Go back
An interesting question

An interesting question

Spirituality

DoctorScribbles
BWA Soldier

Tha Brotha Hood

Joined
13 Dec 04
Moves
49088
Clock
05 Oct 06
Vote Up
Vote Down

Must God exist?

DC
Flamenco Sketches

Spain, in spirit

Joined
09 Sep 04
Moves
59422
Clock
05 Oct 06
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
Must God exist?
Define "interesting".

a
Andrew Mannion

Melbourne, Australia

Joined
17 Feb 04
Moves
54002
Clock
05 Oct 06
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
Must God exist?
No.

DoctorScribbles
BWA Soldier

Tha Brotha Hood

Joined
13 Dec 04
Moves
49088
Clock
05 Oct 06
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by amannion
No.
But does he?

L

Joined
24 Apr 05
Moves
3061
Clock
05 Oct 06
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
Must God exist?
Good joke -- you made me look.

a
Andrew Mannion

Melbourne, Australia

Joined
17 Feb 04
Moves
54002
Clock
05 Oct 06
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
But does he?
I don't think so, but I could be wrong.

DoctorScribbles
BWA Soldier

Tha Brotha Hood

Joined
13 Dec 04
Moves
49088
Clock
05 Oct 06
1 edit
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by amannion
I don't think so, but I could be wrong.
Now we're getting to the heart of the matter.

What I want to know is whether anybody believes that God exists out of logical necessity. That is, if you believe God exists, do you believe he does so contingently, in which case evidence has bearing on your belief, or out of logical necessity, in which case evidence has no bearing on your belief. Note that you cannot have it both ways.

rwingett
Ming the Merciless

Royal Oak, MI

Joined
09 Sep 01
Moves
27626
Clock
05 Oct 06
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
Now we're getting to the heart of the matter.

What I want to know is whether anybody believes that God exists out of logical necessity. That is, if you believe God exists, do you believe he does so contingently, in which case evidence has bearing on your belief, or out of logical necessity, in which case evidence has no bearing on your belief. Note that you cannot have it both ways.
St. Anselm's Ontological argument for the existence of god claimed his existence could be known a priori. The Cosmological and the Teleological arguments are a posteriori arguments for the existence of god.

DoctorScribbles
BWA Soldier

Tha Brotha Hood

Joined
13 Dec 04
Moves
49088
Clock
05 Oct 06
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by rwingett
St. Anselm's Ontological argument for the existence of god claimed his existence could be known a priori. The Cosmological and the Teleological arguments are a posteriori arguments for the existence of god.
And which do you prefer?

rwingett
Ming the Merciless

Royal Oak, MI

Joined
09 Sep 01
Moves
27626
Clock
05 Oct 06
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
And which do you prefer?
They are all flawed. None of them accomplishes what they set out to do. The teleological argument, as popularized by William Paley, is probably the best known.

dj2becker

Joined
01 Oct 04
Moves
12095
Clock
05 Oct 06
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
Must God exist?
If you are to have an unchanging absolute point of reference by which you can measure all other things, then God has to exist as that unchanging absolute point of reference.

X
Cancerous Bus Crash

p^2.sin(phi)

Joined
06 Sep 04
Moves
25076
Clock
05 Oct 06
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by dj2becker
If you are to have an unchanging absolute point of reference by which you can measure all other things, then God has to exist as that unchanging absolute point of reference.
Why must we have an unchanging absolute point of reference? And if we are to have one why must it be God? And let's not even mention the fact that declaring that something must exist because we need it to is horrible.

dj2becker

Joined
01 Oct 04
Moves
12095
Clock
05 Oct 06
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by XanthosNZ
Why must we have an unchanging absolute point of reference? And if we are to have one why must it be God? And let's not even mention the fact that declaring that something must exist because we need it to is horrible.
You only need it if you want to make sense of the world around you.

If you have stopped at an intersection and you see the car in front of you moving towards you, for a fraction of a second you go down harder on your break pedal with your foot in order to make sure that it is not you that is moving. Then you look at a lamp-post or something else that is stationary in order to see if in fact you are moving or not.

Now how would you feel if the lamp-post also started to move?

God is the only being that can provide us with an unchanging absolute point of reference, by which we can make sense of the world around us, since by definition there is not a moment in time that God did not exist

X
Cancerous Bus Crash

p^2.sin(phi)

Joined
06 Sep 04
Moves
25076
Clock
05 Oct 06
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by dj2becker
You only need it if you want to make sense of the world around you.

If you have stopped at an intersection and you see the car in front of you moving towards you, for a fraction of a second you go down harder on your break pedal with your foot in order to make sure that it is not you that is moving. Then you look at a lamp-post or something else that i ...[text shortened]... of the world around us, since by definition there is not a moment in time that God did not exist
So you need God to give your life meaning is what you are saying?
What about people who don't need God to make their life meaningful?

DC
Flamenco Sketches

Spain, in spirit

Joined
09 Sep 04
Moves
59422
Clock
05 Oct 06
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by XanthosNZ
So you need God to give your life meaning is what you are saying?
I think he's saying if it wasn't for God, lightposts would move around on their own.

Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More.