At 3:56 PM 4/7/96, Fred Phelps is rumored to have typed:
(The rumor is true!)
> If even one miracle (which I define for today, despite your
objections
> to be "violations of the laws of nature or amazing answers to
prayer")
> can
> be established to have happened, then athiesm,
> scientism crumbles. Thus, while God is the God of all processes, He
is
> also God of the Gaps! And Gaps are a great testimony - they always
> have been.
Here we go again.
miracles != "gaps"
I reply:
As a mathematician I can define terms anyway I want and did so above!
The scatterer wrote:
Yes, we perceive an event to be a miracle because we can not explain
how or
why it happened. However, let me state again that in the Bible miracles
most often (but not always) were normal events that were miraculous in
their degree &/or timing.
I reply:
I agree 100% but you need to understand my argument. I am not saying
God is God only of the Gaps but that violations of the laws of nature
are evidence against scientism / athiesm. If the miracle occurs in
response to prayer in Jesus's name, that is darn good (forgive my
crassness) evidence a) against scientism and b) for Christianity.
"Miracles" which are consistent with a scientistic explanation are not
evidence against scientism nor are they evidence against Christianity.
We cannot decide which world view is true (or even eliminate the one
which is false) if there are no violations of the laws of nature or
amazing coincidencs (answers to prayer). (At least we cannot decide
based on this line of argument.)
Thus miracles (as I defined them) are an awesome testimony to the
reality of God and have changed thousands or millions of lives in
dramatic fashion and I think we need to acknowledge this, starting in
the New Testament. There is a difference between Jesus walking on the
water and a man building a boat to cross the H20. The first is
testimony to God's power and the second, while technically also a
testimony of God's power, is also compatible with many other world
views. And in the first century as today, people know the difference
and react accordingly.
Fred
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