The first methodological naturalist is sometimes considered to have been [[Thales]]<ref>http://www.naturalism.org/history.htm</ref>, who explained earthquakes (which were traditionally attributed to the anger of the god [[Poseidon]]) with an early form of [[plate tectonic theory]]
<ref>Padamsee, Hasan. Unifying the Universe: the Physics of Heaven and Earth. CRC Press, 2003. Page 15.</ref>.
According to [[Christian]] [[Philosophy|philosopher]] [[Alvin Plantinga]], "The philosophical doctrine of methodological naturalism holds that, for any study of the world to qualify as "scientific," it cannot refer to God's creative activity (or any sort of divine activity)." <ref>http://www.arn.org/docs/odesign/od181/methnat181.htm</ref>
The possibility of divine intervention in nature is not only neglected, but positively dismissed. <ref>"The methods of science, it is claimed, "give us no purchase" on theological propositions--even if the latter are true--and theology therefore cannot influence scientific explanation or theory justification.'' [http://www.arn.org/docs/odesign/od181/methnat181.htm Alvin Plantinga], Department of Philosophy, Decio Hall, University of Notre Dame </ref>