Originally posted by dj2beckerThe assumption that every event has a cause, although common in our experience, is not necessarily universal. The apparent lack of cause for some events, such as radioactive decay, suggests that there might be exceptions. There are also hypotheses: such as alternate dimensions of time or an eternally oscillating universe,or that time moves in a circle rather than a straight line, that allow a universe without a first cause.
A number of sceptics ask this question. But God by definition is the uncreated creator of the universe, so the question ‘Who created God?’ is illogical, just like ‘To whom is the bachelor married?’
So a more sophisticated questioner might ask: ‘If the universe needs a cause, then why doesn’t God need a cause? And if God doesn’t need a cause, why should ...[text shortened]... use that would mean that it existed before it came into existence, which is a logical absurdity.
By definition, a cause comes before an event. If time began with the universe, "before" does not even apply to it, and it is logically impossible that the universe could be be caused.
Creationists cannot explain origins at all. Saying "God did it" is not an explanation, because it is not tied to any objective evidence.
So the question: Who created God? ...should be "What caused God?"
And if, as some claim, God does not need a cause, then by the same reasoning, neither does the universe.
However, if you persist that the "universe has a cause" it could just as easily be the Tao or other transcendental, unconscious forces.
Originally posted by xsThe objective evidence are the prophecies within the Bible. The fact that you disregard the prophecies does not make them less empirical.
The assumption that every event has a cause, although common in our experience, is not necessarily universal. The apparent lack of cause for some events, such as radioactive decay, suggests that there might be exceptions. There are also hypotheses: such as alternate dimensions of time or an eternally oscillating universe,or that time moves in a circle rather than ...[text shortened]... se has a cause" it could just as easily be the Tao or other transcendental, unconscious forces.
Originally posted by AThousandYoungFor a gentleman, I'd be happy to:
Would you elaborate?
Bible passage: Jeremiah 25:11-12
Written: sometime from 626 to about 586 BC
Fulfilled: about 609 BC to 539 BC
In Jeremiah 25:11-12, the prophet said that the Jews would suffer 70 years of Babylonian domination. Jeremiah also said Babylon would be punished after the 70 years. Both parts of this prophecy were fulfilled. In 609 BC, which is about 2600 years ago, Babylon captured the last Assyrian king and took over the holdings of the Assyrian empire, to which the land of Israel previously had been subjugated. Babylon later asserted its domination by taking many Jews as captives to Babylon, and by destroying Jerusalem and the Temple. The domination ended in 539 BC, when Cyrus, a leader of Persians and Medes, conquered Babylon and brought an end to its empire. Cyrus later offered the captive Jews the freedom to return to their homeland. The prophecy also might have been fulfilled in another way too: The Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem's Temple in 586 BC, and the Jews rebuilt it and consecrated it 70 years later, in 516 BC. Having the Temple again showed, in a very important way, that the effects of Babylonian domination truly had come to an end.
Jeremiah 25:11-12
"…This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt," declares the Lord, "and will make it desolate forever."
Bible passage: Jeremiah 32:36-37
Written: sometime from 626 to about 586 BC
Fulfilled: 536 BC
In Jeremiah 32:36-37, the prophet said that the Jews would survive their captivity in Babylon and return home. Both parts of this prophecy were fulfilled. Many Jews had been taken as captives to Babylon beginning around 605 BC. But, in 538 BC, they were released from captivity and many eventually returned to their homeland.
Jeremiah 32:36-37
"You are saying about this city, `By the sword, famine and plague it will be handed over to the king of Babylon'; but this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.