What is the purpose of religion?

[Castiel]

-Snip-

That was a really well done, and really well made video. It certainly is very difficult to argue against it. It's not something I am going to just try and brush off so easily. But I want to say this. They ended the video by saying that God couldn't have created to world because before the Big Bang, there was no such thing as time, and God couldn't have existed if time itself didn't exist. But one of the definitions of an omnipotent being is that it transcends both space AND time. I'm not going to argue that the Big Bang wasn't the cause of universe because I am a strong believer that God may have used the Big Bang to push His great plan into motion. There are just too many things that work together so perfectly for the Big Bang to have been able to cause all by itself.

Thanks for sharing, though. I really do appreciate it

 

[naved.islam14]

It's purpose is to stop threads like this from ever being created but it must've failed.

 

[Mindzpeed]

More and more people start treating "God" as the creative force behind the universe, whatever it may be, rather than a guy with a white beard, sitting on a cloud and watching over us. The difference between Atheists and these "new" religious people is that Atheists choose to treat this force as a natural occurrence wheras religious people usually attach some form of sentience to it - that's that.

You dont have to be atheist to believe that god is a force of nature since thats almost exactly how I interpret God's prescence.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

I would like to say God in a "non-magical" capacity is not unreasonable.

A lot of people when they think of God think he's some magic Gandalfian wizard who just uses his magic powers to start and end shit. It's not unreasonable to think of it from more scientific terms. The universe is infinite, whose to say there isn't a single being vastly more powerful than us.

Basically...

Star Trek explores this pretty well actually. They present numerous alien races that are omnipotent or much, much more powerful than us. It does raise the question: What does God need with a spaceship?

 

[Valwin]

You dont have to be atheist to believe that god is a force of nature since thats almost exactly how I interpret God's prescence.

them just call it nature so god now takes orders fro nature ?

 

[Gahars]

That was a really well done, and really well made video. It certainly is very difficult to argue against it. It's not something I am going to just try and brush off so easily. But I want to say this. They ended the video by saying that God couldn't have created to world because before the Big Bang, there was no such thing as time, and God couldn't have existed if time itself didn't exist. But one of the definitions of an omnipotent being is that it transcends both space AND time. I'm not going to argue that the Big Bang wasn't the cause of universe because I am a strong believer that God may have used the Big Bang to push His great plan into motion. There are just too many things that work together so perfectly for the Big Bang itself to have caused.

I completely agree that that's a bit of a hole in his reasoning. I deeply respect Hawkings and his work, but I don't think his proposal is the be-all, end-all of the debate (despite all the "Checkmate, theists" posts you're sure to find in the comments may tell you) - still, I think it's a great demonstration of how science is becoming more and more capable of grappling the once-unthinkable.

 

[Valwin]

That was a really well done, and really well made video. It certainly is very difficult to argue against it. It's not something I am going to just try and brush off so easily. But I want to say this. They ended the video by saying that God couldn't have created to world because before the Big Bang, there was no such thing as time, and God couldn't have existed if time itself didn't exist. But one of the definitions of an omnipotent being is that it transcends both space AND time. I'm not going to argue that the Big Bang wasn't the cause of universe because I am a strong believer that God may have used the Big Bang to push His great plan into motion. There are just too many things that work together so perfectly for the Big Bang to have been able to cause all by itself.

Thanks for sharing, though. I really do appreciate it

an omnipotent being is that it transcends both space AND time.


we humans made up that definition


There are just too many things that work together so perfectly
thats the thing they are not if you look into nature your will see is very imperfect

 

[Castiel]

an omnipotent being is that it transcends both space AND time.


we humans made up that definition
So it doesn't transcend both space and time then? Just because humans made up the definition, doesn't necessarily mean it is completely wrong.

There are just too many things that work together so perfectly
thats the thing they are not if you look into nature your will see is very imperfect
The fact that all of the things in the human body work together so wonderfully in order for us to function properly is proof enough of how perfectly things work together. (Except the appendix )
Another example: How the earth is placed at just the perfect place in space in order for us to survive.

