Posted on 03/31/2011 11:50:50 AM PDT by LibWhacker
The better they are, and the more they know, the more likely they are to admit that they know almost nothing. This has been my long experience of scientists.
Sounds like you have a lot of faith in things that you have no evidece for. And you were disagreeing with me how?
I was speaking in hyperbole...in contrast to the long periods of time originally.
“Why would belief in an infinite and eternal Universe abnegate the existence of an equally infinite and eternal God?”
It wouldn’t, but it seems that in that model the Universe becomes an eternal and coequal partner with God - and there would be absolutely no way to say that God created it.
How can you create something that always was.
The God of the Bible is a God who created the universe, not one who exists coequal to it.
So whoever this God of an eternal universe might be - he isn’t the God of the Bible.
Our known Hubble length universe contains hundreds of millions of galaxies that have clumped together, forming super clusters and a series of massive walls of galaxies separated by vast voids of empty space.Maybe the "that have clumped together" indicates that the "hundreds of millions of galaxies" indicated in this sentence is a subset of ALL the galaxies in the universe. And maybe the sentence is saying that "hundreds of millions of galaxies" is the total galaxy count in our universe.
It's not clear to me what that "hundreds of millions of galaxies" refers to. All galaxies, or some galaxies.
Probably my fault.
Anyway, the actual number of galaxies:
The most current estimates guess that there are 100 to 200 billion galaxies in the Universe, each of which has hundreds of billions of stars. A recent German supercomputer simulation put that number even higher: 500 billion. In other words, there could be a galaxy out there for every star in the Milky Way.--www.universetoday.com
You have an awfully limited view of God.
If the universe is eternal then there was never a time when there wasn't a universe - erasing the need to have it be created.
My view of God doesn't include “Last Thursday-ism” - such is a useless speculation - as all reality would conform to there actually being a reality and existence before last Thursday.
And while your view of God may indeed include many preposterous and/or contradictory things - my view of God includes only the one described in the Bible.
The God of the Bible created the universe. The universe did not always exist.
“Sounds like you have a lot of faith in things that you have no evidence for. And you were disagreeing with me how?”
Mea Culpa. I do not accept what I don’t know and what I know nobody else know either!!!!
On the other hand I must assume that you DO accept what you don’t know. Now I got the dos and don’ts right.
And the other thing on sentient beings,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, the odds are mightly in my favor thank you
Yet, you can't possibly know what the odds are, can you? Still having faith in things not in evidence.
Ah, I get your point... my construct did give that impression, though that is not what I intended.
Don't call God a liar. I'm not sure God would like that.
The God of the Bible created the universe. The universe did not always exist.
You are entitled to your opinion.
It is not an opinion, it is a matter of exclusion.
Either the universe is eternal and always existed or it was created.
The only exception to that you carved out is if God created a universe (thus it did NOT always exist) that gave the appearance of being eternal (which would be a lie, or illusion).
It is not my opinion that the God of the Bible created the Universe - it is the description of God given in the Bible.
So.... there was a beginning.
It is not eternal.
In this beginning God CREATED.
There is no need to create that which has always existed.
As far as “Last Thursday-ism” you struck on why it is preposterous your very first try - it makes God out to be a liar. By suggesting the universe was created to mimic the appearance of being eternal - it is you who make God out to be a liar.
Or are you implying that God didn't exist prior to the Bibles codification by the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD??
A shame to waste it by denying what simply IS...
Apparently, our views on God are fairly divergent.
If the very fist line of the Bible is accurate, your “eternal universe” is not.
“In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth”
Whoever your God of an eternal universe is - it isn’t the God described in the Bible. That is fine, many people worship many different gods - not of the Bible.
The evidence points to a universe with a finite beginning.
You can argue evidence or you can argue God, but arguing that God manipulated the evidence is just preposterous.
Trivia test.......
What is the largest man made structure in the continental USA?
Whatever... Have a nice day.
No, you suggested that God would create evidence contrary to fact.
Either the universe is a created object “in the beginning”.
Or there was no beginning and the universe always existed.
Whatever, you are free to believe whatever you want, but it isn’t compatible with “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth” if there was no beginning and God didn’t create it.
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