I can't speak for Terry, but I suspect that what most bothers him is not
Johnson's conviction that God has acted in creation in scientifically
discernable ways, but rather his insistence that God *must* have acted in
such ways, or else theism is false. That is certainly the main problem I
have with Johnson -- the position that theism is only compatible with
"interventionist" models of God's creation, which implies that those who
picture God as having created in more providential ways (ways that would
appear "natural" to the scientist) are not real theists. Making the
truth of theism dependent upon a particular model of God's creative
activity is unwise both theologically and apologetically. It is as
presumptuous of us to insist that God *must* have created in an
interventionist way as it is to insist that he *can't* have created in
that way.
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| Dr. Allan H. Harvey | aharvey@boulder.nist.gov |
| Physical and Chemical Properties Division | Phone: (303)497-3555 |
| National Institute of Standards & Technology | Fax: (303)497-5224 |
| 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303 | |
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| "Don't blame the government for what I say, or vice versa." |
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