A voluntary universe

If matter is all there ever was, all there is, and all there ever will be, then things are what they are necessarily. If this is the case it should be possible to discover the reasons why all things exist. The Christian concept of creation is rejected by many because it throws the above project into doubt.

Quotes and comments;

A. 'For the created universe itself owes its existence to a voluntary act of God. It is intelligible only if seen as such.' - Cornelius Van Til [1.]

- It is thus an error for men to search for necessary reasons why the universe exists or why it must exist; and it's an error to search for the necessary (in terms of independent, autonomous, material causes) reasons for galaxies, stars, solar systems, planets, living organisms and man. If Van Til is correct here (and I think he is) the whole universe is a voluntary and creative act of God. It's not the product of mechanical cause and effect working upon eternal matter. The implications of this 'idea' is that it's a mistake to think of the universe in necessitarian terms.

This of course goes against the grain with the current model of science; but I believe the search for the necessary causes of all things in the mechanical workings out of matter is a mistaken one. It's one that can never come to the truth, and at best it's largely a waste of time. (It's true there might be tangential benefits from the process... as there often is in even the most misguided projects.)

This means that man can never comprehend any aspect or object in the universe in a complete way; that this knowledge is God's and god's alone. Man may know things truly, but not comprehensively. [p.182] It is therefore an error for men to claim complete (comprehensive) knowledge of the universe or of any aspect of it.

Summary;
What are the implications for scientific endeavor? I think the search for necessary causes should be abandoned, and scientists should restrict themselves to doing what they do best, which is the investigation and description of the universe. The fact the universe (and all it contains) is a voluntary creation of God places limits on what men can know, and on how they can know it.

Michael Johnson [frfarer - at - gmail.com]

Notes;
1. An introduction to systematic theology - Cornelius Van Til/p.181
2. Word of advice to first time readers of Van Til. His terminology often seems strange to modern ears. I've found that his terminology usually follows the definitions found in Webster's 1913 or 1828 dictionary. (e.g. On page 183 he says man never knows God adequately. You might think that while man doesn't know god comprehensively that he at least knows him adequately; but when you check the dictionary you see that the older meaning of adequate is equal. What Van Til seems to be saying is that man's knowledge of god is never equal to god's knowledge of himself.)
- for more technical terms, I've found the that the best dictionary to use is the Century dictionary. It can be found on the Wordnik site.