Did a God or Gods create the universe? EDITED
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@solo said:
Funny thing is if he was around today the exact folk that worship him would hate his social liberal ways and he'd be dismissed and persecuted...oh wait he was back then also.....hmmmm.
A point that most believers tend to miss.
When you critique the current North American view of Christianity you are critiquing a caricature of what following Christ really means.
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What I do notice about this thread is that non believers are very supportive of others statements. Whilst believers are largely left unsupported or have separate ideas. Understandable considering the amount of variants to follow.
I do think both Brodie and Jason have a firm grasp on their faith and I commend them for taking the time to share that belief. Whether you agree with it or not.
On such a divisive subject it's nice to see a wholesome debate as such.
Has any believer questioned their thinking after reading the non believer responses?
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@unknownuser said:
I do think both Brodie and Jason have a firm grasp on their faith and I commend them for taking the time to share that belief.
Agreed.
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I'm not seeing Cornel's posts since he doesn't see my questions
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@unknownuser said:
Has any believer questioned their thinking after reading the non believer responses?
I doubt that Rich. Both believers and non belivers alike think they are right but only one group thinks they hold the absolute knowledge, truth and righteousness.
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@unknownuser said:
:lol:
But whose reply was the 666th? Ah!
OOOoooh, counting back, I might be the winnner!!
geez, I really gotta go...
Edit: Rats! I just saw Tom's screen grab. I guess my post was to light and fluffy to warrant a significant number. Eh, sort of "Life of Brian"-ish...
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@unknownuser said:
I do think both Brodie and Jason have a firm grasp on their faith and I commend them for taking the time to share that belief. Whether you agree with it or not.
I also agree
@unknownuser said:
Has any believer questioned their thinking after reading the non believer responses?
Not at all, a friend told me once and I'm not sure this would get him where he wanted to go but thought it fit the question. He said He'd rather believe and be wrong than not believe and be right.
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@unknownuser said:
I do think both Brodie and Jason have a firm grasp on their faith and I commend them for taking the time to share that belief. Whether you agree with it or not.
@unknownuser said:
Has any believer questioned their thinking after reading the non believer responses?
Yes.
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Getting this back onto the topic...
The existence of [a] God [and that's 'any god', not just the Christian version] is a separate issue from the exact question in hand - although if you were to define God as "the being who created the Universe" then they do get uncomfortably close!
You can't prove beyond doubt the validity of a 'negative' statement.
So therefore we can't prove beyond doubt that, "God didn't create the Universe.".
Unfortunately this is not as good as it first appears for 'believers', because it also means that they can't prove beyond doubt that, "The Universe didn't simply pop into creation of its own accord".Let's set that issue to one side for a moment... you can support a 'positive' statement with supporting positive 'facts'...
So for example we really need to recast this question more like this...
"Is there substantive evidence that God created the Universe?"
For if we present enough proof then the conclusion is that 'God created the Universe'.
There is an undeniable and massive body of 'opinion' [faith/belief/etc] in favor of this; but that's quite simply not 'evidence'; someone saying something is 'so', doesn't make it 'so' - it's a baseless assumption, not 'truth'.
There is also significant written documentation, but that was first written down and later edited 'by men', to support the very position that we are testing, so it's hardly reliable independent 'evidence'.
So, what evidence do the 'believers' have that would withstand the tests of evidence of a court of law?
I have seen nothing presented thus far that has not been a regurgitation of entrenched opinion, dogma and cant; without any proper evidential 'proof' or reasoned 'argument'!As I said earlier - non-believers can't prove that, "God didn't create the Universe". BUT on the other hand there's no proper proof that God did make it either.
However, there is significant testable evidence that, "The Universe could have come into existence spontaneously.". This is not a 'negative', so it can be disproved. A substantial body of evidence has been established by scientists and many agree that there is a very strong indication that, "The Universe could have come into existence spontaneously", simply as an inevitable result of Quantum fluctuations in 'space'. Of course the whole ethos of science is to theorize/test/re-theorize/..., so sometime in the future opinions might have changed, and we might all accept that, "The Universe came into existence as a result of supernatural intervention." BUT there are really no indications of this; except from the extreme-believers' side, but they always fail to provide any concrete, testable evidence anyway...
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@unknownuser said:
@unknownuser said:
Has any believer questioned their thinking after reading the non believer responses?
Yes.
yes again.
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@unknownuser said:
He said He'd rather believe and be wrong than not believe and be right.
He put that very nicely.
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@unknownuser said:
He said He'd rather believe and be wrong than not believe and be right.
That's practically a simplified version of Pascal's wager. I don't really understand his stance.
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@tig said:
Getting this back onto the topic...
The existence of [a] God [and that's 'any god', not just the Christian version] is a separate issue from the exact question in hand - although if you were to define God as "the being who created the Universe" then they do get uncomfortably close!
...So, what evidence do the 'believers' have that would withstand the tests of evidence of a court of law?
I have seen nothing presented thus far that has not been a regurgitation of entrenched opinion, dogma and cant; without any proper evidential 'proof' or reasoned 'argument'!...so sometime in the future opinions might have changed, and we might all accept that, "The Universe came into existence as a result of supernatural intervention." BUT there are really no indications of this; except from the extreme-believers' side, but they always fail to provide any concrete, testable evidence anyway...
I'm not sure the conversation ever veered off topic, as you are still talking about beliefs and evidence, etc. My opinion is that science and religion are two separate spheres that can (and should) co-exist. To ascribe the creation of the universe to the Christian God based on the Bible I think is quite far-fetched. I have no idea if there is a supreme being/ intelligence/ or what have you that created the universe. If there is, that "God" sure doesn't seem to be much involved in the day to day running of this planet.
