As I suffer from a condition called "theism", I occassionally ponder the question of why God chose naturalistic means to create the world we live in today. Naturally, the answer can only be speculative, but I thought it would be interesting to phrase it here, since we have members of many different -isms and backgrounds.
Now, a few guidelines.
1. This thread assumes that the universe is ~14 billion years old, and that the scientific consensus regarding life's origins and diversity is an accurate description of reality.
2. This thread also assumes that there is an omnipotent Creator of some sort, who is fully capable of creating a complete universe by any means He (or She or It) chooses.
3. The Creator in question, created the universe with the express purpose of producing the human race, and to be worshipped by said humans.
A rather general description of a Creator for most theistic (at least monotheistic) religions I imagine.
So, if you had to make these assumptions, what reasons do you see for the Creator to choose gradual naturalistic processes, as opposed to an undeniably divine creation event?
It'll be particularly interesting to see what the theistic evolutionists think about the question.
Not sure if this is much of a debate topic, so coffee house perhaps?