1) Scientific, materialistic reductionism is a valid, powerful and reasonable method. However it is an inherently limited mode of investigation. Using logic itself, it can be shown to be logically restrictive. In particular, it precludes mechanisms which are outside of its own 'natural' sphere. There's an analogy to be had with Godel's incompleteness theorems here.
2) It's true that the 'sphere' of what is designated 'natural' will likely expand, and it already includes many inferences we cannot observe directly. However there remains a strong possibility that there are mechanisms completely outside of our ability to discern. Physical mechanisms could easily be enshrined in law, but, being defined by a higher being, man may lack the intellectual, perceptive or investigative capacity to uncover them.
3) The substantiation of a cosmos remains a singular event, as far as we know, and a supernatural one. Mathematical law may be self-consistent and correct, but that does not mandate an associated, substantiated, consciously-perceived, physical existence. This event of cosmos-incipience is necessarily supernatural.
4) Science also assumes that physical law and biological law are fixed and in that sense 'eternal'. We back-extrapolate in time using the same laws that manifest today. We can't prove this is a valid assumption to use.
5) The next two points are unapologetically Judeo-Christian. All this connects with theology. What we can know of both God and creation, using our natural observations and reasoning, is going to be limited and subject to possible fundamental error. We need revelation from God. We need to believe He has engineered a supernatural ability within the human spirit to receive revelation and conviction about eternal, spiritual matters.
6) God writes in simple ways for our benefit, not His. He knows in glorious intricacy how He created everything, us included. Consider this. God allows us, using simple procedures and acts of the will, to initiate complex processes, like reproduction or digestion! We still don't fully understand them. Indeed when we didn't understand them at all, we were still able to 'perform' them! In a similar fashion, He has given us a conscious existence we have relatively little real understanding of. We are entrusted with an existence we don't fully understand, but even so we are still given real freedoms to act, freedoms to initiate and change the course of events. We can have simplistic notions of how we interact with 'reality', but they still 'work'. God hands off to us, in our conscious existence, certain responsibilities. We were told, in the beginning, to populate and subdue the earth. Fulfilling our responsibilities does not require us to fully understand how they work. We don't need to know how God gave us the capacity to fulfil them. God relates to us in simple everyday language, pertinent and practical.
God's actions, and His intent toward us, as taken from Genesis, may likewise look simplistic, especially if we are inclined to intellectualism. They are simple for our sake. They are practical and pertinent. They are received by relational trust, through love. But the mode of communication works. They give us the necessary information. God's Word, His revelation, remains true through the ages and into eternity. All we can rightly do, if we wish, is consider the manner in which they are true, and the manner of the revelation. We can suggest and discuss details of the science behind creation. The important impetus of God's revelation is open to all to discover though, scientific in thinking or not. We are to meekly receive the Word of God, because it is uniquely able to save our eternal souls. Our souls will transcend the present creation anyway. The means for that transcension are known to God alone; our main job is to trust Him.
7) The truly important issues for us are in the relational and spiritual realms. Believe in God. Trust Him. Respond thankfully to His initiative in Christ. Keep trusting Him. The truly significant element of the Bible is received as it is lived. It is a living book, and absorbed as such. Its impetus hits us fully when we live in the presence of the God who ultimately authored and compiled it. It imparts ever increasing life as we grow in yielded obedience to Him.
There you are. The seven points overlap and interact of course. What do you think? Feel free to comment.
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