The Inescapable Logic For God – by Paul Myrant
Posted by pmyrant on October 6, 2010
Have you ever asked yourself: Why don’t people believe in God; or wondered the same yourself? Have you observed that it is those who appear very intelligent who question the existence of God; the “deep thinkers” the scientists and philosophers of this world? After all, some would have us believe that people of faith are ignorant and superstitious; full of fear, and “faith”!
Take the idea of infinite regress, big words, but a simple idea. It is posed by some philosophers as the “unanswerable question”, which is at the foundation of many philosophies, there are no answers. Many philosophers love infinite regress, because it allows them to never have to make a decision about the existence of a Creator or for that matter many difficult issues. Infinite regress goes as follows.
Two Greeks, Dimitri and Tasso, are having a conversation.
Dimitri: If Atlas holds up the world, what holds up Atlas?
Tasso: Atlas stands on the back of a turtle.
Dimitri: But what does the turtle stand on?
Tasso: Another turtle.
Dimitri: And what does that turtle stand on?
Tasso: My dear Dimitri, it’s turtles all the way down! [1]
Of course the point is that it is impossible to escape the infinite regress and therefore there is not answer to the question, without “blind faith”. Since there must always be a first cause, if you can’t explain where the first cause came from then we aren’t obligated to believe in a Creator.
Ryan Hanson
“If God created the world, then who created god, and who created whoever created god? So somewhere along the line something had to just be there. So why can’t we just skip the idea of god and go straight to earth?”
Science jumps in the fray and truly confuses the issue, they now believe that they can explain the existence of the universe without the aid of a Creator.
The late Carl Sagan said,
Since the birth of the universe could now be explained by the laws of physics alone … he concluded, there was nothing for a Creator to do, and every thinking person was therefore forced to admit the absence of God.
Do you believe in God, What do you think God is like? What you believe about God; does He exist and what He is like, will almost certainly affect the way in which you live your life. The vast majority of people on the earth both today and throughout our history have answered in the affirmative. Between 83 and 90% of everyone on the earth today, believes in a Creator.
You might ask yourself then why are we discussing this issue if it has generally been settled. The truth is that even though the majority believes in a Creator, many have questions and are confused about this issue, especially our young people. Is their belief reliable; is it scientifically accurate? Can it be defended? How many are so certain of their faith, that they willingly share this faith with those outside the church? Additionally there are many questions about the Bible, is it true, and reliable, or how to resolve the apparent conflicts between science and religion?
The constant drumbeat of atheism is that religion is for the ignorant and weak minded, for foolish people who don’t understand the complexities of the real world. There is a concerted effort on the part of the atheistic community, especially atheistic evolution to undermine the faith of anyone who believes or participates in religion. Consider the following statements made by prominent atheists.
Richard Dawkins said,
Faith (in a Creator) is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.
Additionally;
You cannot be both sane and well educated and disbelieve in evolution. The evidence is so strong that any sane, educated person has got to believe in evolution. It is absolutely safe to say that, if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane. … And finally
“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”
Friedrich Nietzsche said,
“Faith means not wanting to know what is true. –
Frater Ravus said,
“’Faith does not give you the answers; it just stops you asking the questions”
Author Unknown
“Religion has caused more misery to all of mankind in every stage of human history than any other single idea.”
These are but a few of numerous statements by atheists around the world. They share some common themes; among them being a hatred of religion; the belief that religious people are stupid and backwards, ignorant and foolish.
I am reminded of a conversation I had with an older man at the sauna. In the course of our conversation, he stated he was an atheist, and I asked him why. He retorted, because I am educated. I replied, so that means because I believe in God I am stupid and uneducated. He did not respond. I tried to get to speak about his beliefs and asked him if he had an explanation for the existence of the untold number of structured atoms and molecules that exist in the universe? Could he explain how they got here? Unfortunately, he got angry and stormed out of the sauna, saying stop preaching at me.
