HOW DOES GOD ACT IN THE WORLD?

John Houghton [rtf version]

Abstract of a presentation to the 2002 Christians in Science Annual Meeting.

SCIENTIFIC AND CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVES OF GOD'S ACTIVITY: CAN THEY BE
RELATED?

Four different standpoints from which events can be viewed:
1) the God story ?God as Creator and Sustainer,
2) the scientific story,
3) the faith story ? the interpretation of events in terms of our
relationship with God,
4) the I-story ? my choices, desires, thoughts etc ? related to brain
story, part of (2),

These 'stories' or descriptions are complementary; but how do they
relate to each other. Are they compatible? The question of the
compatibility of the scientific story and the faith story is highlighted
by the consideration of answers to prayer. How detailed can be expect
God's answers to be? Can we expect God's answers to make use of detailed
knowledge of the future?

Particular examples will be presented that are taken from some detailed
records of Christian experience of God's activity. They provide evidence
of God's detailed knowledge and control.

Models have been proposed that consider the link to God's activity to be
in a new dimension additional to the 4 dimensions of space-time. How far
can such models be an aid to our understanding of how God acts in the
world?

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