Re: Evolution: A few questions

On Sun, 20 Jun 2004 19:55:40 -0400 William Hamilton
<whamilton51@comcast.net> writes:
>
> On Saturday, June 19, 2004, at 11:32 PM, D. F. Siemens, Jr. wrote:
>
> > Your suggestion that intermediates are special creations raises a
> > question: why would God have to work out a series of intermediate
> > creatures leading up to current forms? I think of only two
> answers.
> > Either God produced these forms so that sincere men would think
> that
> > they
> > had evolved, or God wasn't bright enough to design and produce the
>
> > final
> > forms directly.
> Alternatively, intermediate forms may have provided some function
> needed by the developing
> environment at the time, or might have been better adapted to the
> environment at the time. Remember that
> if God developed nature by PC, He presumably was developing all of
> nature at any one time.
>
> Still, I prefer to think of nature as being gifted with
> developmental
> capabilities ala Howard.
> God definitely interacts with nature, but according to plan, not
> accident.
>
> > A deceitful deity or a stupid deity are not what I find
> > revealed in scripture.
> Nor do I.
> >
> Bill Hamilton Rochester, MI 248 652 4148
>
Bill,
Let me spell out my argument with more detail. The presumed intent of
creation is the best of all possible worlds. It can presumably be
achieved by fiat creation, instantaneous or over time (PC). Since both
approaches lead to the same result, instantaneous production is the
efficient way to go. To tinker with creation piecemeal is the approach of
an entity which does not realize the end fully, or does not know how to
achieve it, or does not have the power to achieve the end directly. The
former points cover what I called stupidity; the third was not covered.
What you suggest in terms of simultaneous development fits either feeling
out a goal still not fully perceived or a goal that is not directly
reachable.

Augustine held that creation was instantaneous but had to actualize its
potential over time. This fits the notion of efficient instantaneous
creation, as does RFEP.
Dave
Received on Mon Jun 21 01:16:56 2004