Does God Exist?

that's what I always say.

 

Please consider this idea. Both Atheism and Theism are expressions of biases.

For the Atheist, sensory information (or a reliable report of sensory information) is the only acceptable proof for existence of anything. This means existence is ultimately reduced to those things that can delivered to the senses, things that can be seen, heard, touched, tasted or smelled, you know, the physical universe. According to the Atheistic view, all phenomena and all relationships between "things" are nothing more than the natural by-products of a purely physical universe.

For the Theist, existence can and does extend beyond the physical universe. According to the Theistic view, the truest reality is not immediately apparent to the senses. This Metaphysical reality that exists beyond the realm of the senses is, ultimately, undefinable, and is the primal existence from which all else originates. It simply cannot be measured in terms of time and space.

The problem, of course, is the belief that reality is defined, exclusively, by either one or the other of these two understandings.

Peace and Love

 

ok, I'll consider it... (lol)

let us imagine life "beyond the pyhisical universe". Believing in little green men with long faces, or big giant brains pertruding from their foreheads...yes, existence in the "beyond" is fun for imagination, but has no place in our existence in the "yond".

Like the Easter Bunny, perhaps?

Bzzzzzzzzzz. No such animal. "meta"physical means "beyond" or "above" the physical. It is NOT reality. It is, as my beloved Penn & Teller say, "BULLSHIT!"

If it "cannot be measured in terms of time and space, it by definition, CANNOT be the "primal existence from which all else originates", simply because you're talking about "IMAGINARY" things. Just by you (or anyone) saying it is so, does not make it so---it does however, make it quite a shiny stinky pile of BULLSHIT.

no. not a problem. We live in the here and now, the "metaphisical world" you claim to be "the primal existence from which..blah blah blah..." has no basis in the physical world, does not provide nor imply (even an iota) of proof of its existence, or for that matter reality, and is inherently a falacy. One which people love to cling to like the local Elvis sightings or (as we have seen recently) the multitude of Anna-Nicole Smith suitors claiming to be her daughter's father.

back atcha.

 

Thanks, you are very kind.

If that's what YOU imagine, then fine, have fun with it. But we weren't discussing "little green men."

In a roundabout way, you illustrate my point exactly. The idea there may be something that the senses and thoughts do not account for is simply unacceptable to the mind bounded by the physical universe. This mind has to create some kind of imaginary sensory representation for whatever abstract reality we may be discussing. However fanciful the image may be, it is really a surrogate for the missing sensory information you feel you need for something to be "real."

An inaccurate image obscures, or at least, says nothing worthwhile about the reality it claims to represent. But, you and I are not debating the veracity of your imagination. This is not a personal attack, we simply are not talking about the contents of your imagination.

And yes, I celebrate the existence of the physical universe. I am simply trying to realize an idea that there is more to existence than things made of atoms. What happens with these atoms is just as real as the atoms themselves. The space between these atoms is just as real as the atoms themselves. All of the relationships between these atoms are just as real as the atoms themselves.

The Easter Bunny? Is that really what you think the ultimate reality is?

Meaning is metaphysical.

Does meaning have any physical reality? What is its flavor? Does it have visual, aural, tactile, olfactory reality at all? Does meaning itself exist? Or, is meaning itself bullshit? If so, then why bother? Why not reject meaning, embrace meaninglessness? The meaning of your words, why should I consider it (assuming it exists)?

Yeah, imagine that.

What would you accept as "proof?" Where do you draw a distinction between existence and non-existence?

If, as you say, the non-existence of anything is an inherent fallacy, then is there no such thing as non-existence? In that case, what are you talking about?

Metaphysics, the paternity of Anna Nicole Smith's baby and Elvis sightings . . . I am sure there is a connection . . . but . . . what is the connection?

Thank you.

Peace and Love

 

This poll is bogus. We are all gods.

 

The more I hear about this thing called God, the more foolish the whole thing sounds.
Im not a profit, nor do I know what happens when we die, or if there is a "creator", but I am 100% sure that there is no one out there who descides our fate for us, and nor is our fate sealed by God.

 

Good. What else do you always say? ha

 

The thing is, everyone believes SOMETHING is sacred. It may be reason/meaning/knowledge, love, family, peace, sanity, creativity, written words, or even sex, drugs and rock and roll, it could be almost anything. I am sure you have your own set of goods, but whatever those things are, everyone, no matter how hardened, believes something exists that IS sacred.

But what if God is just the name for that sense of the sacred. What if, instead of this name, you substitute some specific example of the sacred. "The more I hear about this thing called (Peace, Love, Meaning, Creativity, Idealism, etc.) . . . " then the divine may begin to sound a little more meaningful and a lot less foolish.

Because God transcends all things, as any true mystic will tell you, God is, ultimately, undefinable. For many, it is difficult to find meaning in the undefinable, with anything whose meaning is not immediately apparent. But, of course, meaning certainly exists even when no one is aware of it. Ironically, it is this very same reverence for well-known meaning that hinders a greater experience of meaning.

Peace and Love

 

Not nihilists.

 

The bible would be nice if it used "god" as a symbol, instead of a deity. There is no GOD! Believing in "higher power" is low on the scale of common sense evolution.

 

the limits, if any, of what can exist cannot be known, and thus the total exclusion of the possible existence of almost anything makes very little sense. as does the notion, make equally little sense, that anything has to.

so i have to say: yes, one god CAN exist, zillions of gods CAN exist, and yes, even the nonexistence of any sort of a god at all, CAN exist also.

and does it have to have/be any sort of "higher authority" for something big, friendly and nontangable to exist? i fail to see how or why.

i believe something very mysterious does exist. exist and wish us no harm.

i also believe no existence of anything, alters the reality that it remains up to us, to avoid screwing everything up for each other.

=^^=
.../\...

whatever god or gods do exist,
are whatever it is that they are.
(and that generaly and gloriously unknown)

the "christian" "bible" ... IS .. just ... one ... effing ... book.

period.

=^^=
.../\...

 

We never saw any "gods", so there's no reason to believe they exist.

 

okay, if god exists and god created us all,who created god?

 

God itself.

I cannot see god differently then as a undefinable force, which doesn't judge. It's not a person or creature, but maybe just (a part of) nature. We just don't know for sure, so I don't exactly get why people force their ideas wether he does or doesn't exist on others.

 

so, "we just don't know for sure," yet you assuredly claimed that "god itself" created god?

how silly.

 

I don't know what god is, so I'm not claiming anything. I don't think it's created by a person or creature though, and I also don't think humans are.

 

claim#1 (in answer to the question "who created god")

claim #2

claim #2

for someone who says they're not claiming anything, you make some claims that don't mean anything.

where is your proof that "god created god"???

 

if you would all just employ a spec of critical thinking.....

you would be agnostic

a lil unbias humor for ya

 

Has God himself already voted here? If so, what's been his choice?

 

I think he does