How do we escape the enlightenment terms natural and supernatural

From: Joel Cannon (jcannon@jcannon.washjeff.edu)
Date: Mon Oct 08 2001 - 16:28:49 EDT

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    Loren Wilkinson's excellent essay in "Darwin Defeated: The
    Johnson-Lamoureux Debate on Biological Origins" made the point that
    the terms natural and supernatural come from the
    enlightenment. Following C.A. Coulson (the person to coin "God of the
    Gaps"), Wilkinson argues that a fuller Christian view sees that everything
    we see reflects miracle in a very real sense, but the sense of miracle
    is diminished because we are used to seeing it. For example the idea
    of supernatural versus natural is foreign to the psalms which see
    God providing rain, snow, etc.

    Having become conscious of the inappropriateness of these terms, I am
    finding that I lack a vocabulary with which to replace them. How do we
    construct a more Christian way of looking at and speaking about
    Creation?
     

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Joel W. Cannon | (724)223-6146
    Physics Department |
    Washington and Jefferson College |
    Washington, PA 15301 |
                                         
                        



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