Posted on 05/13/2023 2:12:01 AM PDT by spirited irish
Atheists frequently pose this question to justify their disbelief. Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), a famous British philosopher, in his influential little essay, Why I am not a Christian, put this forward as his first objection.1 Today’s atheists repeat the objection, including Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) and Australia’s own Philip Adams at the 2010 Global Atheists’ Congress in Melbourne Australia, who said,
“The great argument for God was that there had to be a Creation, a beginning. … But my objection was simple. If God was the beginning who began God?”2
(Excerpt) Read more at patriotandliberty.com ...
God is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. It’s not a clever question, it’s a circular one and only meant to rattle the unsure.
To me it’s fascinating that this was already answered 3,500 years ago. Moses asked God what His name is. God replied that His name is I Am. It means that God owes His existence to no one. Unlike everybody else. He’s not God, the son of somebody. He simply…is.
The fact that the answer to that question is beyond human understanding doesn't mean the question is intended to or should rattle our faith.
If a person's faith is so shallow that he cannot ask or entertain such a question, that is another matter altogether.
I know people who are afraid to read certain parts of the Bible because they think it might "rattle their faith." The question is, if one's faith is so easily rattled, is it a durable faith?
Why not just answer the question?
Re #5: he already “answered.” The question is an illogical one which cannot be answered logically.
A better question is this: what is the refutation to the assertion that the question itself is illogical?
You ask your questions and I’ll ask mine.
Shouldn't a person ask, "Why should I accept what was said to Moses 3,500 years ago as accurate?" "What did Moses see that I don't see today." And "Why is the statement 'I Am' sufficient for me to accept that the being I am confronted with is the Creator?"
If Satan appears to you and says "I am," will you believe he is God? (Keep in mind that Satan is a liar...he can and will say anything).
As your tagline says "Put everything to the test." God will survive that test.
Let’s hear your answer to the question....
Who created gGod. Its a very siomple answer.
God ws created by the Jewish People . HIs name was Yahweh.
THe Old Testament is a chronicle aboiut the relationship between the Jewish People and God.
Likelwishe, every civilization has vreated its own God or gods. And they came into existance by virtue of sipplication and offerings.
And through time the reationship between Yahweh and human beings evolved into CHristianity and so another form of God the Son was created by the reationship between human beings and God.
Its actually a wonderful system of coming and going. Because God exists as an energy body, he is timeless, impermanence of the physical does not effect him much. If you want a closer relationship with God, then as a human you need to learn how to suppicate, make offerings and pray properly.
Thisis one of the best gifts that human beings can have, and in modern times it has become ignored, which is why we are in such dark times now.
F9r those who practise on a path of supplication, prayer, offering and kindness, despite these dark times, the light of goodness is available,and blazes in glory like the light from a thousand suns, radiating everywhere.
Even my doubts Know that GOD IS.
אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה
Surprise: the Big Bang isn’t the beginning of the universe anymore
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/big-bang-beginning-universe/
God tells us that He is not in the realm of "space/time" (He is outside our created universe/reality). Ergo, without time, there is no beginning or end. Such a concept doesn't exist in God's realm.
As an aside, that implies that the world where angels were created is also a space/time reality (albeit one that appears to us to be "spiritual"), since they had a beginning.
After a lifetime of pondering this, I conclude that it is beyond my understanding; and I should simply accept it in a trusting childlike manner, with a leap of faith. (Not easy for me; as I am a logic-science-rationally-based person.)
I accept that God created the universe, with all things seen and unseen, and became one of us to perform a sacrifice that passes my poor understanding, but that somehow saved me from myself.
...best I can do.
I agree...I was hoping the other guy would take a stab at it though...
I'm on my 3rd cup of coffee and on a roll. The roll will wear off shortly and I'll return to a regular human pace (as opposed to a caffeinated hummingbird one).
The answer to the question was in the article;
“Note that the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Here God created time itself. Only One who is outside of time, that is, timeless, or eternal, could do this.”
I agree wholeheartedly about testing everything. Don’t get me started on my crisis of faith in my 20’s when I was finishing college, in which many of non math courses and computer science courses made a point to tell me that God doesn’t exist. I did a deep dive into who made the most rational case for how we came into existence and concluded that the best answers came from the old earth creationists who quoted the Bible and science.
If they do, Jesus will very shortly emerge as the most powerful and very, very real being/person they have ever known.
The funny thing is that sometimes I feel like the Bible actually weakens my faith because Jesus becomes such a real person in my life, that He is no longer a matter of "faith.";-)
As Charles Stanley has said on many occasions, when you read the Bible, remember that it is supernatural. It will transform your mind and perception of reality. It will show you things right before your very eyes that you have never seen. Things that have been there all along that you just missed.
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