Re: Process problems from Re: Evolution: A few questions

----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry M. Gray" <grayt@lamar.colostate.edu>
To: <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 12:58 PM
Subject: Re: Process problems from Re: Evolution: A few questions

> Steve,
>
> I would want to strongly emphasize an ontological Creator/creator
> distinction. As intimate as is God's relationship to the world might
> be, he is NOT the world. We're not pantheists--the creation is not
> God--there's hardly anything clearer in scripture than this. He made
> it--he's the potter, it (and we) are the pots. While I do appreciate
> process theology's attempt to distinguish their view (panentheism)
> from pantheism, I'm not convinced that it really succeeds.
>
> I'm sure that Howard is amused that some accuse him of deism and now
> I'm accusing him of pantheism. He must be close to getting it right.

Terry, you beat me to it. The fundamental distinction that needs to be made
is not nature/supernature, whatever that may mean, but creature/creator. &
that is a distinction, even in PT, even though it's not as sharp as in
traditional theology. The question of divine action is then how creator &
creature interact. (& I emphasize "inter." Creation makes some difference
to God - something emphasized by PT but that doesn't have to be absent in
other approaches. It certainly isn't in much modern trinitarian thought
which is not PT.

It's true that the creator/creature line isn't drawn in exactly the same
place as the traditional supernature/nature one, since with the latter
approach angels (e.g.) are in the "supernature" category even though they're
creatures. Perhaps that's just one drawback of the older approach.

Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
Received on Tue Jun 29 13:59:16 2004