Re: appearance of history

David Campbell (bivalve@mailserv0.isis.unc.edu)
Sat, 7 Feb 1998 17:21:26 -0400

>I must say that if I were God I would find the statement that "I am
>misleading in creating an appearance of history" to be rather offensive.
>Imagine the creature chastising God for being omnipotent.

I'm using "appearance of history" to refer to traces of a past, not
necessary for the function of something if it had been created
instantaneously. The wine at Cana had apparent age, but not apparent
history.
God does not lie (or otherwise sin). Therefore, I find the suggestion that
He created things with an appearance of history theologically questionable.
It's not impossible that there is some function, not yet evident (e.g.,
Dorothy Sayers's analogy of a allusions to the past in a novel). The
alternative that creation accurately reflects how it was created seems much
more credible to me.

David C.