Re: [asa] Miracle healing?

> RC Metcalf responds:
>
> In the case of Frances Finn, God could have orchestrated the growth of new
> bone by stimulating osteoblastic activity at specific sites within the
> bone.
> The miracle would only be supernatural to the extent that God's will is
> accomplished when He so chooses. In other words, He provides the signal
> that "turns on" the osteoblasts. He uses physical processes to accomplish
> His will. And this brings me to my problem with Frances Finn.
> Osteoblasts
> don't "naturally" work at such a rapid speed. Had she been prayed for,
> and
> over the next two weeks noticed her leg slowly becoming normal, the
> "miracle" would have made more sense to me, the scientist. An inch and a
> half growth would require quite a lot of osteoblastic activity.

Iain Strachan responds:

I get the feeling that this is really no different. Surely the
provision of the signal that "turns on" the osteoblasts in some sense
involves making molecules move around in an organised fashion that
wouldn't occur naturally, or at least is incredibly unlikely to do so.
 And although this is microscopic and invisible, it is nonetheless a
supernatural intervention (or an incredibly unlikely event that
otherwise could only be explained by appeal to massive coincidence or
the Many Worlds Interpretation). So I don't see why this makes any
more "sense" than the bone growing quickly. The only difference is
that the "orchestration", which is a superatural event is something we
can't see.

RC Metcalf responds:

Hi Iain,
It certainly is a supernatural intervention, in that God is intervening to
create an effect within his creation. However, He needn't transcend natural
law to do so. He works through the natural law He created. Why would God
create something subpar, that He would need to work around (rather than
through) to interact with His creation? I submit that he most likely
included within natural law, within His created order, an interface by which
He interacts with His creation. Personally, I suspect He may work in some
way through extremal (microscopic) black holes... the ones physicists are
thinking they may create within the LHC. What follows is my personal
speculation...

We know that "prior" to the big bang, neither space nor time existed. For
the Christian, all that existed was God. There is only one other scenario
we know of in which space and time seem to break down... that is, within
(i.e. at the singularity of) a black hole. If God exists beyond black hole
singularities similarly to the way He existed beyond ("prior") to the big
bang singularity, extremal black holes would be the perfect interface for
exerting effects within spacetime from a "location" outside of spacetime.

"Massive coincidence" doesn't offer an explanation for a scientist. And the
Many Worlds Interpretation is simply a secular scientist's way of avoiding
the obvious philosophical conclusions that follow from a singular beginning
to spacetime. There are so many MWIs today that I'm not sure whose you're
referring to. Steinhardt and Turok are reconstructing an oscillating model
under a new "cyclic" name. Vilenkin's model has at least two serious flaws,
even though he acknowledges that an initial singularity is necessary and
inevitable. In any case, MWIs are purely hypothetical and most arise from a
need/desire to explain data sans God (or an intelligent designer, if you
prefer).

Best, RC

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Received on Sat May 24 19:08:23 2008