Questions from a new Christian

[Silvertusk]

I greatly appreciate the extreme list, as it suits my needs when re-enforcing someone's faith, thank you very much, but my dear friend is unconvinced, perhaps a more scientific way of finding out the answer? As you know most atheists will not take the word of the bible, I believe we have all had that
Experience

I suppose you could always appeal to Occams Razor - why have mutiple solutions to a problem when one will do just fine.

Silvertusk.

[dayage]

Ukranianlys,

Other question that I never can seem to find an answer too...i hope god helps me find the answer or if you guys can help me: What if there is multiple gods? How would I show them that there is only one? I greatly appreciate the extreme list, as it suits my needs when re-enforcing someone's faith, thank you very much, but my dear friend is unconvinced, perhaps a more scientific way of finding out the answer?

Usually, when there are many gods we read about them fitting each other (Babylonian Enuma Elish) or having different agendas. In religions like Hinduism there are those that think all of the gods are one, that they are many, that all is god, that god lives in created objects, etc. Hinduism also has a universe that reincarnates every 4.32 billion years. This all would lead to confusion when comes to science, but it can be tested.

The Biblical God created everything to work together for a common goal. He created laws to govern the universe (Jeremiah 33:25-26). He created life using the same types of materials (Gen. 2:7, 19). He gave us a clear order of major events in creation. The Bible does not give an age for the universe or the earth, but gives us earth's initial conditions (Gen. 1:2, Job 38:8-9) and tells us that the universe is expanding. The stretching of the heavens is the expanding fabric of space. This is exactly what astronomy has discovered.
http://www.reasons.org/cosmic-design/bi ... t-it-first

In the above article it is shown that the Bible speaks of God as having stretched the heavens in the past and continually stretching them in the present, but could that have implied a universe that is growing larger and larger to the original audience?

The heavens (universe) are often likened to a tent and/or curtains which make up a tent (Ex. 26:1-13, 36:13-16; Is. 40:22; Psalm 104:2). The Hebrew verb natah (stretch) was used for the initial stretching out (setting up) of a tent (Gen. 12:8, 26:25; Jere. 10:20), but it was also used in reference to a tent being made larger (Is. 54:2-3). So, indeed natah would have suggested, what astronomers now know to be true, that space was initially stretched out (at the Big bang) and the Qal active participle form of natah would suggest its continued expansion.

Science
The universe is orderly. It is run by a set of laws which work together to build and govern the universe.
Life contains the same building materials and uses the same basic blueprint (DNA).
The major events listed in Genesis one, are seen in the same order by scientists.
Science also points to a universe with a single beginning, 13.7 billion years ago and that it is expanding. The earth (4.56 billion yrs. old) is older than a Hindu universe.

This is a short list, but the evidence supports the ONE GOD of the Bible.

[bippy123]

Dayage don't forget that DNA is basically a language and a language only arises from a mind (god).

[dayage]

bippy123,

I was trying to stick to the question, which was, how to determine if your dealing with One God or many gods? In either case minds would have been involved.

[bippy123]

bippy123,

I was trying to stick to the question, which was, how to determine if your dealing with One God or many gods? In either case minds would have been involved.

Yea your right Dayage, I tend to get a little ahead of myself at times

[Byblos]

bippy123,

I was trying to stick to the question, which was, how to determine if your dealing with One God or many gods? In either case minds would have been involved.

Yea your right Dayage, I tend to get a little ahead of myself at times

But to answer the question (one God versus many gods), the God of Christianity absolutely precludes the possibility of many gods since they will result in a denial of the law of non-contradiction. Two or more omnipotent gods open up the possibility for opposing omnipotent wills (one that decides to create and the other to not create). Since there is a creation, there cannot be many gods (with potential opposing wills).

[Ukranianlys]

Thanks all for the very excellent responses, my friend was speechless, but now he comes back with a new argument saying that the universe is just like particles in quantum physics, in that they appear out of nothing, and have no real cause, any rebuttal to this?

[bippy123]

Ukrainian I think your friend was talking about virtual particles and no they don't pop out of being out of nothing, but I'll let one if the top if not the top Christian philosophers Doctor William Lane Craig explain this.

Here is a short audio clip of him explaining briefly about virtual particles




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clr8uL3M ... ata_player

[Ukranianlys]

So.essentially all those atheist arguments were wrong and its just a quantum vaccum that all the particles are coming from?

[bippy123]

So.essentially all those atheist arguments were wrong and its just a quantum vaccum that all the particles are coming from?

