On Thu, 31 May 2001 00:32:40 EDT SteamDoc@aol.com writes:
> I'd agree with your analysis of Dawkins, Sagan, et al. Given that you
> recognize how wrong they are, I am puzzled why you are a fan of the
> "Intelligent Design" movement. Their only disagreement with Dawkins is
with
> regard to whether or not the gaps really have been explained, when they
need
> to disagree with him on the more foundational issue of the
gap-dependent
> metaphysical framework. If you reject the God of the Gaps framework,
then
> evolution (or any other natural explanation) will not "undercut"
Christian
> faith.
I'm not sure I completely reject the "God of the Gaps" framework. I
would say the miracles comprise gaps, including the origin of the cosmos,
the origin of life, the origin of man, etc. Many gaps, eg. the
blood-clotting cascade, have been filled, but I would say only
superficially. To simply explain the mechanics of the chemistry does not
explain the origin of the complexity.
When I was in grad school and in a "searching" mode, I remember reading a
chapater in a book, I think by Goldschmidt, about the origin of the
elements of the universe. As I read the logical explanation, I remember
thinking, "Well, that's it, there is no God." In my mind, the gaps I was
looking at were filled and the god-door slammed shut that night in the
grad school library. It stayed shut for the next seven years.
I shudder to think that one night a couple of years later in Vietnam, a
piece of shrapnel came within inches of ending any future opportunity I
might have had to reconsider my position. But there were those who
prayed for me; prayers which may well have saved my life.
I agree that my faith as a Christian will not be undercut by any natural
explanation, but the way I was thinking before becoming a Christian, the
filled-gap argument played right into my thinking. The ID arguments
remind non-believers that gaps are not the end of the game.
Bill
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