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To: rjsimmon
Your complaint rests upon on of the ways in which those who wish to defend Darwin's outline as science, rather than as an atheistic creation-myth, shoot themselves in the foot. "Random" if one reads actual evolutionary biologists work, rather than the works a committed atheist popularizers, in the phrase "random mutation" does not actually assert mathematical randomness ("random chance"), but that mutations are not predictive of future conditions, nor responsive, in a way predictive of adaptation, to present conditions. It might be better to phrase the theory as "anoracular mutation and natural selection" (to coin a word for not-predicting the future).

To argue that evolution is not God's way is to insist that the temporal view from within the material universe of the process of creation must look like the view from God's perspective sub specie aeternitatis. The contrary view, that they may look very different, is supported Scripturally by at least "My ways are not thy ways, saith the Lord." What appears random temporally, may be purposeful sub specie aeternitatis.

Nor are genuinely random elements in a creative process indications of lack of intent, design, or purpose even within the temporal realm: both hardened metal and annealed metal are produced by thermal, and therefore at a molecular level, random processes, but finding a bit of hardened or annealed metal will lead an archaeologist to suspect it of being a fragment of an artifact, a purposeful creation.

It seems a rather poor view of God's sovereignty, to hold that he who framed the laws not only of nature but of reason, including mathematics, including probability, cannot harness things governed by probabilistic laws to accomplish His All-Holy will.

143 posted on 10/03/2011 10:13:38 AM PDT by The_Reader_David (And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know. . .)
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To: The_Reader_David

Indeed, despite many Creationists having a big bugaboo about randomness - we see randomness all over the place in nature.

Moreover this betrays a rather ignorant view of God - that somehow HIS power stops at the Casino door.

In contrast, the Bible teaches that “the dice are cast into the lap, but every result is from the Lord”.


146 posted on 10/03/2011 10:19:15 AM PDT by allmendream (Tea Party did not send the GOP to D.C. to negotiate the terms of our surrender to socialism.)
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To: The_Reader_David
It seems a rather poor view of God's sovereignty, to hold that he who framed the laws not only of nature but of reason, including mathematics, including probability, cannot harness things governed by probabilistic laws to accomplish His All-Holy will.

Not in the least. What is a poor view is to tell God that His creation happened by random chance. Since we were made in His image, I interpret that to mean we were designed. To establish evolution as the manner with which we were created insists that God Himself relies on chance. This further insists that, since we were an accident, that we are not in need of a saviour. Otherwise evolution lives and preaches the fantasy of random chance and natural selection.

You mention that mutations are predictive of adaptation. Science merely attempts to rationalise observation in order to make interpretive extrapolation from the evidence. If mutations are predictive, tell us precisely what evolutionary biology has predicted? What medicines have they created that have allowed we humble organisms to adapt to our environment? Are we able to cure even the common cold? No. No disease has been eradicated, no ailment has been cured. We cannot re-grow the central nervous system, nor the optic nerves. We cannot re-grow a limb or an organ. As the top of the proverbial food chain, we should be able to do all of these things were we to believe as the evolutionary biologist say. Yet, we simply cannot. What evolutionary biology has discovered can be just as easily explained through observation and adaptation.

Further, please do not misuse scripture. The quote from Isaiah is actually: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD." and speaks of His spirituality and our carnality.

157 posted on 10/03/2011 10:59:36 AM PDT by rjsimmon (1-20-2013 The Tree of Liberty Thirsts)
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