Correct Ukrainian. What's worse is that quantum mechanics argues that the universe behaves more like a great thought than a great mechanism. I'll try to find a quote from from Richard Conn Henry that even talks about this.

[bippy123]

http://www.uncommondescent.com/intellig ... -designer/

To begin, I point out this essay in the prestigious scientific journal Nature in 2005 by physicist Richard Conn Henry:

“The ultimate cause of atheism, Newton asserted, is ‘this notion of bodies having, as it were, a complete, absolute and independent reality in themselves.’”
…
The 1925 discovery of quantum mechanics solved the problem of the Universe’s nature. Bright physicists were again led to believe the unbelievable — this time, that the Universe is mental.
…
According to Sir James Jeans: “the stream of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the Universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter…we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter.”
….
The Universe is immaterial — mental and spiritual.

Richard Conn Henry
The Mental Universe: Nature Volume 436

Remember if your friend complains that Henry is a Christian, he isn't.
Henry very well respected in the scientific community and that is just one reason that they didn't attack him on this
statement. This evidence is what caused him to leave atheism for deism, so he does believe in some kind of creator.

There is another video from a physicist named wolff I believe who talks about how quantum particles are influenced by just our observation of the experiment and our observation Alone collapses it's wavelength.

[Ukranianlys]

I think he is almost out of ammunition! Hopefully after this he will stop Persecuting me for my faith! after the spit and suttering from the last round of Answers we gave him (thanks yet again, god bless) he has yet another question "what is with all the Ancient drawings of things that look people in space suits? why are they there? perhaps it was from a group of aliens who visited earth"

perhaps any answer to this? i am sorry for bothering you guys, but you all have been a god-send in my life, as i have many people close to me who persicute me and belittle me for believing in god, and now thanks to my research i am able to show that i am not a "blindly, stupid Christian" and can show them that they are not right about the assumptions that they make. Thank you all

[Pierson5]

I think he is almost out of ammunition! Hopefully after this he will stop Persecuting me for my faith! after the spit and suttering from the last round of Answers we gave him (thanks yet again, god bless) he has yet another question "what is with all the Ancient drawings of things that look people in space suits? why are they there? perhaps it was from a group of aliens who visited earth"

perhaps any answer to this? i am sorry for bothering you guys, but you all have been a god-send in my life, as i have many people close to me who persicute me and belittle me for believing in god, and now thanks to my research i am able to show that i am not a "blindly, stupid Christian" and can show them that they are not right about the assumptions that they make. Thank you all

I personally don't know what he is talking about. I would ask for his source on this (what cave paintings is he talking about exactly?). There is likely a logical answer to these "cave paintings" he is talking about. People see all kinds of things in poorly drawn pictures.

[bippy123]

I think he is almost out of ammunition! Hopefully after this he will stop Persecuting me for my faith! after the spit and suttering from the last round of Answers we gave him (thanks yet again, god bless) he has yet another question "what is with all the Ancient drawings of things that look people in space suits? why are they there? perhaps it was from a group of aliens who visited earth"

perhaps any answer to this? i am sorry for bothering you guys, but you all have been a god-send in my life, as i have many people close to me who persicute me and belittle me for believing in god, and now thanks to my research i am able to show that i am not a "blindly, stupid Christian" and can show them that they are not right about the assumptions that they make. Thank you all

hello Ukrainian, I'm not that versed on the ancient alien art but here is a good video debunking the supposed aliens in ancient Egyptian art, hope this helps. It seems like your friend is getting desperate if he is resorting to these things to try to disprove God.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lBnO8oa ... ata_player


God bless

[Byblos]

I think he is almost out of ammunition! Hopefully after this he will stop Persecuting me for my faith! after the spit and suttering from the last round of Answers we gave him (thanks yet again, god bless) he has yet another question "what is with all the Ancient drawings of things that look people in space suits? why are they there? perhaps it was from a group of aliens who visited earth"

perhaps any answer to this? i am sorry for bothering you guys, but you all have been a god-send in my life, as i have many people close to me who persicute me and belittle me for believing in god, and now thanks to my research i am able to show that i am not a "blindly, stupid Christian" and can show them that they are not right about the assumptions that they make. Thank you all

hello Ukrainian, I'm not that versed on the ancient alien art but here is a good video debunking the supposed aliens in ancient Egyptian art, hope this helps. It seems like your friend is getting desperate if he is resorting to these things to try to disprove God.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lBnO8oa ... ata_player


God bless

Besides, how exactly does the existence of aliens disprove God?