Читать книгу When People Speak for God - Henry E. Neufeld - Страница 11

The things somebody makes definitely reflect something about that person. We can see this most clearly in art, but if you look at a person's work product, you will see something of their nature. At the same time, you will not learn everything about that person through the things they have made.

Supposing I write a computer program to do something fairly simple and straightforward, but it is something that many people want to do. Let's say that I do a really good job so quite a number of people use the program, and regard it as effective. They could conclude some things about me from looking at the program. First, I do know how to program a computer. (Note that in real life I haven't produced any substantial commercial successes!) Second, I was able to produce a program that accomplished something they wanted to accomplish. They could imagine from those observations that I'm a careful person who does good craftsmanship. (It would be hard, of course, for them to be certain that this single instance hadn't exhausted my capabilities.)

But they could also make some more questionable assumptions. They might assume that I was dedicated to the task performed by that particular program and thus had gone to an extraordinary effort to make sure people would be able to do that one thing. They might imagine me as a committed crusader, spending hours daily trying to carry out my crusade. Of course all that would ignore the possibility that I am a mercenary who desires lots of money and credit for my skills.

When we deal with the creation, we're in a similar position with God. We can look at the way the universe functions and we can see certain things about what is necessary to live in the universe. We can try to imagine the attributes of God that are reflected in his natural universe. These would include the law of cause and effect, and the apparent desire for creatures that have a range of freedom of action. Simple application of the law of cause and effect could make moral creatures of us, though we might choose rather different value systems.

But if God has a greater purpose for this world, this universe, and for our individual lives, the universe itself is not going to inform us. For that we would need special revelation if we are to know at all.