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RE: William Craig's problem with actual infinities.
February 1, 2016 at 10:55 pm
(February 1, 2016 at 9:50 am)Emuse Wrote: (January 31, 2016 at 1:28 pm)Jehanne Wrote: In his 2014 debate with Sean Carroll, Craig states the following:
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/god-and-c...z3yq6jszTm
What can't the same observation be made about the supposed Incarnation? If god existed from "eternity past", as Craig claims, why didn't the Incarnation occur in "eternity past," also? It seems like special pleading to suggest otherwise.
Hi Jehanne,
I'm an atheist and new here so I hope you don't mind me chipping in.
If you're going to critique Craig amongst those who accept his arguments (but not all believers do mind you and some of them who do, don't understand the logical implications of Craig's own position) then you need to bear in mind that Craig doesn't believe that God has existed from "eternity past". In this context a "past eternity" is the same as a temporal, infinite regress of time and Craig strenuously argues (unsuccessfully, I think) that such a thing is impossible. Rather, he holds that God is timelessly without beginning and that when God creates, he becomes temporal with the universe. At that point, time starts to pass for God too. But because God is timeless without the universe, there is no "waiting around" for God to do.
What a strange god; it would seem like an eternal block of ice would have more of a personality. To think means to change one's thoughts; I don't see how you can argue around this, even with "word games." But, if god does "think" even prior to his/her/its creation of the Cosmos, then there has to be a succession of events, no?
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RE: William Craig's problem with actual infinities.
February 2, 2016 at 12:12 am
(February 1, 2016 at 9:50 am)Emuse Wrote: (January 31, 2016 at 1:28 pm)Jehanne Wrote: In his 2014 debate with Sean Carroll, Craig states the following:
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/god-and-c...z3yq6jszTm
What can't the same observation be made about the supposed Incarnation? If god existed from "eternity past", as Craig claims, why didn't the Incarnation occur in "eternity past," also? It seems like special pleading to suggest otherwise.
Hi Jehanne,
I'm an atheist and new here so I hope you don't mind me chipping in.
If you're going to critique Craig amongst those who accept his arguments (but not all believers do mind you and some of them who do, don't understand the logical implications of Craig's own position) then you need to bear in mind that Craig doesn't believe that God has existed from "eternity past". In this context a "past eternity" is the same as a temporal, infinite regress of time and Craig strenuously argues (unsuccessfully, I think) that such a thing is impossible. Rather, he holds that God is timelessly without beginning and that when God creates, he becomes temporal with the universe. At that point, time starts to pass for God too. But because God is timeless without the universe, there is no "waiting around" for God to do.
Welcome to the forum, Emuse.
Yep, that's the weird bizarre God WLC believes in ... makes me wonder what the point of using logic is ... might as well say "magic"!
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