(October 1, 2012 at 6:12 pm)Dranu Wrote: As to 1, it may assist you to think of the Cosmological argument not as proving the first cause but simply saying all things require a reason (i.e. the universe isn't just magically so). If something (including the universe) explains itself sufficiently, then it needs no cause. An infninite being explains its own existence (there is no logical need to inquire why intrinsically non-contingent beings exist).
The video I posted basically says: If we assume no god, then the creation of the universe is a mystery. If we assume a god, the cause of this god is even more mysterious than the cause of the universe.
One cannot argue that god exists by his own definition, because 1.I could use this to prove the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and 2. If we do not assume that god does or does not exist, then his definition is not enough to prove his existence. You cannot say "X exists because I define X as 'something that must exist'". If you do, then anything you make up (like Flying Spaghetti Monster) can be X and can prove itself by that logic.
John Adams Wrote:The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.
