The Beginning

Okay, so i am just curious how athiests and evolutionists think the world came into being... I'm a Christian, and believe in a God who created the world. I don't think that the difference between the Biblical 7 days and thousands of years really makes a difference, but the idea of God making the world is what i believe. If you believe in the Big Bang, then where did the stuff that made the Big Bang come from?

Wouldn't "I don't know, given the facts available to me." be an appropriate response, regardless of whether one was Christian, athiest, or whatever their persuasion (literally) might be?

Originally posted by zeger55
Okay, so i am just curious how athiests and evolutionists think the world came into being... I'm a Christian, and believe in a God who created the world. I don't think that the difference between the Biblical 7 days and thousands of years really makes a difference, but the idea of God making the world is what i believe. If you believe in the Big Bang, then where did the stuff that made the Big Bang come from?

Seriously, how old are you? Did it ever occur to you that what you call God is just a tiny droplet of sweat rolling down the eye of a giant steer that balances millions of universes on a single nostril hair while the steer is in turn dwarfed by the limitless expanse of a single scale resting on back of the diving figure of Bahamut, the great fish of the deep that is the true foundation of all of creation.

Originally posted by Badwater
Wouldn't "I don't know, given the facts available to me." be an appropriate response, regardless of whether one was Christian, athiest, or whatever their persuasion (literally) might be?

What i mean is, when there are only so many possibilities of how the world came in to being, how can people who try to explain everything by science explain the origin of the world? There has to have been a beginning, and i don't see any answer that athiesm gives to where that beginning came from. Either you believe in an unexplainable bang, or an unexplainable God.

Originally posted by TerrierJack
Seriously, how old are you? Did it ever occur to you that what you call God is just a tiny droplet of sweat rolling down the eye of a giant steer that balances millions of universes on a single nostril hair while the steer is in turn dwarfed by the limitless expanse of a single scale resting on back of the diving figure of Bahamut, the great fish of the deep that is the true foundation of all of creation.

Phew!.. at least its all fish from there on...

Originally posted by zeger55
Okay, so i am just curious how athiests and evolutionists think the world came into being... I'm a Christian, and believe in a God who created the world. I don't think that the difference between the Biblical 7 days and thousands of years really makes a difference, but the idea of God making the world is what i believe. If you believe in the Big Bang, then where did the stuff that made the Big Bang come from?

it is possible god was behind it all. i certainly believe that. and it makes more sense for god to design the recipe of creation, set it in the oven and let it bake all on its own rather than having to tweak each and every detail for a long time(as portrayed in the bible- genesis mostly) until it gets to the stable, "obey the rules of the universe" version of today.

Originally posted by zeger55
What i mean is, when there are only so many possibilities of how the world came in to being, how can people who try to explain everything by science explain the origin of the world? There has to have been a beginning, and i don't see any answer that athiesm gives to where that beginning came from. Either you believe in an unexplainable bang, or an unexplainable God.

You are mistaken about a few things.
1. There does not have to be a beginning.
2. Even if there is a beginning, there doesn't have to be a 'from' - in fact, I find such a concept to be self contradictory unless the beginning in question is not the true beginning.
3. There are more possibilities than you seem to think. I personally believe that the following are possible:
a) There was no beginning. The universe as we see it may be ageless, or it may be a part of a larger reality that we currently know nothing about.
b) There was a beginning with no 'before' ie that is where it starts.
I do not think that some creator god figure exists, but if you admit that possibility, you could in theory admit a whole host of others.

I agree with your general conclusion that reality is ultimately unexplainable.

I must also point out that atheism and naturalism are not the same thing at all. Atheists may quite happily have no opinion on origins or quite fanciful ones, so long as a god is not included.
Further, even theists may ask the exact same questions regarding the big bang. Theism in general does not require a creator God, nor does it require a creator God who made the universe at the big bang. There could easily be a creator God that created something much bigger of which our visible universe is just a small part, or there could be gods that are just a part of our universe.

well as a christian the big bang is gods finger started it, non faiths belive its a result of a cosmic force coming together.
Your understanding of the 7 days may have some merit only remember its gods 7 days not mans. ie we take a day is the turn of the earth 24 hours. gods day is a lot longer

Originally posted by stoker
well as a christian the big bang is gods finger started it, non faiths belive its a result of a cosmic force coming together.
Your understanding of the 7 days may have some merit only remember its gods 7 days not mans. ie we take a day is the turn of the earth 24 hours. gods day is a lot longer

again, that explanation doesn't stick
genesis days would have had to be of different lengths. it took quite a lot more time to develop the earth than it took for man to appear or the animals. stars took a lot more time to appear too not to mention the didn't appear all at the same time.

also the order of the days in genesis is not the real order in which the universe came to be.

genesis is not a metaphor, it is the story of the birds and the bees you tell children because you are not yet ready to speak about pen1ses and vaginas

Originally posted by twhitehead
You are mistaken about a few things.
1. There does not have to be a beginning.
2. Even if there is a beginning, there doesn't have to be a 'from' - in fact, I find such a concept to be self contradictory unless the beginning in question is not the true beginning.
3. There are more possibilities than you seem to think. I personally believe that the foll ...[text shortened]... universe is just a small part, or there could be gods that are just a part of our universe.

1. There does not have to be a beginning.

Can you qualify that assertion?

Originally posted by josephw
1. [b]There does not have to be a beginning.

Can you qualify that assertion?[/b]

I don't need to. It is not an assertion as such, the opposite is the assertion that must be qualified.
My qualification is: there is no known law of physics, common sense or logic that dictates or implies that time is finite. There isn't even one regarding the spacial dimensions.

Originally posted by zeger55
What i mean is, when there are only so many possibilities of how the world came in to being, how can people who try to explain everything by science explain the origin of the world? There has to have been a beginning, and i don't see any answer that athiesm gives to where that beginning came from. Either you believe in an unexplainable bang, or an unexplainable God.

If you truly don't have an imagination I'll be happy to lend you some more of mine, Horatio! Things do exist outside of your field of vision. When I duck my head below the edge of the crib I don't disappear. I'm still there - you just can't see me. You might need to look harder if you want to see something you've never seen before.

Originally posted by zeger55
Either you believe in an unexplainable bang, or an unexplainable God.

This is correct...unless you believe some other unexplainable thing.

Originally posted by TerrierJack
If you truly don't have an imagination I'll be happy to lend you some more of mine, Horatio! Things do exist outside of your field of vision. When I duck my head below the edge of the crib I don't disappear. I'm still there - you just can't see me. You might need to look harder if you want to see something you've never seen before.

you live in a crib jack ?, well how very interesting indeed, perhaps you are the reincarnation of the baby Jesus who has grown up denying his own divinity these very years. You dont also do carpentry do you?

Originally posted by Zahlanzi
again, that explanation doesn't stick
genesis days would have had to be of different lengths. it took quite a lot more time to develop the earth than it took for man to appear or the animals. stars took a lot more time to appear too not to mention the didn't appear all at the same time.

also the order of the days in genesis is not the real order in whic ...[text shortened]... nd the bees you tell children because you are not yet ready to speak about pen1ses and vaginas

i disagree. i as a christian belive it was ment to tell one and other the begining, but even i find the universe and its size unbaliveable with all the knowledge i have at my disposetion, how on earth could they understand it.