Is it possible that God exists?

Discussion in 'Agnosticism and Atheism' started by neonspectraltoast, Dec 26, 2010.

  1. Because if it's possible that God exists, then God must exist.

    Because if it's possible that God exists, then it's possible that everything is known. Anything that can't possibly be known to be false must be true in this case, and the existence of God can't possibly be known to be false.

    But on the other hand, you could say that it isn't possible that God exists...if God doesn't, in fact, exist.

    But obviously it's possible that God exists. But obviously it's possible that God doesn't exist. So I guess my conundrum with this theory is: How can God definitely exist and simultaneously possibly not exist?

    I don't know. Just something I mull around in my head sometimes. Enlighten me if you can, please!!!
     
  2. Poppy Sunshine

    Poppy Sunshine atypical hippie Lifetime Supporter

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    a simple reply that makes sense even tho it doesn't appear to at first:

    my husband and i EACH own 100% of our home, our vehicles, and all of our possessions. we DO NOT each own 50%.

    that's not possible, yet it is.

    (nothing i say/write today is to be taken with more than a grain of salt...)
     
  3. Bonkai

    Bonkai Later guys

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    To the OP

    It's impossible to prove a negative, which is why "god" can't be proven to exist or not exist.
     
  4. heeh2

    heeh2 Senior Member

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    The god being said to definitely exist would be an aspect of reality that exists beyond what you think about it....like a rock or a tree

    While the possibility of god would only ever be an idea.

    Either your conundrum is not possible, or your talking about two different things and calling them the same word.
     
  5. odon

    odon Slightly Popular

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    I'd say no.
     
  6. neodude1212

    neodude1212 Senior Member

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    This all sounds very nonsensical, but it could just be that I don't understand you, so I'm going to tentatively hazard a guess here.

    This is a logical leap. It's certainly possible that in the next minute, when I reach for my beer, that I may knock it over. The possibility is no guarantee that it will happen though.

    Why? Known to who?

    This is an untrue statement, hence the metaphor of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
    I can't know without doubt that a Flying Spaghetti Monster doesn't exist, but that inability to know doesn't mean that it's existence must be so.



    Because the first statement is illogical. No one can say logically that God definitely exists.
     
  7. relaxxx

    relaxxx Senior Member

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    The inverse is much more logical:

    If there is any question or doubt about the existence of a God then that God most likely does NOT exist.

    DOUBT is religion's worst nightmare, and God's kryptonite.

    There is only one good reason why God is powerless against disbelief - He only exists in peoples minds.
     
  8. yyyesiam2

    yyyesiam2 Senior Member

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    not that i agree with the op, but relaxxx-

    if i doubt that you really are a human, does that mean that you most likely aren't?
     
  9. enk

    enk Member

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    (1) God is no being at all. ------said the atheist
    (2) No being at all is God. ------said the theist

    (1) and (2) are logically equivalent statements ^^
     
  10. relaxxx

    relaxxx Senior Member

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    The relevant question would not be "am I human?". The relevant question is "do I exist?".

    If countless people could find no evidence of my existence THEN I most likely do not exist, which is obviously not the case. Doubt without logic and reason is just insanity. Atheist doubt is justifiable and logical.
     
  11. relaxxx

    relaxxx Senior Member

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    GOD = Zero or nothing, this can be a logical conclusion.

    Saying God is NOT a Being is just making up your own definitions. God by popular theist definitions IS a being. MOST LIKELY an IMAGINARY being.
     
  12. natbifta

    natbifta Member

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    God does exist - the proof is the human race. Us being here prooves that God exists - he made us. God is love - if you believe in love then you also must belive there is a God.
     
  13. thedope

    thedope glad attention Lifetime Supporter

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    If god is most likely an imaginary being then that abstraction does have existence as a state of human consciousness. Whereas it's boundaries are not clearly defined it still registers phenomenally and so is not exactly equivalent to nothing, unless we consider all phenomena to be "nothing or zero".
     
  14. LeviathanXII

    LeviathanXII Member

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    You are right here, but...

    Known to God, an aspect of theist belief in God that the average theist overlooks is that if God knows all, then everything is determined, their are arguments that suggest otherwise that I will not go into.



