Biblical theology is unabashedly voluntarist: God creates,
redeems, and acts out of God's own freedom, not out of
any necessity external to Godsself. Furthermore, this
particular theology of creation, as vs a more rationalist
theology of creation (such as a theology that insists that
God had to make the best possible world), was crucial to
the formation of an empirically oriented science in the
17th century. So I think that both theologians and
scientists have something at stake here.
Einstein wanted to know whether God had any choice when
God made the world. Well, if these comments are at all
on the mark, God had a great deal of choice: first, whether
to make a world of any sort or not; second, what sort of
world to make, including what sorts of laws to create and
what sorts of possibilities would be allowed. Even the
otherwise thorough-going rationlist, Descartes, conceded
this much freedom to God "at the beginning."
.......................................................................
Ted Davis
Professor of the History of Science
Messiah College
Grantham, PA 17027
717-766-2511, ext 6840
tdavis@messiah.edu