(May 5, 2016 at 7:24 am)Jörmungandr Wrote:(May 5, 2016 at 6:56 am)SteveII Wrote: If nothing exists necessarily, everything exists contingently. Contingent things have an explanation for their existence. Why is there something rather than nothing? To say "I don't know" to that question and then tell a theist that the idea of God is ridiculous is, at best, inconsistent.
Exactly what do you mean when you say it's inconsistent here? The idea of God is ridiculous whether or not there is an alternative or not. To reject a ludicrous hypothesis even if you lack an alternative is not inconsistent, it's just common sense. What do you mean here?
If you make the statement that nothing necessarily exists, you are also saying that everything is contingent (having an explanation for its existence). If everything is contingent, the universe has an explanation for its existence.
So the argument seems to be
1) the universe must have an explanation for existence
2) God cannot be that explanation
Therefore: We don't know, just anything other than God.
I have yet to hear why the concept of God is logically impossible (and therefore ridiculous).