I think this article only makes sense for those Christians who believe God's actions are essentially arbitrary. (I'm not exactly sure what 'all things are possible' even means...The Bible is full of stuff like that.)
Obviously for those christians who already understand probabilities in evolution (my favorite example uses dice to genetically accrue a sequence of numbers that would otherwise be very unlikely if all the dice were cast at once), this article is certainly superfluous.
But when looking for points to use against those who assert theology which maintains complexity is too complicated to arise naturally without persistent divine intervention, this is valuable (in that sense, I--and people like me-- am really the article's best target, not specific christians).
In such discussions, I often invoke William of Ockham's famous theological razor: entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity, but since so many christians do not receive any theological education at all, it becomes necessary to find additional reasoning.
"But when looking for points to use against those who assert theology which maintains complexity is too complicated to arise naturally without persistent divine intervention, this is valuable (in that sense, I--and people like me-- am really the article's best target, not specific christians)."
Hmm...That's true...I certainly don't believe in 'persistent divine intervention,' which seems to suggest that God works in time, selectively and in fits and starts.
3 comments:
I think this article only makes sense for those Christians who believe God's actions are essentially arbitrary. (I'm not exactly sure what 'all things are possible' even means...The Bible is full of stuff like that.)
Obviously for those christians who already understand probabilities in evolution (my favorite example uses dice to genetically accrue a sequence of numbers that would otherwise be very unlikely if all the dice were cast at once), this article is certainly superfluous.
But when looking for points to use against those who assert theology which maintains complexity is too complicated to arise naturally without persistent divine intervention, this is valuable (in that sense, I--and people like me-- am really the article's best target, not specific christians).
In such discussions, I often invoke William of Ockham's famous theological razor: entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity, but since so many christians do not receive any theological education at all, it becomes necessary to find additional reasoning.
This is one I hadn't thought of.
"But when looking for points to use against those who assert theology which maintains complexity is too complicated to arise naturally without persistent divine intervention, this is valuable (in that sense, I--and people like me-- am really the article's best target, not specific christians)."
Hmm...That's true...I certainly don't believe in 'persistent divine intervention,' which seems to suggest that God works in time, selectively and in fits and starts.
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