Quoting my dearest sister in Christ, Alamo-Girl:
God the Father has revealed Himself in four ways: in the Person of Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, in the Person of the indwelling Holy Spirit, in Scripture and in His Creation both physical and spiritual. And His revelations do not contradict each other.You wrote: "Even God cannot be what he is not by nature."
Well that may very well be so; on the other hand, the point seems moot, since you yourself confess you do not know who or what God "is." So how can you speak of His "nature?"
You wrote: "What cosmic life? Where in the cosmos do you find life except here on earth?"
So far, we know of no life forms in the cosmos other than on earth. But this is to miss the point: What if the entire cosmos were a single, dynamically integrated living system? It's an intriguing question, with an ancient heritage. And it is being reconsidered by certain theoretical biologists in recent times.
Here's a question I find interesting: Which provides the "largest model" of the universe — physics, or biology? Until very recently, it's been taken for granted that Newtonian physics is the "largest model," and biology is but a "special case" of physics. This supposition is due to the comparative rarity (as far as we know) of life forms in the universe.
But if biology were to turn out to be the "largest model," and physics then relegated to a "special case" of this model, this may indicate that the entire universal system is in some fashion alive, that the Creation itself is a living creature....
I have a friend, a Hungarian astrophysicist and theoretical biologist, who has written a book on this subject — The Book of the Living Universe, by Atilla Grandpierre of the Hungarian Academy of Science. [Now available in Magyar and German, but hopefully coming soon in English....]
Personally, I think my friend is really on to something here. The ideas are fascinating.
betty boop: Quoting my dearest sister in Christ, Alamo-Girl: God the Father has revealed Himself in four ways: in the Person of Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, in the Person of the indwelling Holy Spirit, in Scripture and in His Creation both physical and spiritual. And His revelations do not contradict each other
That smacks positively of Modalism.
betty boop:You wrote: "Even God cannot be what he is not by nature." Well that may very well be so; on the other hand, the point seems moot, since you yourself confess you do not know who or what God "is."
Whatever God is—if he is—he is what he is, and the Bible (which you believe is the word of God) even says so! Even those who believe that God is an all-powerful, ominopotent being, realize that even God cannot be everything! Which shows that the whole concept is terribly flawed. So, your sophistry here is the only moot point.
betty boop: So far, we know of no life forms in the cosmos other than on earth. But this is to miss the point: What if the entire cosmos were a single, dynamically integrated living system?
Evidence, or random speculations?
betty boop: I have a friend, a Hungarian astrophysicist and theoretical biologist, who has written a book on this subject — The Book of the Living Universe, by Atilla Grandpierre of the Hungarian Academy of Science. [Now available in Magyar and German, but hopefully coming soon in English....]
Perhaps you friend could explain why stop at this universe and not just assume that this universe is only a single living cell in a living organ made up of hextrarillions of similar "cells" forming the organs of a "body" which is merely one among hextraillion other bodies, which also live in a universe that make up a single cell...and so on—you get the picture.
This is the opposite of enless reductionism, namely inflationism. And while it may be fascinating to some to engage in such apaprently endless speculations, to me it seems no different than an ant trying to figure out which continent he lives on while not even being sure what to make of my front yard. Good luck!
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betty boop: Quoting my dearest sister in Christ, Alamo-Girl: God the Father has revealed Himself in four ways: in the Person of Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, in the Person of the indwelling Holy Spirit, in Scripture and in His Creation both physical and spiritual. And His revelations do not contradict each other
That smacks positively of Modalism.
betty boop:You wrote: "Even God cannot be what he is not by nature." Well that may very well be so; on the other hand, the point seems moot, since you yourself confess you do not know who or what God "is."
Whatever God is—if he is—he is what he is, and the Bible (which you believe is the word of God) even says so! Even those who believe that God is an all-powerful, omnipotent being, realize that even God cannot be everything! Which shows that the whole concept is terribly flawed. So, your sophistry here is the only moot point.
betty boop: So far, we know of no life forms in the cosmos other than on earth. But this is to miss the point: What if the entire cosmos were a single, dynamically integrated living system?
Evidence, or random speculations?
betty boop: I have a friend, a Hungarian astrophysicist and theoretical biologist, who has written a book on this subject — The Book of the Living Universe, by Atilla Grandpierre of the Hungarian Academy of Science. [Now available in Magyar and German, but hopefully coming soon in English....]
Perhaps you friend could explain why stop at this universe and not just assume that this universe is only a single living cell in a living organ made up of hextrarillions of similar "cells" forming the organs of a "body" which is merely one among hexatrillion other bodies, which also live in a universe that make up a single cell...and so on—you get the picture.
This is the opposite of endless reductionism, namely inflationism. And while it may be fascinating to some to engage in such apparently endless speculations, to me it seems no different than an ant trying to figure out which continent he lives on while not even being sure what to make of my front yard. Good luck!
THX FOR YOUR EXCELLENT POSTS AND PINGS.
I am perhaps misreading what you wrote, but if I understand you think your friend is on to something.......If I understand your earlier statement in this post it describes a pantheistic universe...."all is one".....certainly not a Christian worldview. If I misread...please clarify for me. Thank you.
kosta50, there is no modalism in my beliefs or my statement. But certainly you are free to infer what you will by my use of (or Scripture declaring) the Names of God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
The rise of autonomy (and especially syntactical autonomy) in nature is a major issue as mathematicians and physicists have joined in the investigation of biological evolution theory. There are many complex systems theories and autonomy is a challenge to every one of them.
For instance, directionless evolution would have this path by sheer happenstance: cell>function>organism>collective>biosphere.
Conversely, final cause in biological systems (Rosen's mathematical model) suggests the reverse which would look like this at a macro level: final cause>organism>function>cell.
Or, at the highest level: final cause>cosmos>biosphere>collective>organism>function>cell.
And that would be "intelligent design" because "final cause" is unspecified. The term could be replaced with "God's will" or the Eastern mystic's "collective conscience" or the panspermiast's "cosmic ancestry."
God's Name is I AM.