Natural vs Supernatural Selection - One or the Other, an Argument

Natural Selection vs Supernatural Selection, One or the Other

The Law of Non-Contradiction is that a thing cannot be a and ~a at the same time and the same context

  1. On Christian theology the processs of evolution necessitates the coming about of the human species on earth.
  2. On natural selection as currently presented by biological science the process of evolution does not necessitate the coming about of the human species on earth.
  3. It cannot be the case that both (1) and (2) hold as this would be proposing that the process of evolution both necessitates and does not necessitate the coming about of the human species on earth at the same time and in the same context.
  4. Therefore between Christian theology and natural selection, if one of them is the case, then it is only one of them that is the case.

A Weaker Version

  1. If Christian theology or any main position in Christian theology holds that the process of biological evolution necessitates that the human species appear on earth then, on that theology humans being could not fail to appear on earth?
  2. If biological evolution or any main position in biological evolution holds that the process of biological evolution does not necessitate that the human species appear on earth then, on that biological evolution humans could fail to appear on earth.
  3. It could not be the case that both humans cannot fail to appear on the earth and can fail to appear on the earth at the same time and context (LNC)
  4. Therefore if (1) or (2), and if between those only, then only (1) or (2) and not both.

Thoughts, comments, criticisms etc.

Hi Matt,

As others have said, welcome to the Forum.

I admit I don’t really understand your weaker version. At certain points, the grammar doesn’t actually compute to me.

But as regards the stronger version, let’s do a thought experiment regarding the selection of Judas’s replacement (Acts 1:23-26).

  1. On Christian theology the process of lot-casting necessitates the choice of Matthias over Barsabbas as Judas’s replacement, because of general principles of divine providence (Prov 16:33) and also because Scripture suggests this was the answer to the prayers of the early church.

  2. As currently presented by statistical science the process of lot-casting does not necessitate the choice of Matthias over Barsabbas as Judas’s replacement, because lot-casting (by design) must be impartial and random.

  3. It cannot be the case that both (1) and (2) hold, as this would be proposing that the process of lot-casting both necessitates and does not necessitate the choice of Matthias over Barsabbas as Judas’s replacement in the same time and in the same context.

  4. Therefore between Christian theology and statistical science, if one of them is the case, then it is only one of them that is the case.

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@Rational_Theist_Matt

I’m not sure what you can accomplish with this line of analysis.

If God is the Creator of all things, it becomes a matter of semantics whether he wanted all his evolution performed via Natural Law … or with a blend of Natural Law punctuated by the occasional miracle.

I don’t know any Evolutionists who think God use a long continuous string of miracles to perform what looks like Evolution…but there are plenty of them who think he ran evolution via natural law, with no need for “special” miracles at all.

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