 

[Valwin]

Another example: How the earth is placed at just the perfect place in space in order for us to survive.

as the sun gets older that will change this planet just happen to be in the right time at the right moment eventually the planet will be destroy by the sun it self

So it doesn't transcend both space and time then? Just because humans made up the definition, doesn't necessarily mean it is completely wrong.

i have no idea we have never seen such god

 

[Castiel]

as the sun gets older that will change this planet just happen to be in the right time at the right moment eventually the planet will be destroy by the sun it self

Some would call that coincidence. I would call it intelligent planning.

 

[Valwin]

Some would call that coincidence. I would call it intelligent planning.

I would call it intelligent planning

whats intelligent about placing the planet near a nuclear reactor that will eventually destroy it
is a coincidence

 

[Castiel]

I would call it intelligent planning

whats intelligent about placing the planet near a nuclear reactor that will eventually destroy it
is a coincidence

I like how out of all the people in the world, you, Valwin, are the one that knows how the world will end.
The Bible talks about how the end of the earth will come at some point.

 

[BlueStar]

It's not that the 'earth was placed perfectly so we could survive' it's that the only life forms that could survive in the conditions on earth are the only ones that passed on their genes and survived. There are billions upon billions of planets, all various distances from stars. Life evolved on the one that was just right. That's just numbers, not magic.

'It's impossible for something to come out of nothing and everything has to have had a beginning, so there must have been a God to start it all who came out of nothing or who has always been around' is also not a particularly great argument by anyone's standards.

 

[Valwin]

I like how out of all the people in the world, you, Valwin, are the one that knows how the world will end.
The Bible talks about how the end of the earth will come at some point.

according to the bible the world should have ended 100 times already because the stuff it says are so generic


stars die

the sun our sun is a star and like all other stars will eventually explode the planet will be destroy is the only end of the world thats guaranteed to happen

 

[Castiel]

according to the bible the world should have ended 100 times already because the stuff it says are so generic

Proof?

stars die

the sun our sun is a star and like all other stars will eventually explode the planet will be destroy is the only end of the world thats guaranteed to happen

You're entitled to your own opinion. I'd watch what you pass off as fact, though.

 

[BlueStar]

Imagining earth must have been 'placed' in a perfect position is like sitting on a pebble beach, sticking your arm out and being amazed that there's a pebble EXACTLY an arm's length away. Surely it must have been put there just for you? I mean, it can't just be an accident. It's EXACTLY the right distance away for YOUR arm. Someone must have put it there just for you. Why? What are they trying to tell me? Enlighten me, oh pebble placer!

 

[kupo3000]

Proof?

You're entitled to your own opinion. I'd watch what you pass off as fact, though.

Oh for crying out loud. These nebulae (star death remnants) are literally scattered everywhere in the universe.

 

[Castiel]

Oh for crying out loud, these things (star death remnants) are literally scattered everywhere in the universe.

I'm not doubting that the stars explode. I'm doubting that this is what is going to be what destroys the earth. It is a reasonable explanation but we have no proof of it being the absolute sure way of being the cause of the end of the earth.

 

[Valwin]

Proof?

You're entitled to your own opinion. I'd watch what you pass off as fact, though.

so your telling me stars are not real ?

from the evidence that we have about about the dead of stars we come to the conclusion our star will die too


if you have evidence that stars don't die you could like share it

if the sun dies we go with it is that simple

according to the bible the world should have ended 100 times already because the stuff it says are so generic

WW1, WW2, Cold war ,the crusades , 100 year war , the dark ages the black death ,napoleon ECT

 

[kupo3000]

I'm not doubting that the stars explode. I'm doubting that this is what is going to be what destroys the earth. It is a reasonable explanation but we have no proof of it being the absolute sure way of being the cause of the end of the earth.

In the mean time if nothing else destroys Earth, the Sun will.
Like all dying stars do when surrounded by a planetary system.