This accusation has played an effective role in the materialistic philosophy...

This accusation has played an effective role in the materialistic philosophy, where the idea of God posits an intelligible cause of the natural phenomena and events that people observe, and attempts to justify the existence of such phenomena and events.

With this, the necessity of such phenomena and events is completely eliminated if we can discover by science and the scientific experiments the real causes, as well as the laws of the universe that govern the world, and in accordance with which the phenomena and vents are produced.

The malicious role that the church played in fighting the scientific progress and opposing the natural mysteries and laws disclosed by science at the beginning of the scientific renaissance in Europe aided in solidifying this accusation. (p. 210) In fact, the theological notion of the world does not mean dispensing with natural causes or rebelling against any one of the sound scientific truths. Rather, it is the notion that considers God as a cause beyond [nature].

It imposes on the chain of agents and causes an ascent to a power above nature and matter. With this, opposition between it and any scientific truth is completely removed. The reason for this is that it gives science the widest opportunity for discovering the mysteries and order o£ nature. At the same time, in the last analysis, it retains for itself the theological explanation which is the positing of a higher cause in a principle above nature and matter.

Hence, the theological issue is not as its opponents wish to claim - namely, an issue concerning an invisible hand that sprinkles water in the atmosphere, that conceals the sun from us, or that acts as an obstacle between us and the moon, thus creating rain, a sun eclipse, or a moon eclipse.