Episode 49. In contrast to the ancient agentic notion of causation, modern causality involves impersonal and mechanical natural processes. Which are repeatable, and usually gradual. Isn't causality part of science? Looking for natural causes, yes. But looking for personal agents, no. In light of the agentic notion of causality, let me introduce a very important new category in an Excursus. De Novo creation comes from the Latin De meaning from, and Novos new. To define De Novo creation, it is creation that is number one quick and number two complete. In other words, it is the rapid origins into fully formed living creatures and inanimate structures. Like the earth, sun, and stars, etc. De Novo Creation is characteristic of divine action in most ancient accounts of origins To use our divine action categories on page three of the handouts, De Novo Creation is cosmological interventionism in origins. The notion of De Novo Creation leads us to a number of probing questions. For example, does Gods De Novo creative action in the origin of the world in Genesis 1 ultimately reflect an ancient agentic understanding of causality? If so, does divine action in Genesis 1 ultimately reflect an ancient science? And if this is the case, is God's creative action in Genesis 1 accommodated to the level of ancient people? What do you think? Returning to the characteristics of oral tradition, there is no clear demarkation between natural and supernatural in these preliterate accounts. The Gods, angels, demons, etc., and humans are intertwined. For example, in the Garden of Eden, in Genesis 2 and 3, Adam and Eve are in the presence of the Lord God and talking with him. Isn't this lack of a natural / supernatural demarcation part of science? No, science is limited to the physical world and does not deal with the supernatural. Brevity is another characteristic of oral traditions. The reason is because the length of oral traditions are limited by human memory for example Genesis 1 to 11, amongst only about 10 written pages, and most people can remember the basic contents. Since oral traditions are short, it's important to note that they are not an exhaustive record. Therefore, expect incompleteness. Oral traditions won't answer all your questions. So, isn't brevity part of science? No, science is dependent on massive amounts of written information found in scientific libraries. Oral traditions often have genealogies. This explain the origins of the community or the nation. As we've just noted, oral traditions are limited by human memory and their genealogies are usually only 5 to 10 generations. For example, in the genealogies of the Hebrews in Genesis 1 to 11, they descend from one man, Adam. And these two genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11 have only 10 generations each. Isn't this part of science? No, science in particular, modern genetics recognizes that communities and nations descend from a group of individuals, not just one person. End of Episode.