Flare Sci-Fi Forums: For the theologians...

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Posted by Jeff Raven (Member # 20) on :

Anyone who does not question God's existence at least once in his life cannot truly accept God.

Dispute this.

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Posted by USS Vanguard (Member # 130) on :

That actually sounds pretty good
(not much of a flame I suppose

)

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"Homer, you're dumb as a mule and twice as ugly,
if a strange man offers you a ride, I say take it"-Abe S.

Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :

Is God perfect?
Yes.
Can God create something he cannot destroy?
Er...

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"Huh. An intelligent guard. I never would have guessed."
-Preed, Titan A.E.

Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :

"Can God create something he cannot destroy?"

Or, as philosophers used to put it, can God create a rock so big he can't lift it? Got me.

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"To disarm the people [is] the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
- George Mason, American Statesman and Author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)

Posted by Michael Dracon (Member # 4) on :

"Can God create something he cannot destroy?"
Yes, that is already done. What is it? It is called mankind.

Why can't God destroy it?
If God destroys it, then there is nothing left that knows God exists.

"We think, therefor God exists."
- me

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"I think I speak for everyone here when I say, 'Huh?'."
- Buffy

Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :

This question arose a few centuries back because some people didn't see that omnipotence doesn't allow you to do things that are logically impossible. God can not make something impossible for him to do, by definition, since He can do anything. It'd be contradictory.

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"To disarm the people [is] the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
- George Mason, American Statesman and Author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)

Posted by USS Vanguard (Member # 130) on :

God does not exist because, it was proven that he does not with the existence of the Babel fish which couldn't have evolved by chance. Therefore, that is the proof that God exists, but, "proof denies faith, and without faith, God is nothing" So God disappears in a poof of logic,

oh man, i've been reading too much Douglas Adams.

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"Homer, you're dumb as a mule and twice as ugly,
if a strange man offers you a ride, I say take it"-Abe S.

Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :

Uh, oh. Thermodynamics dictates the existance of God, so therefore God does not exist. Well, there go the laws of physics...

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"To disarm the people [is] the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
- George Mason, American Statesman and Author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

Thermonynamics dictates no such thing. Bleah.

Again, I think that this all depends on WHICH or what KIND of "God" you are considering the existence of.

Will any kind do, or must it fit within the dictates of traditional JudeoChristian thought, and follow Biblical descriptors with some degree of accuracy?

A Deistic God is eminently possible, but as a completely unobservable phenomenon, having no interaction with the universe following its inception, it requires no further thought other than acceptance.

Other Gods become progresively more difficult to rationalize as stories of their involvement and activities increase. From a dispassionate standpoint, that is. Much as a fantabulist can rationalize any conflict between the myriad stories he/she tells, or between the stories and the real world, so can a faithful one (or most, at any rate) rationalize any seeming contradictions in his/her personal faith, or between his/her personal faith and reality. Often with as much convoluted reasonings (see the coming postulations on Thermodynamics, should any arise).

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"Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi

Posted by Vacuum robot lady from Spaceballs (Member # 239) on :

I don't think you have to look farther than the Genius that is Gene Ray to find a definitive, absolute answer to this age-old question.

quote:

God can't occupy 4-corners.
Time Cube disproves God.
God is an evil adult "word
scam" against children that
justifies adult plunder of all
natural resources on Earth.
www.timecube.com

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[This message has been edited by Ultra Magnus (edited July 25, 2000).]

Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :

First:

The kind that has the ability to defy the laws of physics, or set up those laws in the first place, thus creating the universe is the kind of god I'm talking about. This kind of god MUST exist, due to laws on increasing entropy dictating a point in the past beyond which they themselves didn't apply. Everything else about this god is debatable, including HOW he (we'll call this god a 'he', for the sake of simplicity) created the universe, or even whether he's aware of it.

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"To disarm the people [is] the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
- George Mason, American Statesman and Author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)

Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :

The real question is: Why would God (if there is a god) even care if we worshipped him or not?

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1957: The space age begins when the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, is placed in orbit by the Soviet Union on October 4. Our German rocket scientists get very
annoyed with their German rocket scientists. � Outpost

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

Omega: That's the Deistic God. And even its existence is simply speculation. We don't know yet if the Universe really NEEDS a GodCause.

I wonder if the "Time Cube" guy knows that his sentence structure mirrors that of a schizophrenic?

Mucus: parallels that eternal question, doesn't it?

"What does God want with a starship?"

"What does God want with the adulation of a largely hairless omnivorous anthropoid biped?"

To me, this would be like being worshipped and loved by a colony of ants. Sure, it might stroke my ego, but I can't interact meaningfully with them, so what good will it do either of us? (Oh, and then if they pester me enough with their constant entreaties, I just might get mad and flatten the anthill in a regrettable fit of pique.)