The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the inescapable logic for a Creator, and briefly describe how this same logic demonstrates what the Creator is like as well. In a nutshell, I believe that there is a first cause, not an infinite number of turtles piled on top of each other holding up the world, but a being that has always existed. A being that must by pure logic be eternal and uncaused, thus an uncaused first cause. There is not another way to adequately explain the realities of the world and the obvious value of human existence.
Before we get to the meat of this article, I want to respond to the final quote about the damage that religion has done throughout world history, and the idea of a lack of intelligence on the part of theists. First, we must acknowledge that much damage has been done in God’s name. Let me respond with a quote from my book “The Challenge of Evolution” pg. 25.
“Admittedly, it would be almost impossible to tell the history of western civilization if we were to leave out references to religious wars, inquisitions, greed and corruption in the Church. Sadly, many have forgotten Jesus message of “love thy neighbor as thyself”, and turn the other cheek. Instead of caring for the poor, some religious leaders have become rich at their expense.”
However, “The existence or non-existence of a Creator has nothing to do with the way religious people behave. The issue is not that religious people have failed to live up to the Creator’s standards (which they certainly have). It is whether there is a Creator who has standards to live up to.”
Just because people have done bad things in God’s name does mean that all religion is wrong or everything they believe is untrue. I would recommend the examination of “What if Jesus had Never Been Born” by Dr. James Kennedy. It details much of the good done by the Christian faith over the past 2000 years.
To be objective, science and atheism must be held accountable for their own activity over the last several hundred years. This attack on religion carries much less weight when one considers that over 100 million people were murdered in 20th century, mostly at the hands of Fascism and Communism. Communism is atheistic to the core and Hitler was a strong believer in evolution. The oppressive nature of these philosophies, still control the lives of billions of people on earth.
It is also true that radical Islam and in some places oppressive forms of Catholicism, control the minds of many, but it is with a selective memory that these atheists ignore or forget that it was Christian scientists, who opened the door for their own field of study. Islam accomplished many things before it became so radicalized in more modern history.
I know of no pastor or religious leader who invented weapons of any kind; conventional, biological, or atomic. The Church is not responsible for these weapons, it is scientists. Science Saint, Albert Einstein assisted in the invention of the atomic bomb. Chapter one of my book and appendix four cover this in much more detail.
As far as the intelligence of those who believe in a Creator, this is an amazing arrogance demonstrated by the atheistic community. Not only do the vast majority of people on earth believe in a Creator, there are hundreds and thousands of very intelligent and highly educated people who believe in a Creator. They have written countless books, articles, discussing the issues, and presenting logical reasoned arguments for the existence of a Creator. This notion that the only educated people in this arena are atheists is just untrue and the facts bear that out as well.
To the main question
Can we know if there is a Creator? If so, does it require faith or is it a matter of personal opinion? As a caveat, we must recognize that there will always be those who say we can’t know, and there will always be those who don’t believe there is a Creator. The question is do you really want an answer? Certainly an argument can be made against the existence of a Creator; but what is the best and most logical explanation for the universe and the living things that we observe? Are we arguing for arguments sake, or are we trying to find the answer?
We can ask the question this way; which is more rational, that everything in the universe is uncaused, without objective meaning, purpose or morality; that everything we see created itself? Or, that everything we see was created for a purpose by a being that has the will, intellect and ability to create the universe?
Is There a Creator? In this short paper I will not fully develop the argument for a Creator, you can see a more detailed argument in my book “The Challenge of Evolution, from Tate Publishing. Here is a summary of the argument for God’s existence.
Belief in a Creator is a self-evident truth, understood through reason, not blind faith or religious indoctrination. While many people come to believe in a Creator through religion, belief in a Creator requires no faith or religion dogma at all!
Belief in a Creator is a philosophical question for which science has no answer. Furthermore, investigation into the existence of a Creator must begin with an open mind and proper suppositions, not the bias of naturalism.
