No, I have never said that. In fact I have on numerous occasions explicitly
clarified that concern. Please note the following example (taken from my
manuscript, before copy editing) from my essay, "The Creation:
Intelligently Designed or Optimally Equipped?" in _Theology Today_, October
1998, p. 364.
"Nearly every time that I have presented this perspective to a Christian
audience someone expresses the fear that it represents a form of deism,
with its concept of a distant and inactive God. I find the frequency of
this concern very intriguing. Is it telling us something about how we
Christians today are inclined to think about divine action? Has our concept
of divine creative action been unduly affected by the 'special effects'
industry? Perhaps so.
But the 'optimally-gifted Creation perspective' is not at all inclined
toward deism. I think the quickest way to dispel that fear is to ask the
following question: Has orthodox Christian theology ever suggested that God
is able and/or willing to act in the world only within gaps in either the
formational economy or the operational economy of the Creation?
To the best of my knowledge the answer is a resounding, No. Therefore, if
the presence of such gaps is not required to "make room" for divine action,
then the absence of such gaps is no loss whatsoever. End of story.
which the robust formational economy principle is true, God is still as
free as ever to act in any way that is consistent with God's nature and
will. The optimally-gifted Creation, complete with a gapless formational
economy, does not in any way hinder God from acting as God wills to act. As
I have said on numerous occasions, the question at issue is not, Does God
act in or interact with the Creation, but rather, What is the character of
the Creation in which God acts and with which God interacts? I believe that
it is an optimally-gifted Creation.
Does this perspective crowd God or divine action out of the picture? Does
this perspective entail too high a view of the Creation's dynamic
capabilities or too lofty a view of the Creator's creativity and
generosity? I think not."
Howard J. Van Till