Why there is something as opposed to nothing
2009-08-19
God?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not religious. But seriously, think of the time before there was anything, if such a thing can exist. What happened in this true void that sparked the creation of…. something?
The issue here is that for that something to be sparked another object is required to spark it. Subsequently we encounter the need for a universal constant – something that simply… is.
Define God:
- The supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in …
Does this universal constant subsequently have to be a god?
It is true that the universal constant, whatever it may be is indeed the originator of the universe, but is it a ruler?
Hohum… what’s your opinion on this? It would indeed be interesting to hear from some of my very limited in number readers 
Sam
Yes. Why do I say so? Because I’m a Jew, and Jews are all descendants of people who together witnessed God and received his laws, and he also described himself to us as a ruler.
BTW, how do you know the universe has a beginning? God is beyond human comprehension, so people more readily accept that time doesn’t apply to him, but that’s no reason to think that the universe has a beginning. As far as I’m concerned, the universe could exist forever.
It is a fair point, i assume a start and an end point to a universe of seeming infinites. I think I do this as a way to explain intricacy – if all the atoms of the universe were evenly distrobuted across this plane (assuming edges), then i can’t see how we would avoid making a single, unified object (dues to the forces of gravity). If the universe started due to the ‘big bang’, the product could (in theory) be ourselves (slightly random trajectories of atoms due to radioactive decay).
But there I go again, attempting to explain away the universe with science – something I don’t actually believe it is possible to do, but I guess i find it comforting.
Your comment, yman, comes at an interesting time in my understanding of God. On wednesday afternoon I had the great realisation that the so called ‘incoherences in the idea of God’ (the ‘problem of evil’ etc), can be explained by saying that God is simply beyond comprehention.
Now, I had thought this could be the case before, but I had never really thought it could be an actual possiblity. This realisation came in the light of reading a few accounts of religious experiences – which all claimed that they could not fully explain what they experienced in word, as it is beyond language.
The thing is, this only proves that God *could* exist – not that he does.
I’m sorry if this reply has been long and unstructured, I do not have enough time to read through and edit it.
Regardless, your thoughts have been very interesting to me, thanks,
Sam
To me, as a Jew, the whole science thing is a side note. The main thing I care about is the testimony of my ancestors. However, a close friend of mine wants a philosophical proof that goes all the way from “I think therefor I am” to Judaism being the truth. I don’t think he’ll ever find such a thing, because IMO the freedom to choose between good and evil necessitates doubt, but good luck to him. Everyone has their own way of getting there, and hopefully they arrive at the truth, rather than some phony imitation or other kinds of Human inventions.
My advice for finding the truth is to listen without judging. We may have our own notions of right and wrong, but that doesn’t mean they’re correct. Humility helps. I use this a lot when learning Jewish law, but never tried it while studying another religion, perhaps because I want to believe that what I was brought up on is true (even though life would be so much easier if it wasn’t), or perhaps because I’ve never heard of a religion with as strong a foundation as Judaism.
Oh, and another piece of advice: He who takes from his friend has the obligation to bring evidence. Basically, if I claim you stole my TV and demand it back, I have to prove my claims while you don’t have to lift a finger. So long as I haven’t proven my claims to be true, it’s assumed that they are false and the status quo is preserved.
Hopefully you’ll succeed in your quest. Only God can determine whether you have or not, but we Humans must act based on what little and insufficient information we have.
The universe very definitely had a beginning, and everything with a beginning has an end. Before that? Nothing. Nothingness in the absolute. No light, no darkness, nothing. It’s a hard thing to visualize, but there it isn’t.
May I ask (and i’m sure yman would be interested too), why your so certain of this Louis? The expanding universe theories are far from proven and so it doesn’t seem we can prove a start or an end.
But then, in this expanse of darkness that you talk of, is there time? And what encloses the darkness and the singularity that sparked the big bang (if this is indeed your belief)?
Many thanks,
Sam