The universe with its complexity, order and fixed laws operates in such a way that we can understand and discover these laws. Their predictable, consistent and reliable nature helps us. In order to study these laws, the scientific method was developed.
We can discover how laws of nature operate by performing tests and experiments. If the outcomes of those experiments are able to be reproduced and repeated in similar conditions, then you have discovered that there is some kind of underlying law acting on or influencing the results—this can be further studied.
God's nature is unchanging, consistent and immutable. It is no surprise then that Protestants took that inference to nature itself, and expected that, as God's nature was consistent, and since He had established moral laws, nature would also abide by laws God had established.
Christian doctrine, has always insisted that God is separate from His creation. Genesis also explains how God gave mankind dominion or governance over nature. In transferring this dominion and authority to man, God rescinded His absolute control over our daily affairs and the environment.
But when man fell into sin, God retracted from nature even further due to the intrusion of sin and moral corruption. God, being the embodiment of perfection, cannot cohabitate with sin.
And unfortunately Satan gained much of the authority man inherited, or it was left unused, as the chaos of nature took over the once perfected paradise God had initially planned for us.
The implication of this is that, after the fall, nature was in a state of corruption and decay, but persisted and remained in a fallen state. God's retraction from creation implies that processes and systems in nature were left to abide under their own power, with the absence of God's direct oversight and control.
So when natural disasters happen, we don't always directly attribute them to God, but rather to nature in its corrupted state. And when humans commit atrocities, we don't blame God, because He gave authority and self-determination to us—but we look toward the day when His kingdom and authority will once again preside over mankind.
The crux of this is that God created nature to sustain itself in accordance with laws He established over it, with or without His direct input. And since God gave us dominion over nature, God's intention was that we would use it to improve out lot.
God placed all the natural resources we needed in and above the ground for us to cultivate and build civilisation. And in order to take dominion over nature, to exploit it, we would first need to understand it. This is the Christian basis of science.
It needs to be said, that this view seriously opened the door for scientific thought, but other more fatalistic views stifled it.
Fatalism is the general belief that events are predetermined and inevitable. Animism and Islam historically did not provide for the possibility that events in nature and human affairs were affected and governed by natural laws, but rather that events are a result of the moment-to-moment arbitrary provisions of spirits or Allah himself—the belief that all outcomes are directly attributed to god or spirit.
Thomas Aquinas in the Christian tradition coined the term "primary and secondary causes" to reconcile and allow for both divine causation in the world and natural causes—that under normal circumstances natural laws (secondary causes) would be in effect; unless God intervened to perhaps perform a miracle (primary causes), something out of the ordinary. But the point is—both are compatible.
Thankfully Christian doctrine helped us understand God's involvement on earth. We wouldn't necessarily attribute natural disasters or disease to him, but could see these things as a result of fallen natural processes, which we could understand and even manipulate—resulting in industry, medicine, technology etc.
Christianity empowered man to study and understand nature, in order to assert his dominion and control over it. Other world-views retarded improvement through science and industry due to an apathetic resignation, a sense of powerlessness over nature.
Amos is an evangelical conservative who cares about where the world is going, and seeks to understand why it is happening, especially in light of prophecy and the spiritual powers behind the scenes. Amos currently lives in Auckland, New Zealand. Amos pursues salvation for the lost, and considers himself a defender of traditional Christian values, liberal democracy and the historically unprecedented freedom and liberty established and defended by our forebears—which unfortunately, is gradually being eroded.
Amos Sale's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/amos-sale.html