Back to David's theory of evolution (Evolution)

by dhw, Friday, June 26, 2020, 11:23 (1609 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: Life is at such a complex level, He cannot stop independent reactions from occurring, because He is not in moment by moment control of the living processes He created. And high speed molecular reactions cannot be perfect.

dhw: I love it. Thank you. From a God who was in total control, you have graduated to a God who “cannot stop independent reactions from occurring.”

DAVID: Seizing on nothing. In a living organism, if the wrong reaction occurs, do you expect God to step into that single organism?

Of course not. You have separated my comment. Read on.

dhw:I suggest that for “cannot”, we substitute “does not want to”, and this would apply not only to what you call “errors” in the system, but also to all the “living processes he created” by way of evolution. The deliberate creation of mechanisms for "independent reactions" may indeed resolve many of the problems we have been discussing. This is a very welcome change of direction.

DAVID: No change of direction. Re-read my comment above.

You have completely missed the point, which is that he has created a system over which he does not have complete control. In the past, your God was in complete control of everything. Once you allow for him NOT being in complete control, you open the door to the theory that he did not WANT to be in complete control (a much more respectful interpretation of your God’s nature and power). Hence the higgledy-piggledy bush of life extant and extinct, as he allows life forms to come and go, autonomously developing their own lifestyles, strategies and natural wonders in response to the ever changing conditions in which they find themselves.

dhw: I am not happy with the argument that he directly created every life form including humans, and he did so because he only wanted to create humans.

DAVID: I know your unhappiness. Why can't God evolve from simple to complex as history indicates?

Of course life evolved from simple to complex. How does that come to mean that he directly designed every life form, and he did so only because he wanted to create humans? Please stop dodging the issue!

dhw: […] you cannot find a reason why he would have made the choices you impose on him, whereas there are alternatives which you dismiss although you agree that each of them does provide a logical reason for his choice.

DAVID: All I do is follow history, since I accept God in control. The bold is silly. I don't try to figure out a reason, since it is guesswork, and Adler makes the purpose simple to know.

You do not follow history when you claim that 1) God is in control (now contradicted by the points raised at the start of this post), 2) that he directly designed every life form, and 3) that he did so for the sole purpose of directly designing H. sapiens! This is all guesswork, and you can’t find a reason that would enable you to link 3) to 1) and 2). And so you go on dodging.