Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 125:499 (Jul 1968)
Article: Biblical Naturalism and Modern Science Part III
Author: Henry M. Morris

BSac 125:499 (Jul 68) p. 195

Biblical Naturalism and Modern Science
Part III

Henry M. Morris

Biblical theologians have traditionally made a distinction between God’s work of creation and His works of providence. This distinction is completely Scriptural and, as we have seen, it is also thoroughly scientific. Scientific study of natural processes in the present world has shown these processes, without exception, to be conservative processes. That is, all things are being conserved, but nothing is now being created. God’s work of creation, in so far as the physical world is concerned, was completed in the six days, and since that time His providential care has been “upholding all things by the word of his power” (Heb 1:3).

Uniformity in the Present Cosmos

Although the doctrine of uniformitarianism is invalid if applied either to the period of creation or the period of the deluge, there is ample Scriptural support for uniformity in the present cosmos. This is clear in our text passage (2 Pet 3). Immediately after noting that “the cosmos that then was, being overflowed with water, perished,” Peter says: “But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word, are kept in store” (2 Pet 3:7). Thus the present cosmos is being “stored up,” or “conserved.”

Now this cosmos is the only one accessible to scientists for study and measurement, and it is thus not surprising that science has been led to believe that all processes operate within the framework of uniform law. Nature is reliable and can be studied and described effectively by means of the scientific method. This very fact, of course, is a witness

BSac 125:499 (Jul 68) p. 196

to the power and wisdom of God and makes meaningful and reasonable God’s command to man to “subdue the earth” and to “have dominion” over it (Gen 1:28). The world is a cosmos, not a chaos. Science, which seeks to understand the processes of nature, and technology (i.e., engineering, medicine, agriculture, etc.), which seeks to utilize them in the service of mankind, are thus legitimate and necessary aspects of man’s stewardship under God’s providence.

The reign of naturalism and uniformity in the present cosmos is thus quite Biblical. As emphasized previously, all processes operate within the framework of the first and second laws of thermodynamics. The first law, which says that nothing in the physical realm is now being created or destroyed—even though continually changing form—dates from the end of the period of creation (You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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