Chris wrote:
> For ID theorists who claim that God *could* have created a situation which
> would then go on to evolve sophisticated life on its own (i.e., without any
> further intervention on God's part):
>
> How would early Earth have to have been *different* in order for
> naturalistic evolution to occur and produce the same general
> kinds of results we see today (i.e., a wide range of complexity
> and diversity, etc.)?
>
> Or put another way:
>
> Just what *are* the conditions that must be met for naturalistic
> evolution to proceed on its own to develop the kinds of complexity
> we see in life today?
Good question. But before an answer could be offered, I suggest you clarify
what the term "naturalistic" means in this context. In ID literature there
are two very different meanings for the term, but the distinction is almost
never made.
A *broad* (and explicit in its denial of a Creator) meaning could be built
on the platform of Naturalism as a comprehensive worldview that included the
premise, "Nature is all there is, and it needs no Creator to give it being."
In that context, "naturalistic evolution" would mean evolution within a
self-existent universe that needs no Creator as the source of its being.
Specifically it needs no extra-natural source for the requisite formational
capabilities that would make possible a process as remarkable as evolution.
A *narrow* (and inconclusive regarding the need for a Creator) meaning would
be simply "without need for occasional episodes of form-imposing divine
intervention." This meaning would include the idea that the universe is
equipped with all of the requisite formational capabilities to make
evolution possible, but would make no explicit claim or denial regarding the
source of those capabilities.
Am I correct in presuming that you mean the latter?
Howard Van Till
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