Theoretical origin of life; new earliest? (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, October 06, 2017, 21:31 (2383 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: I understand your theory that God might have allowed chance. I just can't believe that if He bothered to do all the creating, He would then give up control over the course of events. But the possibility of chance allows for atheism; that is obvious.

dhw: Indeed it does, just as it allows for theism – but the fact that you can’t believe your God would create a spectacle whose unpredictability would add to the interest and wonderment does not mean the theory “dismisses God out of hand”. It simply means God's methods and motives do not conform to your interpretation of them.

DAVID: Your interpretation of God does not fit mine. I firmly believe chance is never involved. See comments in Evolution and humans today.

dhw: You had said that Darwin’s theory “dismisses God out of hand”. It doesn’t. Even the hypothesis of random mutations, which you and I reject, does not dismiss God out of hand, as Darwin himself makes very clear. Your firm belief that your God designed absolutely everything, and left nothing to chance (I wonder if this now includes every environmental change), is of course your prerogative, but it does not mean that whoever disagrees with your interpretation of God “dismisses God out of hand”.

Gradual change by chance mutations is still evolution by chance. That is why atheism sticks to a Darwin style evolutionary process. Pure Darwinism supports atheism, no matter how Darwin himself felt as he reacted to criticism.