LH>I've got some good ideas of how this might apply to psychology and
LH>sociology. I have no good ideas of how this might apply to physics,
LH>chemistry, geology, or simple biology. Do you or Arthur Constance have
LH>anything in mind?
Your response confirms Constance's point. It is difficult for physical
scientists to synthesize the natural with the supernatural. I think that
several recent discussions on this list demonstrate this point well,
e.g. Death to TE.
LH>> What are your thoughts WRT the general creationist perspective that
LH>> Christ's "holding all things together" is actually related to the need
LH>> to restrain the general disintegration of His "good" creation from the
LH>> supernatural effects of sin?
LH>I've always thought about it this way: the idea that God "holds all
LH>things together" follows fairly simply from God's transcendence,
LH>omnipotence, and omniscience. If anything happens --- even something as
LH>"trivial" as the continued moment-by-moment existence of an electron or a
LH>natural law --- then it must be happening in accordance with His will.
LH>Identifying Christ, the Word of God, as the agent of creation follows
LH>simply from John 1. All of the biblical passages which teach these things
LH>are related to creation and providence; I don't see how to relate them to
LH>the Fall or the Curse.
Following up on the subject passages in Colossians 1:16-17 we learn in
verse 20 that Christ, as Creator, also makes peace with His creation,
all things in earth and heaven, through the blood of His cross. Many
Christians easily see the broader context and linkage between a
corrupted and cursed creation and man's fall, and Christ's subsequent
redemption. If the Creation is not involved in the fall and curse, as we
agree man is, than why must God reconcile Himself to it at the same time
and by the same way that He reconciles Himself with man?
LH>> Many creationists believe that man's fall, and the resultant effects of
LH>> sin in general, started supernatural processes that need to be partially
LH>> or wholly restrained until Christ's redemptive work for His creation is
LH>> complete. Christ's "holding together" referenced in Col 1:15-17 points
LH>> to that intervention.
LH>It looks like that passage links Christ's action of "holding all things
LH>together" to his role in creation; I don't see any clear link to Christ's
LH>role in redemption.
Again, we see in verse 20 that Christ has reconciled all things through
the cross. Why was there a need for our savior to die to reconcile them
back to Himself? Logic tells us that creation must have had to change
away from God. Since the natural cannot account for it, the answer must
lie in the supernatural. The only event that the Bible speaks to that
created the need for reconciliation is the sin of man's disobedience and
fall in Genesis.
This verse teaches us that the relationship between God and Creation was
changed back through Christ. I believe that the holding together speaks
to that reconciliation and exists now in anticipation of its fulfillment
and new creation after Christ's return and judgement.
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