Merv, I was wondering about the same thing. Our entire faith rests on
"interventions" -- the incarnation and resurrection of Christ -- that can't
be explained by reference to ordinarily observed processes. If Christ's
incarnation and resurrection weren't "interventions," haven't we simply set
up a tautology or made everything "miraculous"?
On 1/13/06, Mervin Bitikofer <mrb22667@kansas.net> wrote:
>
> I like it, Keith! This makes a lot of sense from a scientific thinker's
> point of view. If you can put a theologian's hat on for a bit, do you
> think Scriptures give us any indication that any of God's continuing
> actions have special status distinguishing them from the more
> ordinary? I.e. is lightening igniting Elijah's soaked altar, or dead
> people coming to life, scriptural evidence that something apart from
> nature (still undetectable to science, of course) is in operation? Or
> are these just a seamless continuation of the ordinary world which at
> times produces extraordinary looking events? Some will dismiss
> fantastic Biblical claims as Spirit-led hyperbole or literary mechanisms
> that would dissolve into "mere" mythology under a scientific eye if one
> could go back in a time machine. I don't know what your approach is,
> but I'm curious as to how you attempt to conceptualize this
> scientifically unreachable category commonly called 'miracle'.
>
> --merv
>
> Keith Miller wrote:
>
> >
> > The question of divine agency is a theological one not a scientific
> > one. I believe that God is active in the creation of each new
> > individual organism (Psalm 104:27-30). I believe that every human
> > being is created by God. Is there any scientific way of demonstrating
> > such action? No. Also, from my theological perspective God never
> > intervenes in anything. Why? Because God is always there.
> > Intervention implies that God is somehow less present before and after
> > the intervention.
> >
> > If God does not break chain of cause and effect there is nothing for
> > science to "see." If God has acted in the history of life in such a
> > way as to break such causal chains then such discontinuities would
> > simply be places where scientific descriptions fail to provide a
> > plausible explanation. However, and this is critical, there is no way
> > to distinguish such current explanatory gaps from current ignorance.
> > Science as a discipline will simply state there is no current
> > satisfactory scientific explanation and scientists will continue to
> > search for such explanations. In fact, it is the currently unknown
> > that drives science forward. It is what energizes the work of
> > individual scientists.
> >
> > So, science as a discipline cannot demonstrate divine action.
> >
> > Keith
> >
> > Keith B. Miller
> > Research Assistant Professor
> > Dept of Geology, Kansas State University
> > Manhattan, KS 66506-3201
> > 785-532-2250
> > http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~kbmill/
> >
> >
>
>
>
Received on Fri Jan 13 20:51:45 2006
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