Larry Johnston, in response to Peter Ruest says:
> Peter - Thanks x 10^6 for that beautiful analysis of our situation in
> sequence space. It
> looks to me like this leaves us with two options:
>
> 1, we adopt Van Til's hypothesis of ultra-smart atoms or
> 2. Assume that Someone has been
> injecting huge amounts of information into the Universe, from outside.
> Other options?
A couple of comments:
1. If atoms are "ultra-smart" ( I would have said "robustly equipped by
their Creator with formational capabilities") it would, of course, be a
manifestation of the Creator's creativity (in conceiving what would be
required) and generosity (in giving what was required).
2. However, having found David Ray Griffin's development of "persuasive"
divine action very helpful, I would be happy to consider the possibility
that this "non-coercive" divine action is the key factor that leads the
exercise of the universe's robust formational economy to be as remarkably
fruitful as it is. I have sometimes referred to this in the language of
God's "blessing" as the kind of divine action that leads the action of
creatures to be fruitful. cf Genesis 1:22.
In this manner, divine action is both essential and effective, but does not
constitute irruptive, overpowering intervention, which generally strikes me
as a violation of the being originally given to the Creation. In Griffin's
process theology, divine action is not merely something that is occasionally
inserted into an otherwise Godless process to bridge a "capability gap," but
is an essential factor (present in all that happens) in an enriched concept
of what is "natural."
A question:
What does it mean to say that "Someone has been injecting information into
the Universe, from outside"? What kind of action does "injecting
information" represent? To use the Griffin categories, would it be
"coercive," or "non-coercive"?
Howard Van Till
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