- The argument begins with the existence of matter. Since something exists it is logical to believe that it had a cause. If there was a time when there was nothing, no sun, moon stars, humans or Creator, there would logically always be nothing. Nothingness cannot produce something, unless you believe that everything just magically appeared complete and intact. So it is highly rational to believe that someone or something always existed
- Other than that which has always existed, everything else must have a cause. Does it make any logical sense to believe that structured and designed matter and complex life forms are eternal and created themselves? How could that happen? Could I really have been my own cause, or did the tree make itself? Is it rational to believe that inanimate objects and living things throughout the universe are their own cause? To propose that is to in essence believe that buildings build themselves, it is to attribute intelligence and will and characteristics of living things to atoms and molecules and light. Ultimately you must acknowledge that dirt or pre-dirt is god and is its own cause. This is patently absurd and irrational, again the best conclusion is that everything in the universe had to be created by some power or being greater than itself.
- Apart from the logical impossibility of everything being its own cause and creator, purpose and meaning can only come from that which caused it to be. The creator of any object, device, or invention gives it its meaning. The same is true of our own existence and that of the universe; there can be no meaning or purpose to the universe and life, without a Creator.
- Natural selection (evolution) and the big bang are only possible processes for the development of complex life forms and the universe, they are not causes. Therefore, by themselves they could not create the universe or simple or complex life forms. They too would be dependent on the eternal someone or some power as their source.
- To reject a Creator as the cause for the universe and living things removes any objective value for human life. Intuitively we know that life is very valuable. A simple illustration demonstrates this reality. Assume that you are in excellent health. Imagine that someone were willing to give you 1 million dollars for one of your eyes, would you take it? Most people respond in the negative. However, if the ante was raised and someone offered you 20 million for both eyes; again no one in their right mind would take the offer. If your eyes are worth at least 20 million then what is your soul or whole being worth?
- The fact is that human beings are of infinite value. There is nothing that you would exchange your life for. If matter or natural selection were the Creator, then nothing would matter at all. Human beings and all life forms would be equivalent to animated dust without any purpose or meaning. Death would return us to dust for all eternity, everything we love and care for would be gone forever.
- Human decisions have eternal consequences. If matter or natural selection were the Creator, then there would be no basis for morality, and therefore every action is equally valid. Murder and rape would be as valuable as love and protection. What we do would be utterly insignificant and without meaning.
What is the Creator Like?
- Since it is necessary for something to have always existed, the Creator must be an eternal being
- Since it required great power and intelligence to create the universe and all life forms, the Creator must be powerful and intelligent.
- Since it is illogical for evil to be the source of a wonderful universe and meaningful relationships, it is logical that the Creator is good.
- Since it is necessary for life to have a source of meaning and morality, the Creator must also be the final arbiter for all human actions. He must be just (fair) and the judge.
- Since mankind’s choices have serious consequences, a good Creator is obligated to communicate His expectation to us so that He will be just in His judgment of our actions.
[1] Cathcart, Thomas and Klein, Daniel; Plato and Platypus walk into a bar…; The Penguin Group; Penguin Group (USA), 375 Hudson Street,New York, New York, 10014. pg.1
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IF GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE, THEN WHO CREATED GOD?
Earlier it was impossible for us to give any satisfactory answer to this question. But modern science, rather we should say that Einstein, has made it an easy task for us. And Stephen Hawking has provided us with the clue necessary for solving this riddle. Actually scientists in their infinite wisdom have already kept the ground well-prepared for us believers so that one day we can give a most plausible and logically consistent answer to this age-old question. Let me first quote from the book “A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking:
“The idea of inflation could also explain why there is so much matter in the universe. There is something like ten million million million million million million million million million million million million million million (1 with eighty zeroes after it) particles in the region of the universe that we can observe. Where did they all come from? The answer is that, in quantum theory, particles can be created out of energy in the form of particle/antiparticle pairs. But that just raises the question of where the energy came from. The answer is that the total energy of the universe is exactly zero.”
Here the question stops. So the clue is this: if we can ultimately arrive at zero, then no further question will be raised, and there will be no infinite regression. What I intend to do here is something similar to that. I want to show that our God is a bunch of several zeroes, and that therefore no further question need be raised about His origin. And here comes Einstein with his special theory of relativity for giving us the necessary empirical support for our project.
