tefilla - Reconciling Nature with Continuous Creation

I have always understood that when God created the universe, he subjected it to a natural order and process under which the universe can function. The laws of nature are those that govern the universe, with the exception of the occasional supernatural intervention in times of necessity.

In view of this, how does one understand that which we say every morning " המחדש בכל יום תמיד מעשה בראשית", which implies that God is continuously renewing the natural order instead of "leaving it" to its natural course?

Answer

Reading through Abarbanel's "Mif'alot Elokim", I found that he addresses the interpretation of this line in the siddur twice.

First, after explaining at great length how it is indeed philosophically sound to say that God created the universe ex nihilo, he writes:

ואמנם אשר התקינו הקדושים לומר בתפילת יוצר וטובו מחדש בכל יום תמיד מעשה בראשית פי׳ כמו שהבדיל בין האור ובין החשך כן הוא עושה אותה הבדלה בכל יום בבא אורו אחרי חשך הלילה. ולכן תקנוהו בברכת יוצר אור עם שיש לי בו פי׳ אחר עוד תשמעהו אחר זה

This explanation is appealing for two reasons:

1. It avoids the apparent contradiction of the question above by reading "renews what happened in the beginning" instead of "recreates the entire existence".


2. It explains the use of the phrase "מחדש בכל יום" instead of "מחדש כל היום", which would be more grammatically correct if the intention were a continuous creation.

On the other hand, we are left with the word "תמיד", which we must interpret as "always [every day]" instead of "continuously [throughout the day]".

The reference made by Abarbanel above "שיש לי בו פי׳ אחר עוד תשמעהו אחר זה", refers to much later in his book, where he explains the idea that God is not only the creator of the universe, but also its supporter, in that everything continues to exist and follow its natural order because God's will remains for it to continue to exist. If God "relinquished" His will for it to exist, it would then cease to exist. [This is very different, however, from the idea that God continuously creates everything ex nihilo.] There he writes:

ואולם שלזה גם כן כוונו הקדושים בתקונם בתפלת יוצר ובטובו מחדש בכל יום תמיד מעשה בראשית כי הוא יתברך ברצונו נותן אליו תמיד המציאות והקיום ובזה הוא מחדשו

Here, he seems to be translating "מחדש" non-literally to mean "supports the existence of" instead of "renews" or "recreates". But we do get to translate "תמיד" here as "continuous".

Personally, I prefer the former interpretation, but both answer the question originally asked. The assumptions stated in the question hold true. The universe functions with a natural order since its creation, and our statement every morning in the b'rachos of k'rias shema does not contradict that.