BTW, I've discussed this issue with atheists who claim the universe is going through phase shifts and the current 'laws' are but characteristices of this particular phase expression of spacetime and energy. Re: "The funny thing is, you can't get a materialist to tell you were the physical laws come from. It should be obvious that they cannot arise in an evolutionary process ..." There are science bound atheists who would answer you that what you call laws are merely the characteristics of the current phase; with the next shift these 'laws' may give way to differed 'laws' possible only because of the particular phase shift (and changes to the fields thereof).
I'm aware, MHGinTN; I'm aware. Of course you realize that there is no way such a claim can be scientifically falsified; therefore we are justified in recognizing the claim for what it is: a metaphysical statement, not a scientific one.
Some people will do or say anything to justify their rejection of God. The "just-so stories" they produce are usually not only unscientific, but also irrational.
p.s.: It was a delight to have Jimmy Bear attend our magical tea party! He was, of course, just standing in for you, dear MHGinTN! We missed you!
Yet many of the evos have stated that everything is consistent and has to be assumed to be for science to be properly done; that if there had been a change in laws, it would make doing science impossible.
Scripture clearly states that that HAS been a change in condition of the world; one time at the Fall when corruption set in, another time after the Flood, when conditions on the Earth changed.
Here we have another situation where scientists propose something that was addressed in Scripture thousands of years ago yet when it's in the Bible, it's scorned, but when they think of it, it's the latest in scientific progress.
Kind of like extra-terrestrials- very likely to exist (to the point of actually spending money on searching for them); angels and demons- mythology.
Alternate dimensions-the latest in cosmology; heaven and hell-propaganda designed for the manipulating of the ignorant unwashed masses but unscrupulous churchmen.
It seems to be a matter of who's proposing these concepts and what they're called as to whether the scientific community gives them any credibility.