God is a Being. Therefore God will have existence as well as essence. So I will have to show that both from the point of view of existence as well as from the point of view of essence God is zero. It is almost a common parlance that God is spaceless, timeless, changeless, immortal, and all-pervading. Here we are getting three zeroes; space is zero, time is zero, change is zero. But how to prove that if there is a God, then that God will be spaceless, timeless, and changeless? From special theory of relativity we come to know that for light both distance and time become unreal. For light even an infinite distance is infinitely contracted to zero. The volume of an infinite universe full of light only will be simply zero due to this property of light. A universe with zero volume is a spaceless universe. Again at the speed of light time totally stops. So a universe full of light only is a spaceless, timeless universe. But these are the properties of light only! How do we come to know that God is also having the same properties of light so that God can also be spaceless, timeless? Scientists have shown that if there is a God, then that God can only be light, and nothing else, and that therefore He will have all the properties of light. Here is the proof.
Scientists have shown that total energy of the universe is always zero. If total energy is zero, then total mass will also be zero due to energy-mass equivalence. Now if there is a God, then scientists have calculated the total energy and mass of the universe by taking into consideration that there is also a God. In other words, if God is there, then this total energy-mass calculation by the scientists is God-inclusive, not God-exclusive. This is due to two reasons. First of all, even if there is a God, they do not know that there is a God. Secondly, they do not admit that there is a God. So, if there is a God, then they have not been able to keep that God aside before making the calculation, because they do not know that there is a God. They cannot say that they have kept Him aside and then made the calculation, because by saying that they will admit that there is a God. At most they can say that there is no God. But we are not going to accept that statement as the final verdict on God-issue, because we are disputing that statement. So the matter of the fact is this: if God is really there, then scientists have shown that both the total mass and energy of the universe including God are zero. Therefore mass and energy of God will also be zero. God is without any mass, without any energy. And Einstein has already shown that anything having zero rest-mass will have the speed of light. In other words, it will be light. So, if God is there, then God is also light, and therefore He is spaceless, timeless. So from the point of view of existence God is zero, because he is spaceless, timeless, without any mass, without any energy.
Now we will have to show that from the point of view of essence also God is zero. If there is only one being in the universe, and if there is no second being other than that being, then that being cannot have any such property as love, hate, cruelty, compassion, benevolence, etc. Let us say that God is cruel. Now to whom can He be cruel if there is no other being other than God Himself? So, if God is cruel, then is He cruel to Himself? Therefore if we say that God is all-loving, merciful, benevolent, etc., then we are also admitting that God is not alone, that there is another being co-eternal with God to whom He can show His love, benevolence, goodness, mercy, compassion, etc. If we say that God is all-loving, then we are also saying that this “all” is co-eternal with God. Thus we are admitting that God has not created the universe at all, and that therefore we need not have to revere Him, for the simple reason that He is not our creator!
It is usually said that God is good. But Bertrand Russell has shown that God cannot be good for the simple reason that if God is good, then there is a standard of goodness which is independent of God’s will. Therefore, if God is the ultimate Being, then that God cannot be good. But neither can He be evil. God is beyond good and evil. Like Hindu’s Brahma, a real God can only be nirguna, nirupadhik; without any name, without any quality. From the point of view of essence also, a real God is a zero.
So, why should there be any need for creation here, if God is existentially, as well as essentially, zero?
But if there is someone who is intelligent and clever enough, then he will not stop arguing here. He will point out to another infinite regression. If God is light, then He will no doubt be spaceless, timeless, etc. Therefore one infinite regression is thus arrested. But what about the second regression? How, and from whom, does light get its own peculiar properties by means of which we have successfully arrested the first regression? So, here is another infinite regression. But we need not have to worry much about this regression, because this problem has already been solved. A whole thing, by virtue of its being the whole thing, will have all the properties of spacelessness, timelessness, changelessness, deathlessness. It need not have to depend on any other external source for getting these properties. Thus no further infinite regression will be there.
H. S. Pal