Bert Massie:
> *******
>
> I only believe ex nihilo once.
>
> ********
So your concept of God introducing either the first cell or some new
creature at some tome after t=0 belongs in the category of a *supernatural,
form-imposing intervention*, right?
>> > Now Howard, the question is, how can be tell the difference between
>> > Model A and Model B?
>> Model A
>> The initial conditions were set just right so that the laws of natural
>> plus these initial conditions would lead to us.
>> OR
>>Model B
>> The initial conditions were set appropriately but along the way God
>> introduced additional organims and information which lead to us.
HVT: What's the point you're driving toward?
> The point is: Can we tell the difference from our physical observations?
HVT again: But Bert, there is no way to answer you until become specific in
what "additional organisms and information" you have in mind.
One of my points is that once you open the category of "supernatural
form-imposing intervention," there is no limit whatsoever in what you could
propose. Model B is not a specific testable theory, but a way to keep the
door open to irruptive interventionism indefinitely. No matter how many
specific, testable B-type proposals might be defeated, another one could be
proposed.
The spirit of my approach to these concerns can be found in the closing
paragraph of my essay in the current (Aug. 6) issue of Christianity Today.
"Some Christians look for evidence that the universeıs "natural"
capabilities were inadequate to the task of assembling some new biotic
structure or life form in the past. If such "capability gaps" could be
found, then, the argument goes, these gaps must have been bridged by
occasional episodes of form-conferring divine intervention (sometimes called
acts of "intelligent design"). But if the universe is a creation, as we
Christians profess, then its natural capabilities are part of its God-given
nature. That being the case, I am more inclined to look for the Creatorıs
signature in the generosity with which the creationıs formational gifts have
been conferred. In other words, I think the Creator is better known by what
the creation can do rather than by what it cannot."
Howard
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