Posted on 10/12/2017 7:05:04 AM PDT by St. Louis Conservative
Interesting. I’d love to read Descartes and Leibniz. Anything you recommend along the lines of the existence of God and the origin of the universe?
Depends on how deep one wants to go on the subject. After work I will compile some links. Right now Im typing quickly on phone..
Text of Meditations on First Philosophy
Three and a half hour youtube video of it being read
Unfortunately I can't find the objections and replies that go with it online. I had to buy a paper back myself. They are very helpful, and were published with meditations.
Some background on understanding him better I found helpful:
If you are newer at natural theology, metaphysics and not wanting to do the deep dive just yet, a few quick videos for some of the simpler arguments for God that are not as tight, but are far easier to follow as quick youtube videos done pretty well:
The "Kalam" Cosmological argument quick video
Leibnitz's Cosmological argument quick video
Can't find the link I had to Leibnitz's cosmological argument...its easier to find commentary about him on web search then his actual work.
As for how the universe was made specifically, they don't cover it. Science had not progressed that far yet, and reason unaided by what science could find some things easier than others--as far as Astrophysics in Descartes time, he had to judiciously carefully word an essay he was going to publish on optics and what they can see about planets etc...after he saw what happened to Galileo for disagreeing with the Catholic clergy on whether the Earth was in motion. George Lamitre was perhaps the first scientist to suggest a theory on how Creation happened. But he did not make it any part of an argument for God's existence. Certaintly Lemitre believed in God (he was a Jesuit Priest as well as a scientist)--but at the time of his proposal it wasn't politically correct to point out that a universe with a particular point at which it started was not consistent with Atheism...and I imagine didn't want his theories rejected because people figured he must be pushing them because he was religious. Decades after he proposed it, Lemtre's theory is now the "Standard Big Bang" model.
Thanks. Looking forward to this.
Did you finish Kurzweil’s singularity? Any further thoughts?
Alas, I have not yet gotten back to it, and my mind has been elsewhere this weekend.
>>would transform the concept of the divine.
If the divine is just a concept, then it is not divine.
The Beast.
God did not create technology. He created man and endowed him with the ability to make and use technology.
Man goes to God and says, “We will replace you, we can make Man from dirt just like you.”
God says, “Ok, prove it to me, and I will go away.”
The man goes to pick up some dirt, when he’s suddenly interrupted by God, “No, go make your OWN dirt.”
The question is what does God think? The psalms are clear. He laughs in derision at such garbage.
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