I believe that when you say that the boundary conditions have to be set in,
you are already assuming that there is a deterministic (mathematical)
equation that determines the future evolution of the whole thing. I contest
that. I think God has access to the whole of spacetime, not only time. All
of us are worldlines to God. He sees the future because He saw us do it
already. I think it is rather difficult to know how God interacts with
nature, especially since He sustains the whole thing. I think that
irreversibility in the universe is a consequence of the Fall. I think it is
better to plead ignorance rather than to make all sorts of speculative
remarks and, even worse, to write articles about how God interacts with
nature. Moorad
-----Original Message-----
From: Dawsonzhu@aol.com <Dawsonzhu@aol.com>
To: asa@calvin.edu <asa@calvin.edu>
Date: Monday, October 23, 2000 8:04 PM
Subject: Re: Meaning of "fine-tuning"
>
>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 : Tue Oct 24 2000 - 11:57:31 EDT