[asa] GP (God's Provisions) versus ID (Intelligent Design)

We have hashed and rehashed ID for lo these many years now and the
majority of us here seem to agree that ID isn't science, even those who
advocate for it wish it to be, and ID has downsides to it. What
explains genetic errors when the intelligent designer is doing the
genetic coding? Trying to advance a god-like being who pushes the
throttle and sleeps at the switch serves no useful purpose in my humble
estimation.
 
God seems to have no interest in proving his existence so why should we?
When Jesus was asked why he spoke in parables, the answer was to both
reveal and conceal. That appears to suit God's purpose. He reveals
himself to all who accept him and conceals himself from his enemies.
God's plan of revealing and concealing seems to be at odds with our
trying to prove God to all, so why not do it God's way? So let's just
jettison ID as a non-productive idea. All together, heave ho!
 
Now let us build a better mousetrap. Here is a proposed replacement for
Intelligent Design: God's Provisions.
 
First, GP doesn't pretend to be science. So it isn't a theory, it is a
philosophical view that could be taught in courses on religion wherever
religious education is taught irrespective of any particular religion.
GP also names the father-spirit as "God," it doesn't hide behind some
weasley pretense that we don't know who he is.
 
GP is simply an enumeration of the advantages we are given or some of
the nice beneficial things which wouldn't be easily explained simply by
natural selection. Even if some of the examples could be explained by
the impersonal acts of blind nature, the sheer likelihood that all could
be explained thus would be unlikely. If a butterfly lands on your nose,
that's an unlikely but probably a natural occurrence. But if 100
butterflies zoom in on your schnoze from all directions and dance the
Mashed Potatoes simultaneously, that's Providence.
 
So what would could we list as examples of God's Provisions? (Here's
where you all could contribute and we could establish a list.)
 
I'll start off with a few GPs.
 
Scalp and facial hair that grows in humans. As far as I know, hair that
grows continually is fairly unique to humans. And only the hair that
needs grooming grows! Ours is the only species with a grooming ability
and concidentally we have hair that requires grooming. But why do we
have it? It could be one of the GPs given to us by a Father who loves
us and was thoughtful enough to provide it.
 
Fingernails. We could function without them yet try to pick up a pin
without them. Okay, other primates have them, but they also use them in
the same way. GPs are for all God's creatures, not just humans.
 
When my daughter was born the attending nurse mentioned that a women
giving birth secretes a chemical which softens the pelvic bone for a
little while to allow the baby to pass more easily. I thought at the
time that such a unigue capability would be hard to explain simply by
the impersonal act of nature. Did nature experiment with a number of
different chemicals to come up with one that worked? How did nature
figue out how to time it so the chemical was excreted at exacty the
right time?
 
We have two bones in our forearm that allows us to twist our hands.
Good idea. Did nature think of that?
 
We have a concentration of sensory nerves at our fingertips where we
need them. How would nature know we needed this concentration of nerve
endings and know where to put them?
 
How does an organism such as a human being detect foreign bodies and
manufacture white corpusles to the exact specifications required to
defeat them? Could nature be so smart as to figure it all out?
 
And so on. I'm sure we, and others, could develop a list of examples
better than these. Then at the end of the list we could ask the
philosophical question: Are these better explained by the impersonal
acts of nature or by a loving God?
 
Anyway, this is an idea, not necessarily original. Remember, GP doesn't
mascarade as science, so if someone says it isn't science, that's right,
it isn't. What do you think? Better that ID or not?
 
Dick Fischer, GPA president
Genesis Proclaimed Association
"Finding Harmony in Bible, Science and History"
www.genesisproclaimed.org
 
 

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Received on Wed Nov 12 18:58:55 2008