A constant bone of contention between those who believe in the supernatural and those who don’t is the fear on the part of the naturalists that with God in the picture science is not possible. For if God can capriciously interfere with nature, then we have no way of knowing what to expect. This unfortunate view of things has been fostered by paganism on the one hand, in which gods and goddesses are conceived of as stronger and smarter than men but like men when they fight among themselves, are jealous and vindictive, and hurl their thunderbolts around as they will.
The Judeo-Christian view of God is nothing like this at all. While I can’t speak for all believers, I do think the following is generally believed. God is conceived of as Creator of the universe. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1). And He deals with it in THREE ways. First, He established what we call NATURAL laws to govern it. “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” (Hebrews 11:3). “…he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited.” (Isaiah 45:18). Stephen Hawking says pretty much the same thing in “A Brief History of Time”, pocket edition, page 133: “It would be very difficult to explain why the universe should have begun in just this way, except as an act of God who intended to create beings like us.”
But having established a universe which operates by laws, God leaves those laws to operate for the most part in a natural way. In fact it was the belief, in opposition to paganistic capriciousness, that nature is orderly and makes sense that made science as we know it possible in the first place.
However, God is conceived of as a Person, and He can interact with his creation to bring about the accomplishment of his will if he sees fit. “For in him we live and move and have our being:” (Acts 17:28) He did not simply send it spinning off like a toy Frisbee to do what it would. This then is the second way in which God deals with His world, which we call PROVIDENTIAL. He works ~through~ the laws He has established, and deals with men as reasoning beings. “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. (Isaiah 1:18 ). When Christians say that something happened providentially, they do not mean that it was outside natural laws, but that God caused something to happen ~within~ the natural processes of nature.
The third way God operates is the MIRACULOUS. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” (Hebrews 1:1).” Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. (Acts 2:22). Miracles, generally speaking, were to accredit someone sent in God’s name. We are warned against false miracle workers, and there are many of those today. But to recognize that God can perform miracles is in no way to abandon our confidence in the orderly workings of the natural laws of the universe.
Computers operate on a binary system of ones and zeros. But we impose on them our decimal and alphabetic systems. If they did not operate reliably they would be useless. But we can alter this “natural” order when we see fit. Why can’t God do the same thing?
Bill Carrell