Is there order in creation? This has been a prickly issue in the scientific world. Theists tend to believe there is order and that order is an evidence of God (Divine Intelligence). The view that nature has an order, some scientists argue, is not justified in that they see no evidence of order in the physical creation. The eminent commentator, George Will, raised his own doubt about order in remarking on the devastation of Hurricane Katrina that virtually destroyed New Orleans in 2005. The implication to the humanist is that in catastrophe it is proved that God does not exist.
Biblical writings might be interpreted either way – that there is no order noted in Genesis 1:2 in the absence of final form and in a pervasiveness void. The narrative turns with God making nature orderly. One likes to believe that if God created nature for habitation, there must be some order. The remainder of Scripture is supportive of the concepts of the orderliness of God and his respect for order. He calls his followers to order, as in favorable response to prevailing moral society. No sooner do we have the lack of form (order) and the void (nothingness) acknowledged in Scripture but God launches into a process of forming orderly creation. Some of it is predictable. Is there both order and chaos in creation? An argument might well be made for both, with the orderliness to be partly completed in the command to dress the garden and know it. Accommodation might permit this type of argument, that both order and chaos exist together, so to adapt to both. Is it possible that some distemper is integral to order? There is deliberate disorder as a part of order in some contexts. Scripture explains that disorder is introduced in the order of God and managed. Mankind appears unable to manage with the paradox of order and disorder.
Accommodations are common in nearly every camp of knowledge. When I went to public school the concept of order was taken as a given. We were told that science relied on order so that theories and experiments could be carried through with confidence, guiding understanding, pointing to problem solving. That concept was so great that the scientist was said to hope that God, if he existed, would not meddle with things as they are. Miracles really do mess up the conclusions of those who follow the methods that reveal truth through replication. Reality will surely emerge they say if the system is followed. The system is quite dependent upon some sort of order. In debate, a scientist is likely to argue that all reality is ordered in physical laws.
We may be in the vestibule of learning, with demand for humility and objectivity in any search for knowledge. Charles C. Mann authored a widely read book, 1491, noting theories that vary among archaeologists/geologists about the discovery of America. His observations seem telling about the loss of scientific objectivity by scientists when they conflict with one another about theories. The conflicts become so intense that discussion groups sometimes break up, with extravagant language, and angered determination to hold to their own theories even in the light of new findings. Appalled by the decimation of the Buffalo in America in the 1800s, human kind is made to feel guilty. Drawing from evidence, Mann shows there were few buffalo in 1491, but many other animal bones have been unearthed for the period. Was America populated by persons crossing the Bering Straits or by Australians sailing to South America? Mann deliberately makes the case for both positions and leaves the matter there. Spiritual faith is not dictated to by theories of physics and human ventures. Faith evidence is found in spiritual experiences and yearnings for hope (immortality). It is the same pattern in any part of the world. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020