Thank you very much Mark, for your thoughtful comments. There is a great danger on the part of religious believers and physicalists alike to "make assumptions well in excess" of what we can reasonably know from science. Young earth creationists do this, but also physicalist scientist-philosophers who claim the evidence only supports their belief system. You also suggest that the direction has been from the book of the word to the book of nature and not so much the other way around. In general from the 17th century I think that is true, but I see evidence in more recent science, that points back a bit in the other direction. Not specifically to Christian revelation but to the ancient teachings of various philosophies and religions. The book by the Dalai Lama is a great example where he found great consonance with the book of nature and his belief system.

I am very sorry that my choice of words about "willingness to see" stung, and that you saw it as ostentatious. That was the furthest from my intent. What was trying to get at that presuppositions often interfere with adopting models that conflict with existing beliefs, such as with Einstein in both his insistence on a static universe and later his rejection of quantum mechanics. I think we have to be aware of our presuppositions and be willing to challenge them. For me as a believer this was best captured by an old book (1950s) written by Pastor Bernard Martin called If God Does Not Die. I do believe that our belief systems do represent a choice and that we have free will to choose. We can view the evidence and see it differently for sure, but ultimately we choose and those choices can make a difference. Thanks again!