(October 17, 2016 at 12:38 pm)Soldat Du Christ Wrote: ""to set it all in motion"? Who says it hasn't been in motion since forever?Get with the times, huh?
How do you know?"
Anybody who is still stuck on this, you need to get with the times.
"All the evidence we have says that the universe had a beginning" -Vilenkin
Did I say Universe? Or did I say "all"? Can you envisage a scenario where those two are not coincident? I can.
Can we, humans, affirm that all that exists is contained in this Universe? NO.
Ultimately, you can't claim anything about any beginning, because you don't know if there was one... you can only claim something about this Universe....
(October 17, 2016 at 12:38 pm)Soldat Du Christ Wrote: "Everything only applies to what we observe (as far as we know)"
So you agree with me?
"Wasn't it Thomas Aquinas that first put this "uncaused cause" into writing? He didn't even know about the big-bang! Kudos to him! But... still wrong!"
The big bang doesn't prove anything in that regard, all it does is confirm there was a begining. Anything before that is theory. Any attempt at a material explanation is self deafeating. Only a supernatural cause is plausable.
Confirm that our Universe had a beginning. Keep up with the times.
The big bang can't tell you anything about space-time... only about the space-time contained within this Universe.
Don't act like a smug human, thinking you know things you can't possibly know.
If you want to be honest, all you can say is that you don't know if there is a beginning. Anything else, you'll be having to preface everything with a mighty big IF.