RE: A scientific reason to not believe?
November 27, 2012 at 4:10 pm
(This post was last modified: November 27, 2012 at 4:28 pm by Mister Agenda.)
(November 25, 2012 at 3:07 am)journeyinghowie Wrote:(November 25, 2012 at 2:48 am)Annik Wrote: Evidence of a god, please.
And furthermore, evidence that it is the Abrahamic god and not MIGHTY THOR.
I agree with you that the God of Abraham is not Thor. Thor was a demi-god, not a god. I don't agree with you though that that was a real answer. I think that it was just a refutation to try and get me out of here. You think I'm an annoying Christian. And I find that sad. No one wants to have a real conversation. I thought you atheists were better than that. I thought I would be challenged by academic people. I guess not.
LOL, do you have any idea how many of you 'I thought atheists were better than that' people we get in a year? Stay a Catholic. This is not a site for talking you out of it. If it were up to me, there would be a test you have to pass before you can call yourself an atheist. If you want to have a real conversation, try really conversing instead of throwing out pathetic challenges and whinging about the responses. Especially since the very first response was perfectly adequate.
(November 25, 2012 at 3:17 am)journeyinghowie Wrote: l) The Proof from Motion. We observe motion all around us. Whatever is in motion now was at rest until moved by something else, and that by something else, and so on. But if there were an infinite series of movers, all waiting to be moved by something else, then actual motion could never have got started, and there would be no motion now. But there is motion now. So there must be a First Mover which is itself unmoved. This First Mover we call God.
You fail to establish that the series cannot be infinite. If it's not infinite, the first mover could be a quantum vacuum fluctuation. If you want to call that God, knock yourself out.
(November 25, 2012 at 3:17 am)journeyinghowie Wrote: 2) The Proof from Efficient Cause. Everything in the world has its efficient cause--its maker--and that maker has its maker, and so on. The coffee table was made by the carpenter, the carpenter by his or her parents, and on and on. But if there were just an infinite series of such makers, the series could never have got started, and therefore be nothing now. But there is something everything there is! So there must have been a First Maker, that was not itself made, and that First Maker we call God.
Again, you have not estabished that an infinite series is impossible. You are basically just saying that you don't like the idea of an infinite series, therefore it cannot be so. Again, there's no reason why your 'First Maker' couldn't be a quantum vacuum fluctuation. You guys will worship anything, won't you?
(November 25, 2012 at 3:17 am)journeyinghowie Wrote: 3) The Proof from Necessary vs. Possible Being. Possible, or contingent, beings are those, such as cars and trees and you and I, whose existence is not necessary. For all such beings there is a time before they come to be when they are not yet, and a time after they cease to be when they are no more. If everything were merely possible, there would have been a time, long ago, when nothing had yet come to be. Nothing comes from nothing, so in that case there would be nothing now! But there is something now-the world and everything in it-so there must be at least one necessary being. This Necessary Being we call God.
What property does nothing possess that prevents it from becoming something? In any case, physics leans towards philosophical nothingness being impossible and a quantum vacuum fluctuation always being possible. Apparently the necessary being is the default state of vacuum fluctuations being possible. Worship away.
(November 25, 2012 at 3:17 am)journeyinghowie Wrote: 4) The Proof from Degrees of Perfection. We all evaluate things and people in terms of their being more or less perfectly true, good, noble and so on. We have certain standards of how things and people should be. But we would have no such standards unless there were some being that is perfect in every way, something that is the truest, noblest, and best. That Most Perfect Being we call God.
That we would have no such standards unless there was one being that was perfect in every way is mere assertion.
(November 25, 2012 at 3:17 am)journeyinghowie Wrote: 5) The Proof from Design. As we look at the world around us, and ourselves, we see ample evidence of design--the bird's wing, designed for the purpose of flight; the human ear, designed for the purpose of hearing; the natural environment, designed to support life; and on and on. If there is design, there must be a designer. That Designer we call God.
We have very robust and fruitful explanations for the appearance of design. It turns out the designers are unconscious natural processes. You pagan, you.
PS: You keep using this word 'proof'. I don't think it means what you think it does.
Argument against the existence of God as usually defined #1: All arguments for the existence of God are either fallacious or rest on unfalsifiable premises.