This Book in PDF - Gary North

XXllIS THE WORLD RUNNING DOWN?second law of thermodynamics could be progressively removed as acurse on man and the creation if mankind would repent before God.Even better, they should become prophetic: the second law of thermodynamicswill be progressively removed as a curse on man and thecreation when mankind repents before God. We never hear CreationScientists arguing this way. It would destroy their original argument.They assume that the second law is a constant- a uniformitarianconstant- in the external world (except when God performs amiracle). This constant never changes (except when God performs amiracle). Indeed, this explicit uniformitarianism is the heart andsoul of the Scientific Creationists' technical criticism ofevolutionism:the evolutionists supposedly do not adhere to the second law as aconstant, they argue. Creation Scientists almost always argue asthough the imposition of the second law of thermodynamics wereGod's irrevocable curse on Adam; they never argue that we can legitimatelyexpect a reduction in these curses as a result ofChrist's resurrection- the most astounding miracle in the history of man. Theyfind themselves in the unenviable position of implicitly (and sometimesexplicitly) arguing that the cursed effects of Adam's sin will remaincosmically dominant in history - except possibly during a millenniumwhen Christ and His death-free resurrected saints will rulethe earth- despite Christ's bodily resurrection.We must abandon this presupposition. We must begin to workout the implications of Christ's resurrection for every area of life.Jesus offers us redemption-comprehensive redemption. i8 No area oflife is exempt from the judgment of God, so no area of life is outsidethe redemptive work of Christ.Am I arguing that the second law of thermodynamics will be progressivelyrepealed in history as a result of the preaching of the gospel?No. It need not be "repealed" in history because it was not imposedin history as God's curse. The second law of thermodynamics was operatingin the sin-free garden, and it will be operating in eternity, too.It is an aspect of the original creation, not a product of the curse.This may sound like a radical idea to Creation Scientists, but as Ishow at the end of Chapter Six (p. 127), Henry Morris himself hasobliquely referred to this possibility. What we must say is that Godhas brought curses on us - death, decay, etc. - that did not exist in the18. Gary North, "Comprehensive Redemption: A Theology for Social Action,"Journal of Christian Reconstru£tion (Summer 1981). Reprinted in this book as Appendix C.