Moorad Alexanian wrote:
<< The view of Van Till always smelled to me like deism and I still feel that
way. The biblical statement that God sustains the creation means that in a
sense God creates the universe every instant of time. That is to say, God
cannot "go away" since if He did that, then the creation would go off in a
puff. The universe derives its being from God and is not self-existing.
>>
Although I've wrestled a bit with Howard's view, I don't
really think you are correct here.
The boundary conditions of the universe would have to be
set from the very start whether we have a deist god, or the
God of the Bible.
Moreover, the deist god as I understand it, has no grasp
on time. The universe is wound up, and let go to fend for
itself. It is an otiose deity. God on the other hand would
have access to the time dimension. The nature of relativity
gives us the ability to see into our own past. Is it
impossible for God to "see" and act on this dimension?
I am a little reluctant to speculate on this, but the laws
of physics do not demand that water falls down, it is the
"arrow of time" that determines the direction that water
falls. The thermodynamic equations have symmetry, it is
simply the solution we chose that renders the result.
How is it possible then for us to describe God's
actions in time, when God has access to a time dimension?
Or do you assume a God who is restricted by the arrow of
time?
I think it also puts more power on the message of Romans
5:8 "Yet while we were still sinners, Christ died for us".
God knew all that would happen, all our sin, all our
corruption, and all our twisted ways of thinking, yet even
knowing this, for some deeply unfathomable reason, God
granted this universe "life" and even sacrificed Christ
for it. Why? Certainly God is more gracious than I am.
What I am not so clear about in Howard's model is the
theological model. Perhaps a Neo-Thomist view, but I am
trained in science, not theology.
by Grace alone do we proceed,
Wayne
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 23 2000 - 20:04:19 EDT