and Divine The notions of causation and agency are deeply embedded in several fascinating science-and-religion questions: How was the world created? Does God act in the world today, and if so, how? Are persons free? Why does God not prevent evil

hierarchy of sciences. Causation is strictly bottom-up from the lowest level to the top of the hierarchy. Murphy draws on Francisco Ayala ’s classification and lists six types of reductionism, including methodological reductionism which,

or “top- down” causation, in particular in relation to evolution and to the brain-body relation. Peacocke then considers how to conceive of God’s relation to the world in the light of modifications in the scientific concepts

the concept of downward causation and a variety of related concepts of causal processes in complex systems, one of which is the distinction between structuring and triggering causes. A structuring cause is an ongoing state of a system (for

or ‘whole-part’ causation [see Peacocke’s view of divine action ]. iv) particular providential action employing particular gaps in the causal order . Again there are three camps here John Polkinghorne , locating

immanence , whole-part causation, and God as the ultimate boundary condition (see Peacocke’s view of divine action ). Granted, Polkinghorne still wants to speak of the ontological openness of non-linear systems, and has been rightly

1.16 Different types of causation and explanation - 1.17 Determinism, indeterminism and their implications - 1.18 Developing theology in the light of science - 1.18.1 The interdependence of different aspects of a model - 1.19 Three

concerning the natural causation of events. The case for ID relies on a web of words that have been assigned extraordinarily unusual meanings. Given this character trait of ID literature, including such works as Dembski’s No Free

regarding non-natural causation? Posit the possibility of occasional form-conferring interventions by an unembodied intelligent agent? Yes, says Dembski. In effect, that is the ID proposal. After noting that science - “when biased by

concerning the natural causation of events.” The comprehensiveness and inclusiveness of these terms must be understood in order to see the extremity of Dembski’s numerous claims in No Free Lunch. Topic Index