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@marian said:
@unknownuser said:
He said He'd rather believe and be wrong than not believe and be right.
That's practically a simplified version of Pascal's wager. I don't really understand his stance.
hehe - it's called suspension of disbelief...
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@unknownuser said:
He said He'd rather believe and be wrong than not believe and be right.
I can entirely sympathise with that, because that was me for a long time. Eventually, I just kind of let go...but not entirely; I still occasionally enjoy a trip to church, for social reasons as much as anything. And I am still sitting on the fence as an agnostic; most probably because I just hate to entirely rule out any possibility.
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@unknownuser said:
Facts don't change, Jason. Our model for interpreting those facts might change along with, perhaps, our perception of those facts...but facts themselves are immutable.
Um, that's an interesting statement. I read it several times before it hit me: the logic is circular. You can't establish a "fact" based on a mutable set of rules. "Facts" per se, are based on observation and interpretation, which are in turn based on our current ability to accurately test, measure, reason, etc. If the methods of determination are flawed, so are the "facts" ... ie; you can't establish absolutes from mutables ...
Merriam's Dictionary defines one use of the word "fact" as "a piece of information presented as having objective reality."
I maintain that it's "subjective" and what is "reality" anyway? If our model for interpreting "facts" changes, then "facts" aren't "facts" at all.
To wit, Einstein established the "fact" that the speed of light is 299,792,458 m/s. In September of last year, a group of scientists found subatomic particles that move faster than the speed of light. So the "fact of the speed of light" is not a fact at all, only the interpretation of data constrained by our current level of understanding, which encompasses our ability to test, observe, etc. Of course, the new findings are subject to change as well ...
I assert that what we know currently as "facts" are nothing more than mutable conditions that we evaluate and call "facts" until proven otherwise.
Cheers.
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I'm the same. I was raised Catholic and sent to a Christian Brother school for all my school life. I turned/walked away from religion at about 20. Mainly 2 events.
[1] Clerical abuse as youngster (not sexually) made me question religion.
[2] Lack of answers to my questions
That coupled with a thirst for knowledge led me to educate myself on subjects I had an interest in. I didn't go to college/uni I just became a blue collar worker and enjoyed life minus religion. I raised my son as non denominational which means he's free to do as he wishes. I won't be disappointed if he asks to get baptised or choses to remain a non believer or enters any other religion. He's choice not mine. I won't place him in the Atheist bracket as he can decide when he's ready to.
I will admit this discussion, especially the believers responses to a degree, have at least sparked some old memories of having belief that someone is watching. Remembering as a youngster praying in bed at night for certain troubles to pass. Ironically, praying that Brother X wouldn't be angry in the morning. But that feeling of comfort is something that remains with me. At least I understand what faith feels like when you don't understand the larger world around you. It's a fuzzy feeling like a sort of 'everything will be ok' hug.
Now, I'm no mititant Atheist who challenges others religion beliefs. Each to their own as far as I'm concerned.
To get back on topic because TIG's getting grumpy
What makes me so sure that God doesn't exist?
Just the sheer order that exists around me and that everyday we can explain a bit more about why this happens or that happens. I don't need to know everything now but if every few years we make another leap forward because of science then it just fortifies my current belief. I love the universe. I love to know a storm just raged on Jupiter. That we've robots on Mars trundling along taking samples. Or satellites zipping out at the very edge of our galaxy. I don't need to see or learn of aliens as I understand the distances involved that it's unlikely I'll meet one. But finding some form of life on Europa will mean I die a happy man.
Currently the rings around Saturn are just for us. They slowly disappear with time. Andromeda is gonna collide with us eventually. Our sun will die. These are all facts. Wonderful facts.
If you ask me now what I want to happen when I die...
I want to be downloaded onto a satellite and shot off into space to forever scoot around at tremendous speed. When the missus dies I hope she can be uploaded too. I want see a star explode. Witness a black hole. Hopefully with time I can be recalled to wherever mankind is and be uploaded to a new body to start again.
If I just die as normal I'll still die happy knowing that I existed and did the best I could with what I have.
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@unknownuser said:
What I do notice about this thread is that non believers are very supportive of others statements. Whilst believers are largely left unsupported or have separate ideas. Understandable considering the amount of variants to follow.
right... of the ~38,000 denominations of Christianity out there, which one should I follow??!
you would think, if the bible and such were so pure/factual/etc there would be no way 38000 different religions would stem from it..
this fact alone would make me stop and really consider my position on believing.. sigh.. -
I don't follow that reasoning at all, Jeff. The speed of light is a fact, irrespective of whether we've measured it accurately or whether there are some things capable of travelling faster than it. It is what it is.
Any scientist worth his salt will admit that science is not in the business of uncovering facts, it's in the business of developing better models to understand and explain those facts.General Relativity explains gravity better than Newtonian physics, but no one is claiming it's the end of the line....just more accurate (if longer-winded).
Scientific progress tends towards discovering 'facts'...in the same way that a property can tend towards zero, but with no real guarantee that it will ever get there.
In the words of Dara O'Briain, "If science thought it knew everything, it would stop." -
@unknownuser said:
I must say that Jesus guy does seem like someone I'd like to know, not worship.
One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from a friend of mine long ago. He told me, "just read the Gospels like any other book you might read..."
That would be my advice to you as well.
Cheers.
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