Ramblings

[varrin]

I have been wanting to write something but I've been busy. I have all sorts of ideas for things to write, theological, philosophical, political, and so much more, but now I feel compelled to just ramble on. Maybe I'll inject a few nuggets of all of the above as I select random recent events as a jumping off point

Comments

[maineshark]

"What the Bible does say is that creation (the universe and everything in it) exists because God created it. That doesn't mean that something else must have caused God to exist, but it does mean that God did cause creation to exist. Any more is simply unknown to us."

That doesn't mean that "God did cause creation to exist." That asserts such.

[varrin]

Ahh yes, of course. You are correct.

My unstated assumption above is that the person making that version of the creation argument in favor of God also believes (in) the Bible in the first place. That may not necessarily be the case, of course, but I take it for granted here (Jews, Muslims, other monotheists, and some deists might also like the argument). The usual con in that argument would be the non-monotheist (usually an atheist). I'm not taking their position, rather I'm pointing out the problem of the false alternative - that only an atheist (or other non-monotheist) would argue against the argument from creation. I am not an atheist but I reject that version of the argument from creation on the grounds that it's neither sound nor Biblical (in this case, Biblical covers all three major monotheistic religions as the Genesis account is shared between them).

Of course, if I wanted to stir the pot, I could point out that all parties in the debate assert at some point ;)

V-

[maineshark]

Atheism is every bit as faith-based as any other religion.

However, I'm an agnostic. I assert nothing without objective evidence.

[varrin]

I would agree with you about atheism, though many atheists would disagree. Even your position asserts that it asserts nothing without objective evidence. The more I think about it (and I do, of course), the more I'm convinced there's no such thing as a 'faith free' life. Of course I'm sure we'd wind up arguing semantics and scope and all that. At least, it seems to me, we understand each other's positions. That's a great start :)

V-