For instance, five does not equal four. The Egyptians did not watch Seinfield. These assertions could be proven, couldn't they? Some would argue that the reason why God's existence can't be disproven is because he has no definition, characteristics, or location. If we had one or all of these things, would it change anything?
2007-07-02 03:05:04 · 14 answers · asked by Linz ♥ VT 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
No. The phrase "You can't prove a negative" refers to the impossibility of proving the general construction "No thing of type A has quality B." Your first example is merely a tautology - A is not equal to B, given specific, differing values for A and B. It is not an example of a negative construction.
The second could be an example of a negative construction if phrased somewhat more rigorously - No (ancient) Egyptians watched Seinfeld. It has a certain common sense to it, and most people would be willing to assume it's true, but it's not provable - we could posit an exceptional circumstance where some sort of time paradox allowed an ancient Egyptian to watch the show, which would make that statement false. Sure, it's ludicrously unlikely, but we can't _prove_ it _didn't_ happen, so we can't prove the statement true.
God's existance can't be disproven because God having no definition, characteristics, or location doesn't mean he doesn't exist, given a subtle enough version of God. And God having definition, characteristics, or location would disprove his _non-existance_, not disprove his existance (since we could point to something that shows that he exists).
2007-07-02 03:18:38 · answer #1 · answered by stmichaeldet 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Tangible evidence exists which can prove the two examples that you gave are true. We can look at a bag of five apples and a bag of four apples and see that they are not equal. We can specify the exact date that Seinfeld first aired on television and compare it to the dates that the Egyptians lived and prove that they did not watch it. However, no one has ever seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled God. Therefore, we have no tangible evidence that he exists and thus, he cannot be proven or disproven.
2007-07-02 10:12:45 · answer #2 · answered by Biggus Dickus 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I can prove that the cracks in a sidewalk exist as nothing, with or with out air or dirt in it. If you can't prove that zero exists, stop using it. If one, divided by zero equals infinity, and zero doesn't exist, than neither does infinity. That makes our cosmos quite abit smaller than I imagine most scientist think.
Nothing is quite an important concept. And negative numbers are extraordinary. Have you heard of imaginary numbers? Prove they exist, or forget your quadratic equation.
Math even uses irrational numbers, which are quite difficult to prove, but quite useful.
One is the loneliest number...no is the saddest experience...an empty frame is the saddest picture...
2007-07-02 18:19:50 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Did man understand electricity before he discovered and utilized it. Was it once unimaginable or inconceivable to send a man into outer space. When did he invent the microscope let alone understand the common virus and see it with his eyes. How long has he taken to explore the depths of the oceans filled with so much life yet he still has much to learn.
Can we see, hear, touch, taste or smell gravity or do we only see its effects. We know it is there. That does not disprove its existence.
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God's place of dwelling is beyond our physical universe. We see his intelligence in his creation and his mightiness in the vastness of space. We can only understand the meaning of tangibility in our physical world.
We can feel Gods presence when his holy spirit is guiding us. We hear him when we read his word with understanding and we see him with our eyes of discernment. We appreciate his qualities of love, power, wisdom and justice.
Humans are such puny creatures compared to Him.
2007-07-02 21:38:12 · answer #4 · answered by Marina 1 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
5 zeros = 4 zeros
Egypt is a Country full of Egyptians, and I can take a Sienfield DVD to Cairo.
I have Flour and Water, could I make a Cake?
With those same Parts, I could make Paste
Or Paper Mache
Or Pizza
Unless you have All the Information, the Whole is not Attainable with just a Few Parts.
God is too Vast a Concept to be Defined by a few Thoughts, or Dis-Enfranchised by Lack of Them.
2007-07-02 10:15:11 · answer #5 · answered by wonderland.alyson 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
5<>4 and Egyptions did not watch Senfield are logical arguments - but neither proves the non-existance of something.
Egyptions did not watch Senfield DOES NOT mean Senfield does not exist.
5 not equaling 4, does not mean 4 does not exist.
You can not prove something 'DOES NOT EXIST'
You can not prove a NOTHING. If you could prove it, then it would be something.
~ Eric Putkonen
2007-07-02 10:27:11 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Why do you think God is hidden from us? Because we would treat the manifestation as we treat guinea pigs and use it to experiment on!
As the Bible says, every house is built by someone, the unbelievers are without excuse for their non-belief.
If that is God's judgment of their disbelief, then the argument is good enough for me!
2007-07-02 10:15:26 · answer #7 · answered by Fuzzy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Focus on proving that God exists. It's much more productive.
2007-07-02 10:23:54 · answer #8 · answered by S K 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, some things can be. I think that if it did have one of these things, it could be very possibly proved.
2007-07-02 10:09:27 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes, you can prove a negative. However, that doesn't mean god exists. The absence of proof, for me, means that I continue to believe god does not exist until such proof is presented to show beyond any doubt that he does.
2007-07-02 10:10:25 · answer #10 · answered by glitterkittyy 7 · 3⤊ 3⤋