RE: Atheists, what are the most convincing theist arguments you heard of?
March 15, 2017 at 12:44 am
(This post was last modified: March 15, 2017 at 12:44 am by Nonpareil.)
(March 14, 2017 at 7:33 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: No premise in the 1W refers to the universe, does it?
No. That's rather the point.
Aquinas' First Way's central premise is that all things that move must have a mover. This can only be demonstrated to hold within the universe, and cannot be shown to apply to the universe itself. If the argument is applied to the universe, as is the implication, it collapses; if it is applied only within the universe itself, it fails to establish that the first mover must be a deity rather than a natural force.
Either way, it fails.
"Owl," said Rabbit shortly, "you and I have brains. The others have fluff. If there is any thinking to be done in this Forest - and when I say thinking I mean thinking - you and I must do it."
- A. A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner
- A. A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner