Must we of Faith assume that the natural is not miraculous?
Consider the following...
"As we have already discussed in the chapter on a theology of
science, natural law is nothing more than the habitual working of
God's will. When God wills to act in a different way (miracle),
the creation (natural world) follows that will. Thus a miracle is
not breaking natural law; rather, it is upholding the basic
principle behind all nature. Nature follows, moment by moment, the
will of God. The Bible teaches that creation (nature) is not
independent; it is not autonomous.
Biblically, a miracle is not an intervention into or interference
with the laws of nature. A miracle is not supernatural. A miracle
is simply a noncustoamry act of the will of God or even a unique
choice that God decides should happen at that moment. Occasionally
we must use the term supernatural simply because our culture does
not understand or have a term for the biblical teaching of
moment-by-moment upholding of creation. The term supernatural
conveys a meaning to our culture that God is doing something. But
God is always doing something. He isn't just involved in the
"supernatural". He is also involved in the natural or "normal"
course of events.
To insist that science must assume that God only works in His
customary way (the normal laws of science) is to put God in a
straightjacket. He works the way He wills to work. It is
especially misleading to insist that God must work only in the way
He usually wills to work and then label that way science. Science
so labeled is a non-biblical science. It ceases to be a search for
truth because it is not open to allowing God as an intelligent
being to will to work in another way. In those cases in which He
did will to work in a way other than His habitual way of working,
one would be forced to continue to look for a false naturalistic
explanation, whereas the actual situation would be otherwise"
Donald E. Chittick, The Controversy - Roots of the
Creation-Evolution Conflict, Multmomah Press, 1984, page 154
Paul Durham
to: IN:dldurst@prairienet.org
cc: IN:evolution@calvin.edu