RE: Evidence that God exists
March 5, 2009 at 3:38 pm
(This post was last modified: March 5, 2009 at 3:47 pm by Mark.)
@fr0d0: Well, this is the first time I have ever seen an advocate of religion take refuge in the notion that the miracles reported in the Bible might not have happened.
I find it odd though, that you advance the view that since these reported events were miracles, therefore they could not have happened. God might perhaps work changes in the ongoing world, you say, but necessarily these could not be known to to be of divine origin. The "necessary" part of your argument seems utterly irrational to me. It could happen, one fine morning, that Baal the Destroyer in the form of massively gigantic brass golem would rise up out of the sea, shouting in a monstrous voice, "I am Baal the Destroyer, thy Lord and Master, and thou shalt obey me!" and then breathe fire onto anyone who tried to resist. It could further happen that he destroyed all the world's armies, set himself up in, oh, the Taj Mahal, and consumed large quantities of human flesh while people bowed down to him seven times a day. It could happen that the only people he left alive were those necessary to supply him with meat, and the thousands necessary to carry him around on a big golden platform that he had built for him. Finally it could happen that he became present in men's minds and caused agonizing headaches whenever they thought of anything besides serving him. I believe that no one then would say, there is no God; no one would say that these events were natural; nor do I think many people would continue to worship a god other than him. I see no way to maintain that this hypothetical set of events is logically impossible.
Further let's take Jesus' birth. Do you think this was to a virgin mother somehow inseminated by God? If so, then clearly God is capable of working changes upon the natural world. If not, then in what sense can Jesus, a mortal born not only of woman but also of man, be called God?
I find it odd though, that you advance the view that since these reported events were miracles, therefore they could not have happened. God might perhaps work changes in the ongoing world, you say, but necessarily these could not be known to to be of divine origin. The "necessary" part of your argument seems utterly irrational to me. It could happen, one fine morning, that Baal the Destroyer in the form of massively gigantic brass golem would rise up out of the sea, shouting in a monstrous voice, "I am Baal the Destroyer, thy Lord and Master, and thou shalt obey me!" and then breathe fire onto anyone who tried to resist. It could further happen that he destroyed all the world's armies, set himself up in, oh, the Taj Mahal, and consumed large quantities of human flesh while people bowed down to him seven times a day. It could happen that the only people he left alive were those necessary to supply him with meat, and the thousands necessary to carry him around on a big golden platform that he had built for him. Finally it could happen that he became present in men's minds and caused agonizing headaches whenever they thought of anything besides serving him. I believe that no one then would say, there is no God; no one would say that these events were natural; nor do I think many people would continue to worship a god other than him. I see no way to maintain that this hypothetical set of events is logically impossible.
Further let's take Jesus' birth. Do you think this was to a virgin mother somehow inseminated by God? If so, then clearly God is capable of working changes upon the natural world. If not, then in what sense can Jesus, a mortal born not only of woman but also of man, be called God?
