Monday, 14 June 2010

Monday quote

God established these laws in nature, in the same way as a king establishes laws in his kingdom.

Rene Descartes
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6 comments:

  1. Ashima14 June 2010 at 22:30:00 GMT+12

    Great quotes...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stripe15 June 2010 at 02:48:00 GMT+12

    I don't quite agree with this quote...

    ReplyDelete
  3. bethyada15 June 2010 at 22:09:00 GMT+12

    Thanks Ashima.

    Stripe, it depends on whether he is referring to nature law or moral law. The quote suggests the former. And context will matter. It is from a letter Descartes wrote and I don't have more of the quote. I guess he is getting at God's sovereign declaration. Can God make natural laws as he so wishes?

    Presumably the laws interact in a way that constrains them, but could the universe have been otherwise with regard to physical laws? Perhaps.

    In what way do you disagree with his quote?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Stripe17 June 2010 at 04:39:00 GMT+12

    I read it as God wrote the physical laws, laws of science and nature. I would say that God created matter and energy and that the laws that govern those things are simply the way matter and energy interact with each other.

    Perhaps it is the case that God fine tuned the degree to which some things operate ... and like you say the distinction between physical and moral laws is important. God definitely did not create the moral laws.

    But perhaps there is a difference between create and establish .. we might agree after all .. :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. The MEasure you use21 June 2010 at 21:40:00 GMT+12

    The difference between creating and designing is worth thinking about.
    In terms of how matter and energy interact I would say that God designed all those properties and possibilities ie. none of it is a discovery he made after they were created.
    Secondly, God created all matter and energy.

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  6. bethyada22 June 2010 at 21:16:00 GMT+12

    Stripe and TMYU, I am not certain of the answer to this. Though I tend to agree with you here TMYU. While God made matter and energy, it is not apparent to me that matter and energy had to be how they are.

    Consider a proton, it interacts according to gravity (mass), charge, strong forces etc. Could God not have invented matter that reacts according to features we cannot conceive?

    I think that matter we have and the forces that affect there interaction are related. We get matter like it is with the forces like they are in this universe, but God can consider these things together is designing matter/ force. This doesn't stop God considering other types of matter/ force.

    I would say God knows all the fundamental relationships to each other and creates taking all into consideration.

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