God and evolution: weaverbirds (Evolution)

by dhw, Saturday, April 01, 2017, 10:25 (2792 days ago) @ David Turell

Dhw: However, the idea that God designed the weaverbird’s nest for aesthetic reasons, which is not in any way related to the production of humans, offers us a different approach. Before making any further comments, though, I would need to know the extent to which you think your God does all the designing or leaves the designing to the organisms themselves.

Tony: I personally feel that it is somewhere between the two extremes, and have said so often. Teaching someone to weave does not limit them in what they can do with that knowledge. Many, many birds 'weave' their nests to some extent or another. Allowing for variations on that theme allows for the creatures to do what best suits their environment, just like humans knowing how to weave allows us to make clothing to suit all of our environments that we inhabit. Some birds need something more complex, while others need only need something simple. In short, my view is that Jehovah designed themes and allowed for variants within constraints.

DAVID: Close to my views.

But David, you have always insisted that your God must have directly designed the weaverbird’s nest, as it is too complex for the bird to have done it alone. It would seem that Tony’s view is that all birds have the (God-given) ability to weave, and some weave more complicated designs than others. Close to my view (theistic version) that God gave organisms the intelligence to do their own designing.