David's theory of evolution: James A. Shapiro's view (Evolution)

by David Turell , Tuesday, February 04, 2020, 12:44 (1752 days ago) @ dhw

dhw: Once more you are dodging a direct question by changing the subject. We are not talking about fine tuning of the universe or about mathematical equations. Our subject is your theory of evolution. You believe that your God pre-planned or dabbled every single innovation and every single bacterial response to changing conditions. So do you or do you not believe that he also preprogrammed/dabbled every single environmental change associated with every adaptation, innovation and bacterial response, local and global?

DAVID: I dodged nothing. God's manufacturing abilities in all spheres show He has the full capacity to plan and dabble every automatic response in bacteria. Did He hurl the Chixculub impact? Very possibly. Remember I view God as in charge, period.

dhw: What’s this “very possibly”? Either he organized every change to which bacteria and all other organisms respond (by adapting, innovating or dying) or he didn’t. Please tell us which you think it is. And if he didn’t organize all the environmental changes, local and global, how did he know what to programme for? Crystal ball?

DAVID: In saying Chixculub was a possibility I was referring to a quote from Gerald Schroeder, when he raised the point in one of his books. I view cosmological events as mechanisms that were set in motion to evolve the universe, not requiring precise constant control, but evolution does require precise control, as a very different living process. You apparently don't see the difference.

dhw: It was you who changed the subject from evolution to cosmic events (see the first quote) and apparently you still haven’t realized that my question concerned evolution and precise control. (Chixculub was a cosmic event that had a huge influence on evolution, but I was referring to environmental changes both global and local.) So do please answer the question now: do you think your God controlled all the environmental changes, both local and global, which were and still are associated with every adaptation, innovation and bacterial response throughout the history of life and evolution. If not…see above re a crystal ball.

As is quite clear, I am not sure God has precise control over ongoing environmental and cosmological individual events in ongoing processes He set up originally, as the Chixculub comment shows. Your desire to know God precisely is an impossible task. You always push for guesses.