Hi InGodITrust, I hope you and dwise1 don't mind my jumping in here;
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I thought "natural" in natural selection limited the theory to being driven by random genetic mutations.
Just for the record, the phrase "natural selection" more usually refers to the struggle to survive and reproduce, not the mutations themselves.
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I didn't think scientst were open to the selections being made by God.
I would say that it's more a case of God not being
needed. There is no need to invoke gods in the process of natural selection; the process takes care of itself. It is well understood and can be observed going on around us on a daily basis. As has been said, "I have no need of that hypothesis.".
Also, on a more theological note, involving God in natural selection implies a very interventionist God. Natural selection is based on small events. Does a blackbird successfully raise its young? Does a thrush catch enough snails? Does a snail evade the thrush long enough to breed? That sort of thing. If God is required to intervene in these matters, he must be controlling almost all of the life on earth on a second by second basis.
That's kind of... creepy.
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But I just wanted to comment that some people have written in this thread that there is no hope for using probability against TOE, but you wrote that there is some hope, if the models are sound and you do the math.
The problem with trying to apply probability to evolution is that to calculate the odds of something, you need to have a pretty good idea of what the relevant variables are. Do you know all the relevant variables from the last few hundred million years of evolution? I have to say, I don't. For this reason, I am very dubious about applying probability-based arguments to real-world natural history.
Mutate and Survive
"A curious aspect of the theory of evolution is that everybody thinks he understands it." - Jacques Monod
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