Now being worshipped by CATS, that'd be an accomplishment.

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"Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi

Posted by bryce (Member # 42) on :

I agree with Jeff's orginal statement. At some point in your life you will question God, you will question anything you believe in at some point. Hopefully after questioning anything you find the truth about the matter. C.S. Lewis denied Christ for years with the simple complaint, "What about all this suffering?" He eventually came to know Christ while on a motorcycle in England I do believe. (?)

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If you don't believe in what I say or the God I speak of I guess you'll just have to meet me so the Lord and I can convert you.

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

And then proceeded to hammer us over the head with "Look! It's a religious parallel" for seven whole books.

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Posted by Amadeus on :

No one in existence can prove that God exits or does not exist. Therefore, as rational, thinking beings, the most prudent course of action would be to question everything. So long as you dont turn away if God does exist, you'll be fine.

Posted by bryce (Member # 42) on :

As an Englishman, I thought you would have known he wrote more than seven?

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If you don't believe in what I say or the God I speak of I guess you'll just have to meet me so the Lord and I can convert you.

Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :

He's talking about the "Chronicles of Narnia". Seven books long, and they really do beat you over the head with the said phrase.

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"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."
- George Bernard Shaw

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

And I got through them all. Plus the BBC adaptions of them. Voyage of the Dawn Treader on a BBC children's drama bedget was, quite frankly, pants-wettingly funny.

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"Why do you want to spend time with a deer? They're so stupid, they get hypnotized by headlights!" - Guido Anchovy

[This message has been edited by PsyLiam (edited August 02, 2000).]

Posted by Diane (Member # 53) on :

I tried reading those years ago, before I knew anything about C.S. Lewis (I was looking for some good fantasy). Couldn't get through ten pages of the first book. I don't remember what I read now, but I think it was because I couldn't stand the way he treats the reader like a four-year old.

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--Jay Leno

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

I don't know, I rather enjoyed the Narnia books when I read them. Though that must have been ten years ago or so now.

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--
L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg
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Read chapter one of "Dirk Tungsten in...The Disappearing Planet"! Because I'm the passenger, and I ride and I ride.

Posted by bryce (Member # 42) on :

Two things:

"...for I am a jealous god..." Ten Commandments, Chapter 20 of Exodus. And don't give me any of that, "The OT is for jews." junk that's a lie, it isn't biblical, and if you ever heard a person say that you either didn't understand or the person was a heretic.

Narnia is just childrens literature people, you haven't read Lewis until you have read his adult stuff.

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If you don't believe in what I say or the God I speak of I guess you'll just have to meet me so the Lord and I can convert you.

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

"I know you Lord are a jealous Lord. I know the tablet is your competition."

Posted by bryce (Member # 42) on :

Exodus 20:5

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If you don't believe in what I say or the God I speak of I guess you'll just have to meet me so the Lord and I can convert you.

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Do you want to uncover the origins of the rest of M. Doughty's Biblical semi-quotes? Fun for the whole family! I think.

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

"Happy shall be he who taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones" -- a psalm whose number escapes me.

Nice people, these folks. Antiabortion, but pro infanticide.

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"Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi

Posted by bryce (Member # 42) on :

What are you people talking about?

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If you don't believe in what I say or the God I speak of I guess you'll just have to meet me so the Lord and I can convert you.

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

I'm talking about America's favorite musician who often features various Biblical allusions in his songs.

Posted by bryce (Member # 42) on :

Who is America's favorite musician?

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If you don't believe in what I say or the God I speak of I guess you'll just have to meet me so the Lord and I can convert you.

Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :

Wayne Newton?

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

Whoever wrote those jammin' rock tracks for The Racoons?

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"Why do you want to spend time with a deer? They're so stupid, they get hypnotized by headlights!" - Guido Anchovy

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Not that I'd want to imply that someone hadn't read my post before responding, but, uh, did anyone bother to read my post before responding?

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Come on darkness
Lay your body down on us
We've been calling you for so long now
We're weary of your name
--
Camper Van Beethoven
****
Read chapter one of "Dirk Tungsten in...The Disappearing Planet"! Pull your body for a moment from your soul.

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

I did, but it was much more fun to respond to Bryce's post.

Besides, I think whoever wrote those jammin' rock tracks for The Racoons cartoon show IS American's favourite musician.

Either him, or the guy that wrote the theme for Dragonball Z. Buggered if I can figure out the words though. Is it choppin' dragon, rockin' dragon, humpin' dragon, or something else? Something much more, er, sense-making?

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"Why do you want to spend time with a deer? They're so stupid, they get hypnotized by headlights!" - Guido Anchovy