Stephen Jones wrote to Bill Hamilton (and the rest of the group):
SJ> You (along with other TE's) believe that God only works
> through natural causes, with possible exceptions in the origin of life
> and man. I believe God works through natural causes normally, but
> directly and supernaturally at strategic points, including the
> origin of life, the origin of basic kinds, and the origin of man.
>
> IMHO those TE's who believe that God acts supernaturally in the origin
> of life and man, are really PC's. Consistent TE's should not need
> God's direct intervention anywhere. If God acted directly in the
> creation of life and man, why not other strategic points?
>
[. . .]
>
> BH>We seem to be looking at the world through quite different
> >paradigms, and we ought to give some attention to what those
> >paradigms are -- if that's possible :-).
>
SJ> Fine. That's what this debate is for! :-) What Jim Bell and I would
> like to know is why is a supernaturally acting God is seemingly ruled
> out, apriori?
This is a misapprehension of the T.E. position -- though it seems to be a
frustratingly common one, so you're in good company, Stephen and Jim.
Theistic Evolution does NOT _a_priori_ rule out God acting supernaturally
anywhere, including biological history.
We all agree that there are certain events (both historical and current)
wherein it is eminently reasonable for a Christian to believe that a
supernatural event has happened.
We also agree that there are certain events (both historical and current)
where it is eminently reasonable for a Christian (for theological,
philosophical, and scientific reasons) to expect that the event is in
principle explainable in terms of the regular and continuous operation of
natural mechanisms -- even when that explanation is far from obvious at
the moment -- and to continue investigation with that working hypothesis.
(Examples I have cited in previous posts include galactic formation,
zygotic development, microevolution, and -- in an extreme hypothetical
case -- an unaccountable five degree bend in an atomic beam.)
Theistic Evolution looks at the scientific and theological data and
concludes that it seems very reasonable to place the developmental history
of plants and animals into the second category.
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"You should always save hyperbole |
until you really need it." | Loren Haarsma
--Hobbes (_Calvin_and_Hobbes_) | lhaarsma@opal.tufts.edu