when i look at the world i see mathematical truths and natural laws that are apparent and indubitable. i don't see how God had any freedom whatsoever to exclude these truths, because i believe that they are independent of creation or space/time.what do you think?
2006-08-22 11:29:14 · 9 answers · asked by kevinhoegle 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
I believe that the mathmatical laws, proofs and truths were all created by god when he created the universe. I am a scientist and a believer in god. Some people don't think this is very possible, but when I think about how things work in the universe; how there is an order to the chaos, I can't help but believe it was created by a higher power. How can anything/everything be 99.9% empty space, yet at the macro level, here we are, big as life, solid as ever.
2006-08-22 11:34:35 · answer #1 · answered by Phoenix 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think there are no absolute truths or constants in science and mathematics, let alone religion. There is no TOE, there's an infinite direction outward and inward. People have described this as our Universe being a molecule on the ring of a large giant. As an example, what came before the Big Bang and what came before creation or who created God?
For every theory out there (or natural law) there's always a question of how it came about. Example: the law of gravity is based on the distortion of time/space of large objects. But what created the large objects? Why do object fly in geocentric orbits around the sun, the nuetron?
2006-08-22 11:43:58 · answer #2 · answered by Its not me Its u 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think that is certain. Just because (S)He didn't give us the ability to imagine something different doesn't mean that he couldn't have done so. Perhaps he did! On the other hand it might have been like us. You could build a car with no moving parts but it wouldn't be a car. Further One plus One must equal Two only by the essense of the words, and reality either conforms or the equation doesn't apply. For example, I have four cats and two kittens, and one plus one equals two doesn't tell us anything about our six felines.
Perhaps a greater mind could answer such a question elegantly, but I just have to say that he didn't necessarily have any restraints beyond the ones he imposed.
2006-08-22 11:43:00 · answer #3 · answered by kaminegg 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you have it backward, Pythagoras(he,he) couldn't resist, if you know about the man. God doesn't have restraints except that of His holiness and non-contradiction. What I mean, is that holiness is perfection, so His creation was originally perfect until man got a hold of it. By non-contradiction, God cannot create something that is su perior to Himself. Thus, Mathematical law is subject to God's control and are absolute and inviolable, so much for relativism. The same principle applies to natural laws. The idea being God cannot create a stone He can't lift.
2006-08-22 13:43:36 · answer #4 · answered by tigranvp2001 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The universe is a marvel of balance just as it is. If it has a designer, it is a wonderful testament to the designer. If the universe is a random happening, it is one of colossal coincidence, so far beyond any measure of statistics that it would have to be considered miraculous.
Assuming that God created the laws of the universe, he created them for a reason. And that reason would be that he wanted life to be possible in the universe. If the speed of light, gravitational constant, mass of an electron, were different, life could not exist anywhere in the universe - things would be too static, and dull stars would never form heavy elements, or they would be too chaotic, and anything formed would be destroyed too soon.
2006-08-22 12:32:44 · answer #5 · answered by Polymath 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What mathematical truth EXACTLY do you see?
All I see is paradoxes and unsolvable problems:
For example:
There is a continuum hypothesis that is neither Provable not Disprovable[1]
There is a PROOF that any mathematical system strong enough to have natural numbers will have statements that are neither provable not disprovable.[2]
On top of that there are problems that CANNOT be solved[3]
Where is this perfection you are talking about?
2006-08-22 14:14:09 · answer #6 · answered by hq3 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Both believers in religious knowledge and believers in scientific knowledge ignore history. History itself changes, but one thing it always shows us is that both religious and scientific knowledge are also subject to change - radical, fundamental change, not just cosmetic change - and there is no reason to think that they will not continue to change.
Once upon a time there was no zero in math. Did we invent zero or was it always there to be found (did God invent it)? I think zero, like all *applicable* math concepts (as distinct from 'pure' math concepts) has always been there to be found, so, if we believe in God, we can say God invented it/them.
But is it necessary to posit a God to explain everything? Why can it not be true that 'everything' has always existed in some form or another? Particularly, is a God who is a Person necessary? The world contains persons, but does it follow from that fact that the ultimate explanation of everything is a Person?
2006-08-22 12:17:42 · answer #7 · answered by brucebirdfield 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'll only add that St. Augustine says that God can not do what is logically contradictory.
2006-08-22 12:08:47 · answer #8 · answered by wehwalt 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the most posslbe thing that happened (i think) is that he created chemistry and then he put the first gases in space so everything just kept going
2006-08-22 12:45:54 · answer #9 · answered by originalquene 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