"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." (Psalm 19:1)
https://discussions.godandscience.org/
Kenny wrote:Perhaps #1 should be rephrased to something like "All things that are not eternal have a cause"abelcainsbrother wrote:Audacity wrote:To reformat; your four principles:abelcainsbrother wrote: No,I'm trying to get you to understand that we determine what is true or not based on evidence,but you did'nt get it because you think it is irrelevant to this disscussion,etc. So you overlooked my point.We have all kinds of conspiracy theories and they can sound very convincing the way they are presented,but without evidence? And it is nothing more than an opinion.
I just think you should re-think this theory you've picked up and find evidence to confirm it or not,like I did using Aquinas's four principles. I actually gave evidence for how and why they point to God. So it cannot be "God of the gaps". God of the gaps would be if we did not have evidence and were just filling in the lack of evidence with God,but we are not doing that. It is evidence based,which is why you can't name anything in our world they don't apply to. The four principles are - All things have a cause,and all things that have a cause are caused by something else,all things are willed into existence and there can be no infinite regression.
You seem to know some about philosophy although the not caring about the "why" point is a problem. It is something that most atheists live by and they wait on science to give them an answer some day.Not realizing that modern day science does not ask the "why" either,so that science can never give them an answer and so they will never,ever know or get an answer.It is a state of limbo.
There is no sense in deluding yourself,going through life believing things that sounded good to you but did not have evidence behind it and after you die,you realize you were wrong and made a poor decision that can't be undone because you ignored the truth based on evidence. If you like philosophy why not check out Thomas Aquinas? Because noone has ever refuted him,still to this day,they have only ignored him or didn't know. He is still just as right as back then.
.......1) All things have a cause
.......2) All things that have a cause are caused by something else
.......3) All things are willed into existence
.......4) There can be no infinite regression
"1) All things have a cause." True, which would necessarily include god.
" 2) All things that have a cause are caused by something else." This simply doesn't make sense. Consider the example of Thing A. In effect it says A has a cause, which we will call Y, but then you say A isn't caused by Y, but by something else. Does this make sense to you?
"3) All things are willed into existence." Unless you're talking about God willing them into existence this doesn't make any sense---I've never heard of a rock having been willed into existence. And, if you are talking about God willing them into existence then you're first going to have to present convincing evidence this is true, because as it stands I haven't seen any. So as it stands your third principle is moot.
"4) There can be no infinite regression." Agreed, but so what?
They apply to everything in our world. God is outside our world and I made that clear,besides you can't just make up a straw man God that is not eternal,eternal things cannot be caused.
K
No, you're not missing anything.yorican67 wrote:But doesn't the will have to be free in order to chose an action? How can an action possess a mind to make any kind of determination. Maybe I'm missing something here...
Jesus said its a sin to look upon a women with lust in your heart. This is a result of my mind having the freewill to allow the thought, all this is taking place in my mind. Yeap I'm going to sleep now...Philip wrote:Actions begin in the mind/the Will. ACTIONS flow from and are a result of the will - the mind/brain center that enacts desires.
You'd need to prove that God knowing our choices, equals God making us choose. I could put four glasses in front of my son. One with chocolate milk, one with Coke, one with lemonade, and one with Mountain Dew. I could almost guarantee that I know he will choose chocolate milk. Does that mean I make him choose chocolate milk? Or that his choice is just an illusion?Justhuman wrote:If God, in His created theistic universe, knows everything, including the path we each take and in the end who will be saved or condemned, then free will is an illusion, because everything is determined by the way God 'let it flow'. Each of us doesn't have a real choice anymore because we cannot deviate from the path God has designed for us.
And what's the use of free will in this theistic universe? To please God with those who have chosen the right path? But wait, He already knows who did/does that.
In a materialistic universe there is no outside force that defines or limits our actions, just cause and effect. Free will is only bound to our knowledge.
No, we can choose, but according to Gods plan. The point is that if God knows everything (in advance) He needs not (cannot?) make us choose anything (else), because that would deminish His knowing everything. IF he decided to make us choose something, it would have been predetermined that He did/does that.RickD wrote:I just don't see how it logically follows, that if God knows what we will choose, therefore we really aren't choosing.
That just makes no sense.
That's not an argument against free will. You do understand that, right?Justhuman wrote:No, we can choose, but according to Gods plan. The point is that if God knows everything (in advance) He needs not (cannot?) make us choose anything (else), because that would deminish His knowing everything. IF he decided to make us choose something, it would have been predetermined that He did/does that.RickD wrote:I just don't see how it logically follows, that if God knows what we will choose, therefore we really aren't choosing.
That just makes no sense.