The atheist Bertrand Russell wrote in his book "Why I am Not a Christian" that if it is true that all things need a cause then God must also need a cause. He concluded from this that if God needed a cause then God was not God (and if God is not God then of course there is no God). This was basically a slightly more sophisticated form of the childlike question, "Who made God?" Even a child knows that things do not come from nothing, so if God is a "something" then He must have a cause as well, right?
The question is tricky because it sneaks in the false assumption that God came from somewhere and then asks where that might be. The answer is that the question does not even make sense. It is like asking, "What does blue smell like?" Blue is not in the category of things that have odor, so the question itself is flawed. In the same way, God is not in the category of things that are created, or come into existence, or are caused. God is uncaused and uncreated - He simply exists.
2007-07-20 01:40:31 · 23 answers · asked by J Jacob 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
How do we know this? Well, we know that from nothing, nothing comes. So if there was ever a time when there was absolutely nothing in existence then nothing would have ever come to exist. But things do exist. Therefore, since there could never have been absolutely nothing, something had to have always been existing. That ever-existing thing is what we call God.
Source: gotquestions.org
2007-07-20 01:40:57 · update #1
God lives outside the universe and he created time. Without time he is a never ending being. There have been many discoveries in the past century that verify what Christians have known all along, that God exists. It takes more faith to believe in Atheists than it does to believe in God. The miller experiment tried to make cells and came up with amino acids, but they used the wrong gas combination. In reality, the likely hood of life coming about by itself is astronomical without the help of an intelligent creator
2007-07-20 01:51:47 · answer #1 · answered by christnogol dilynwr 2 · 2⤊ 2⤋
>>>The question is tricky because it sneaks in the false assumption that God came from somewhere and then asks where that might be. The answer is that the question does not even make sense. It is like asking, "What does blue smell like?" Blue is not in the category of things that have odor, so the question itself is flawed. In the same way, God is not in the category of things that are created, or come into existence, or are caused. God is uncaused and uncreated - He simply exists.<<<
I'd say this is cop-out answer
Let me guess you want everyone to simply believe in god because some guy in a white outfit with a golden staff says so. Is that right?
2007-07-20 01:50:47 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's quite simple really. Our universe is built on 'beginnings'. Our universe is built on 'cause and effect'. God, coming before the universe - would not be bound by the same rules we are. Therefore, the original claim of "everything needs a cause" is too broad. We cannot lay claim to knowledge of how things work outside, or before our universe came to be.
It's trying to apply the laws of the universe, to what came before our universe. That is not logical.
According to God, he is the only being that has always existed. According to him, he then created the place where he lives - "the heavens", and when that was complete, he began to work on our universe. Again, since our universe is built upon beginnings, every molecule, atom, and star 'began', this is a little difficult for us to get our mind around. But there is no reason that it cannot be true.
2007-07-20 01:53:27 · answer #3 · answered by raVar 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What if something DID come from nothing? What if, at first there was absolute nothingness around (nothingness which cannot be measured because it doesn't have any time and space dimensions)? What if out of this nothing, something arose? A consciousness, a feeling, a super-sense if you will? Something with whose birth ... space and time began (not physical space and time as we know it, but a kind of primordial space and time before the beginning of physical existence)?
What if this consciousness (God) then divided itself into small fragments (us individuals souls)? What if the physical reality that we see (including the entire universe, all physical space and time) nothing but an illusion which is projected onto our senses and coordinated by this God?
2007-07-20 02:26:25 · answer #4 · answered by kpety 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The question is complicated because of the fact it sneaks contained in the fake assumption that God got here from someplace and then asks the place that must be. the respond is that the question does not even make experience. it incredibly is like asking, "What does blue scent like?" Blue isn't contained in the class of issues that have scent, so the question itself is incorrect. contained in a similar way, God isn't contained in the class of issues that are created, or come into lifestyles, or are led to. God is uncaused and uncreated - He in simple terms exists. How do all of us understand this? properly, all of us understand that from no longer something, no longer something comes. So if there exchange into ever a time while there exchange into actually no longer something in lifestyles then no longer something might have ever come to exist. yet issues do exist. subsequently, because of the fact that there ought to on no account have been actually no longer something, something had to have continuously been latest. That ever-latest element is what we call God.
2016-09-30 09:09:38 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You claim that the universe cannot come from nothing, yet a perfect God must exhibit signs of design - similar to Paley's teleological argument, as believers claim that such a perfect thing as the universe cannot be pure coincidence. Can we make the same assertion about a perfect God?
Why do you refuse to question God? Your argument seems defeatist to me.
2007-07-20 01:53:40 · answer #6 · answered by eckzl 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You asked a question that has no answer, then answered it by saying it can't be answered.
My brain hurts.
I believe in God because I choose to. Non-theists don't believe because they choose not to. The Internet isn't the venue for leading people to Jesus - hands-on ministering to their needs will have a greater impact.
2007-07-20 01:55:58 · answer #7 · answered by mrscjr 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Time comes up from the eternal. It is part of creation, but not the nature of the creator. Eternal is non-changing and therefore is not expressed in terms of months or years. Those time things are human concepts.
2007-07-20 01:49:56 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
"The question is tricky because it sneaks in the false assumption that God came from somewhere and then asks where that might be."
as opposed to other tricky questions, that sneak in the assumption that god exists without bothering with proof?
"That ever-existing thing is what we call God."
no it isn't. i call it the universe. others may call it Fred. who's to say?
2007-07-20 01:44:02 · answer #9 · answered by vorenhutz 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
The answer is: There is no answer.
No one can say for sure if there is a god.
No one can say "it just happened"
No one can say "God made it all"
There is no answer to these questions..
they make your mind work continiously and you bable about nonsence.
It's best to form your own opinions and theorys insted of listing to everyone else.
2007-07-20 01:45:22 · answer #10 · answered by Keda 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