Are atheists challenged?

Question

You have two choices:
. Either everything came from nothing
. Or something always existed and created everything
Sorry but you have no other choice

Now if you're going to say the universe always existed and you don't have a god in the picture I'm going to say that's impossible due to the infinite regress or the vicious regress. But that is to say that a never ending amount of time or infinite amount of time was before right now, which is what you think if you think the universe is and was eternal, that's impossible and I'll tell you why, if I promised to give you a chocolate bar after an infinite amount of time, when will I give you the chocolate bar, never because I said I'd give it to you after an infinite amount of time. If you don't believe this, you believe there was an infinite amount of time before right now, how did we reach this moment in time right now? This proves there was a beginning of time just as the bible says

I'll just make a pen appear from nowhere

Can you paint a painting without an artist

Answer 1

"Now if you're going to say the universe always existed and you don't have a god in the picture I'm going to say that's impossible due to the infinite regress or the vicious regress."

And that's where I stopped reading.
Anyone who believes this hokum can't be reasoned with.
Sorry you suffered a brain injury in your childhood but honestly, you really shouldn't go off your meds ever again...

Answer 2

OK...let's change the wording here just a little...

"Now if you're going to say GOD always existed then I'm going to say that's impossible due to the infinite regress or the vicious regress. But that is to say that a never ending amount of time or infinite amount of time was before right now, which is what you think if you think GOD is and was eternal, that's impossible and I'll tell you why, if I promised to give you a chocolate bar after an infinite amount of time, when will I give you the chocolate bar, never because I said I'd give it to you after an infinite amount of time. If you don't believe this, you believe there was an infinite amount of time before right now, how did we reach this moment in time right now? This proves there was a beginning of GOD..."

Everything always existed. Believers are the ones complicating the issue by adding a magical, invisible, supernatural being (that they can't even show exists) into the picture, and then saying that HE is eternal and that he CREATED everything else. (After claiming that it's not possible for anything to be eternal.) Circular reasoning yet again.

Answer 3

Your question sounds like the whole purpose is to try to make people look stupid. You come off as extremely narrow minded and like you are just trying to make anyone who believes your first option, or the one you obviously claim is impossible, feel like less than you. How can you say the universe didn't always exist? You can't be sure, because you weren't there at the start of the Earth...so how could you possibly know there was an actual start? Even if that sounds completely insane to you, to others it might seem completely absurd that a God could possibly exist or that anything could have created something as large as the universe. If the universe isn't eternal, because it's impossible, would you say that heaven is eternal?

Answer 4

NO ONE says there was an infinite amount of time before now. That's just crap the ignorant make up to strawman science. No one says everything came from nothing. The chocolate analogy you give is a false analogy for it relates, in no way whatsoever, to the universe.

Fact: Mass-energy can not be created nor destroied.
Fact: There are exactly ZERO credible scientific experiments, theories or imagined circumstance in which this law could be broken.
Fact: Space-time started expanding a finite (about 13.7 billion years) time ago.

Since mass-energy can not be created nor destroied, it is a reasonable scientific conclusion that the mass-energy that comprises the universe, in one form or another, always existed.

Also, it's a far stretch to go from time having a beginning to it being "just as the bible says"!
Please answer my question here: [ http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=At75RN79B6onAyKl31ZnBbHsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071105163959AAZR6PI ] if you can tie the two together!

Answer 5

Actually, I don't have just the two choices. Obviously there was something existing but I think it much more credible/believable to think that energy existed, collided and formed matter. Over time, universes with stars and planets and b/c of the location, organic forms evolved. Then, as beings evolved with more complex thought, a spiritual world could have evolved souls.
The deist believes there had to be a conscious deity, so incredibly complex, it could form a complete world all by himself. But, assuming matter evolved over millions of years? That's supposed to be illogical?
Then, the Christians claim not only does this individual 'just exist' but it's a He who creates w/o motivation (after all, being perfect, why would 'He' create anything) and, on top of that, creates all of nature to simply be incapable of operating on an individual basis or w/o an opposing gender. Also, this being is supposedly loving but despite this, He all-knowingly creates an evil deity he knows will try to manipuate his beloved creation into choosing an eternity of torture. And knows he will succeed. I feel so loved.
So, no, I am not challenged. Christians are as to why their gibberish should be believed. And nothing can be found so the followers are left to twist meanings and phrases or take things 'out of context' to support their ludicrous claim.

Answer 6

You are mistaken in the fact that there are only two histories possible. Most atheists would agree that the big bang served as the beginning of our universe. However, time is a part of our universe. The words 'before the big bang' would make no sense, simply because time is moot at that point. Your argument would be better served if God existed supernaturally. He would be beyond all attempts to discredit His existence because rationality is a part of the universe.

Answer 7

We don't need an infinite amount of time to claim the universe always existed. Read a book on General Relativity (I don't have time to explain it all.)

Essentially, the argument is that matter and energy always existed. However, there was a beginning of time, and that was the expansion of the temporal dimensions during the Big Bang. In that sense, the universe has existed "throughout" all of time. It's important to realize that matter and energy existed "before" time. (I'm using "before" in the causal sense as opposed to the temporal sense here.)

There is no creator required.

Answer 8

Or, everything always existed. Not just the universe, which has begun at least once and possibly more times. (See Big Bang Theory.)

You left out a choice. After all, you say your god always existed. Why should matter and energy be excluded from that possibility too? See, simple.

Edit: LOL, I love the argument that because man makes things, everything MUST have been created. It's so... Non sequiter. And logically flawed.

Answer 9

Funny you didn't mention the creationist theory that God created the universe and unfortunately that just moves the problem back a step. Were did God come from? or did he always exist? You have also added another problem how did God create the Universe?

Answer 10

If you handed me a chocolate bar after promising to give it to me after an infinite amount of time, that proves only one thing.

You broke your promise.

Actually it proves 2 things. You know nothing about infinity or logic.