and "theistic
> evolution". I think that Keith Miller also uses this term to
> describe
> his flavor of evolutionary creation.
>
> I'm wondering if anyone knows the history of this term and how it
> came to be used to mean what I think your document and Keith means
> it
> to mean. In my reading of various systematic theologies, "continuous
>
> creation" means that God re-creates the universe moment-by-moment
> giving only the appearance of continuity of existence. This is
> rejected as heresy (and different from a doctrine of sustenance).
> I'm
> not suggesting that Messiah's document or Keith is using the term in
>
> this sense.
>
> Just a semantic curiosity for the most part.
>
> TG
>
>
If I understand the position of continuous creation, it is like the
Occasionalism of Malebranche (1638-1715), who held that there is no
connection between mind and matter, so God creates a physical world
moment by moment in response to our thoughts. This means that causality
is strictly a matter of mind and that the world is constantly
disappearing into nothingness. I consider Berkeley's view, that God gives
the sensations directly to finite minds, more sensible than continuous
material creation. But that also is passe. I do have one question about
continuous creation, however: is mind (minds?) also being continuously
created? In Malebranche it persisted.
Dave
Received on Thu Mar 31 14:57:52 2005