To those of you who don't belive in God*...?

Question

If you don't believe in God or ask "who created God" in an attempt to stump those who believe, can you tell me from where the universe in which we live derived? Or where did the first spark of energy that caused the big bang come from? Or how did "space" get here?

*Disclaimer:
I am not judging anyone. I believe in being fair. As a Christian I have always had to fight for my right to choose to believe that God is a living entity and furthermore (and more extreme) that Jesus Christ is my personal Lord and savior.
I do however love to hear other people’s point of view. So I said all that to say this, if you are going to write that I am “stupid” or that “people that believe this crap are _______”, or say "I can't answer this question because there is no God", please, please, please don't answer. I asked this question for real answers not to be insulted. And likewise, if I have offended anyone with this question I do sincerely apologize.

Thanks!!

If matter always existed, why can't a "creator"?

Kjelstad: I'm not saying lack of one thing automatically gives proof of something else. I was just wanting an answer. If there is one to be given

First of all I would like to thank everyone who has responded so far. Now brace yourself for this:
1. There is proof that God exists. BECAUSE I believe in Him, His presense in real in my life, He talks WITH m, comforts me, heals my body and blesses my life abundantly.
I am first in line to say that this sounds down right "commitable" but it is true. People who say there is no concrete proof of God have never allowed Him access to their hearts. Atheists say that if they could see God then they will believe in him. Well, I have seen God (not in the looney toons sense), but in my life and in my walk -He is there.

Answer 1

I tend to believe the big bang theory and the theory of evolution. Since there was no one to witness this and, except on a macro scale, no one has observers evolution. I have no issue saying these are theories. Since I am not a scientist, I've linked the theories below

On the other side of the issue, I've almost never heard christians refer to the theory of god. What is the empirical proof of a divine creator that has christian saying there is a god?

Answer 2

I propose that this is the wrong question. The better question might be: what would be the utility of a belief in god? It does not take a lot of thought to conclude that the utility is zero. Any theory of god is irrefutable: there is no conceivable way to show that such a theory is false. It can be proven that the usefulness (i.e., predictive power) of any theory derives exclusively from its refutability. It follows at once that no theory of god can predict anything: all such theories are useless.

Questions about god can be divided into two categories:
1. Was there a god who started the universe, prescribing the laws by which it now works?
2. Is there a god which is an observer and tinkerer in current affairs?
Science depends on the answer to the second question being NO. Were it otherwise, one could not make reliable predictions about anything -- god could always step in and overrule the natural law. As for the first question, there is no way to know the answer; it may become clearer if/when we get a Theory of Everything that actually works. (We are nowhere close to having one now.)

Answer 3

This is a philosophical question. Science doesn't have all the answers, and doesn't claim to. The Beginning (with a capital B) is a mystery. To me a mystery is not scary, just a challenge.

Right now everything we have is guesswork. I heard a cool explanation, which stated that perhaps our universe began (with the Big Bang, which started space-time in our universe) when two n-branes (strings of the nth dimension) touched. I didn't understand much of it, but right now it's my best guess as to our beginning. If another, better explanation comes along, I'll consider that instead; this is not a religious matter for me. As for the existence of those n-branes, well I think at some level these things must be infinite in time and space.

Answer 4

The physics and mathematics is all worked out down to a tiny fraction of a second after the 'big bang' (although the theory has been updated somewhat, showing that initially there was a huge 'inflation'... not quite like an explosion). It may be years or even decades before we can figure out exactly what happened... and maybe we'll never be able to figure it out. So, for the time being, at least, the 'scientific' answer to your question is "We don't know... yet."

Now, if we wanted to create the ILLUSION that we DO know, at this point we would invoke the 'God of the Gaps' fallacy (flaw in thinking), and proclaim..."That's very complicated; therefore, God did it." But, of course, being rational people, we don't want to go evoking any logical fallacies, do we? No... of course not. So, we'll just leave it at "We don't know... yet." for the time being. OK?

Answer 5

Wonderful if you wanna believe it; you can't change the truth.
When was the last time the God you know as a personality came down and had a chat with you. This is total Illiteracy asking who created the universe, its very logical and honest that nothing can be created or destroyed.
DO YOU KNOW HOW VAST THE UNIVERSE IS; SOME 250 BILLION GALAXIES STILL COUNTING AND EACH HAVING A 100 CRORE STARS OF THE SIZE COMPARABLE TO THAT OF SUN.
I DON'T WANNA HURT YOUR FEELINGS BUT GOD IS NOTHING BUT A PERFECLY ENLIGHTENED SOUL WHO REMAINS UNAFFECTED BY THE REST.NATURE GIVE THEM BIRTH TO CREATE A BALANCE BETWEEN GOOD AND BAD OR FOR HIS OWN DESERVING OF BEING SALVATED.
REMEMBER ENLIGHTMENT; BIBLE DOESNT TEACH THIS I GUESS.
IT COMES FROM WITHIN.
YOU ARE NOT STUPID YOU JUST DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT KNOWLEDGE.SEE THERE ARE SO MANY RELIGIONS IN THIS WORLD ALL HAVING DIFFERENT FAITHS; EVERYONE CAN'T BELIEVE IN CHRISTIANITY. yOU ARE BORN CHRISTIAN FOR SOME REASON JUST GO AHEAD WITH THAT BUT DON'T ARGUE.

Answer 6

Nope. The solving the problem of the how the universe came to be is not high on my priority list. I accept that at some point the universe came into being and a sequence of events led to my birth. But I don't wallow in existential angst. I'm here, everyone else is here, and I'd be very happy if we could all just move on from there.

Answer 7

Those are some serious and difficult questions. As yet, no one has the answer to those questions, but there is plenty of interesting work going on in those fields and you would benefit from reading about them yourself. Most atheists I know have read Bibles and other religious texts as well as studied the physical sciences. I think it's a good idea for theists who wish to debate scientists to read about the science first. Many of your questions might be answered there. Stephen Hawking is a good place to start.

Answer 8

First, you must remember that God is holy and He doesn't really like His children to use the word "c---"

And I accept your apology for offending me...(smile)

You must simply believe that some people will never believe in God.

As for who created God...that is a question that stumps even the most dedicated Christian, and I plan to ask God about that one of these days.

But it certainly doesn't hinder my faith if I don't have an answer to everything.
I just simply believe.

Answer 9

Just because we don't know for sure, does not prove a god.

Just because people didn't know what caused lightning they blamed that on god too.

We could accept it, like people did with lightning 300 years ago. or we could act like that great atheist did that discovered it was just electricity and try to explain it.

"Has science ever retreated? No! It is Catholicism which has always retreated before her, and will always be forced to retreat."
Emile Zola (1840-1902), French novelist, from Rufus K. Noyes, Views of Religion

Answer 10

No, we do not know where the universe came from ... it will likely remain as the greatest paradoxial problem for all time.

But there is quite a difference between the belief that the universe is here (matter / energy that we can interact with) and the belief that what is here is an all-powerful diety.