Quote:However much you protest the idea, you *are* using a "God of the Gaps" argument. You go from the position of "something must have started the universe" to the position of "that something was God" without any explanation of how you got there; only that it "makes sense" to you.
Well, we all carry philosophical baggage. Something which is completely rational and logical to me, may not be for you and vice versa. However you do make a good point. I get to the idea well to my understanding and ideas. That 'something' would have to be bigger than what it started (That something was bigger than the universe, to my understanding, the only bigger thing than the universe and multiverse with some sought of intelligence is God) but like you said, I could be wrong, but you could be wrong at the moment this idea is plausible.
Quote:If you wanted to be intellectually honest, you'd say that we currently don't know what started the universe, but that you believe it was a God (for your religious reasons). It still isn't a very good argument; but it's better than "God of the Gaps".
Well defininately! As I have said previously, the God of the Gaps fallacy may be proven with how the universe started and I think Hawkings quote shows that not even the greatest mind understands how the universe, let alone all the verses, came into existence. I, like many other theists say perhaps it was God, like you say perhaps it wasnt, both make sense.
Quote:This assumes the universe has a cause. There is no evidence it did. The Big Bang is the expansion of space and time; not the creation of the universe as a lot of people seem to think. As Darwinian said, our current understanding of reality falls apart once we reach the Big Bang. There are theories that time did not exist prior to the Big Bang, hence the universe would have existed for all time; there are theories that quantum fluctuations were the cause.
The point is, we don't know; we may never know. Putting God as an explanation might feel good for the religious, but it is a big assumption.
Very true. but as humans are used to big assumptions in out belief system, I dont have any empirical evidence to say that God exisits or doesnt just assume He does, like you assume He doesnt.
I wouldnt say 'feel good' makes the most sense to people, not because they are stupid, but how they see the world.
Quote:I agree. The concept of God has nothing to say in science.
I love quoting this, Robert Jastrow, an agnostic, had this to say:
"For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountain of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries."