    Many people have logically said that God definitely exists... Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz...

    In their cases, the logic is sound from what I recall off hand, although I usually find myself dismissing Descartes arguments for reasons I will also not get into. I am not convinced as to the existence of the Christian God, but the philosophers above do not all argue for the existence of the Christian God. Spinoza in particular puts forth an extremely compelling argument concerning a "natural" god, pretty much the divine equivalent to mother nature. In this case, god is impersonal and not interested in human affairs, hence dispelling the problem of evil as well. It is just a egotistical perception of mankind to believe that we are superior and important in the universe.

    @ Relaxx: Connecting to what I said just above, disproving a specific definition of God does not dismiss the possibility of Gods existence. Without actually trying to offend anyone, the specifics of the Christian God really do make it one of the most ridiculous of possible definitions.

    Also as mentioned above, the Christian God faces the ultimate problem of evil, in my opinion best summed up by Epicurus.

    "Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
    Then he is not omnipotent.

    Is he able, but not willing?
    Then he is malevolent.

    Is he both able and willing?
    Then whence cometh evil?

    Is he neither able nor willing?
    Then why call him God?”

    So as already said (again). A personal, all powerful god, with humanities best intrest in mind faces many problems that an impersonal god such as Spinozas does not face.

    On a side note. I also have personal theories (that are very undeveloped so dont shot me for them:() that while most people consider god as the ultimate scope of existence, in the sense that god has infinite attributes (all powerful, all knowing bla bla bla). We still think of god in to small a scope. Existence is a fickle thing. If god really possessed infinite attributes, we really only know two, thought and extension. Which are the only two that seem to be able to 'exist' in our 'existence'. Therefore, for god to have infinite attributes as claimed and to be honest, why call it god if it didnt, it would have to have attributes outside of existence. Meaning that even if proof of gods existence was ultimately debunked, it still could mean god is "real'. Its weird to think about, but what it boils down to is that god could be real without actually existing, and saying that god does not exist does not make the possibility of god any less.
     
  15. relaxxx

    relaxxx Senior Member

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    phenomena is nothing more than a product of fantasy and finite knowledge. If ignorance didn't exist and all was known then there would be no such thing as a phenomena. Outside of the mind it is nothing, a fantasy concept, just like God.
     
  16. heeh2

    heeh2 Senior Member

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    lol....

    Did you forget what caused the renaissance?

    Spinoza believed that "god" was the natural world,
    and the philosophy of the other two is pretty much obliterated by the anthropic principal
     
  17. Mr.Writer

    Mr.Writer Senior Member

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    OP's post reminded me of some old argument for God I heard

    If God is infinite in every way, then his attributes are infinite in every regard, and maximal. Thus his wisdom is infinite, and maximal. His benevolence is infinite and maximal. And his attribute of existence, must be infinite and maximal, in other words, "YES".

    But existence is not an attribute of something. It is the "isness" of something. It is the very thing itself. Thus even if you have in your mind (the idea) of a most perfect being in every way, creator of the universe, it has as much a chance of being true as any other idea you may hold in your mind. Anyways, we can't even imagine things like "infinite wisdom" or "godly benevolence", and appending such verbage to your mental musings gives them no more weight than before, and certainly no more reality. I can think of the most purple pillow on Jupiter's moon Io, but that doesn't mean that therefore such a pillow exists, just because I can conceive of it (yet i even can't CONCEIVE of it, since what on earth is "the most purple").

    the proof for god you will not find in logic or word games. if you want god in your life you just have to live with it in your life. if you can't, if you can't find the god to live with, you are looking wrong, you are expecting fairy tales, or otherwise walking into a wall in some sense.
     
  18. drew5147

    drew5147 Dingledodie

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    "Ask, and you shall receive."
     
  19. LeviathanXII

    LeviathanXII Member

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    As you quoted

    Logically said. I didnt say proved or have not been debunked, just that they had logical arguments that claimed gods existence.
     
  20. Jo King

    Jo King wannabe

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    I told my very religious daughter-in-law that their is a chance God might not be really.
    It didn't go over to well.
     

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