So far, the strongest point in the book are the two chapters on divine intervention – ‘The Old Picture’, and ‘The New Picture’. Plantinga really, really knocks this one out of the park. Having read some of his essays where he more broadly sketched out this topic, it was nice to see it developed at length and in depth – this is a topic that deserves to be engaged much more fully in the theological world.
A thought I had while reading these sections: has the realm of the quantum become a refuge for God and His action, or is this a legitimate way of modeling God’s activity in the world?
I did think that some of Plantinga’s defense of intelligent design was a bit weak – I personally find the more Aristotelian accounts of teleology to be a sounder foundation/explanation than the William Paley style arguments employed here. More to come.
Theologians, Inc. 