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Stephen Hawking vs. God
http://wmbriggs.com/blog/?p=2857 ^ | William M. Briggs

Posted on 09/04/2010 7:57:38 AM PDT by mattstat

Everybody knows the following story: At one time, long ago, most or all people believed that when a tree branch fell and caused damage that a god or other spiritual entity caused the branch to fall. This belief was animate, in the sense that the god himself was pictured as pulling the branch or otherwise knocking it off the tree.

Reasons for the god’s behavior were ascribed, usually to sin, and perhaps a ceremony of propitiation was performed to forestall future baleful consequence. But over anything else, it was the fact of the branch falling that was used as evidence for the god’s existence. The branch fell, something caused it to, we can think of no cause, therefore it must be the god.

As time went on and fewer people imagined actually witnessing the god yanking on the tree, but they did not discard the idea that, somehow, that branch fell because the god willed it. Branches falling were still evidence of the god’s existence, but now weaker evidence. Some branches might have fallen on their own, who cares why.

Of course, magical thinking of this kind applied to physical events of all kinds; disasters were called, and not that long ago, “Acts of God.” Once more, these “acts” were a proof of God’s existence, but recently only in a vague sense. The causation really went one way: God to act, and not so much act to God.

Man’s existence, crucially his uniqueness and superiority over all other animals was, and still is, used by few, but a diminishing few, to infer the existence of God. The reasoning goes: because the universe is, God is...

(Excerpt) Read more at wmbriggs.com ...


TOPICS: Religion; Science
KEYWORDS: god; scientism; stephenhawking
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To: celtictomcat

Small, arrogant, pathetic. What can you tell me about a cube of casimir boxes? The space inside.


21 posted on 09/04/2010 9:15:01 AM PDT by allmost
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To: mattstat

Stephen Hawking vs. God.

Hmm....

GOD.

Next!


22 posted on 09/04/2010 9:15:22 AM PDT by hoagy62 (.)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

And he will immediately be an evangelist seeking to warn his loved ones.


23 posted on 09/04/2010 9:16:31 AM PDT by dartuser ("Palin 2012 ... nothing else will do.")
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To: allmost

Don’t start insults with the master.
But since you insist.
You sound weak. Are you born again?
What do you believe in. Arguements?
Hawking has his view, everyone else has theirs.
What is your proof of anything besides your confrontational view. Fine by me. I thrive on confrontation.


24 posted on 09/04/2010 9:18:48 AM PDT by celtictomcat
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To: celtictomcat
Don’t start insults with the master.

I'm laughing too hard to keep at this. Be back in few. :)
25 posted on 09/04/2010 9:23:13 AM PDT by allmost
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To: mattstat

Norm Geisler, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist.

Great book.

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Have-Enough-Faith-Atheist/dp/1581345615/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283616944&sr=8-1


26 posted on 09/04/2010 9:24:08 AM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion
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To: allmost

Yea right...go grab your geritol or pablum lad.
I know you are one of two extremes.
You’ll need it. I’ll be back later in the day.
Maybe by then you’ll have had your epiphany Elmer.


27 posted on 09/04/2010 9:25:16 AM PDT by celtictomcat
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To: mattstat

Matthew 21:18-22

Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.

When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”


28 posted on 09/04/2010 9:46:05 AM PDT by Raycpa
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To: celtictomcat

You are too stupid to grasp post #21. Acting like a troll...


29 posted on 09/04/2010 9:47:30 AM PDT by allmost
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To: mattstat
We now understand gravity and various other forces, and they can explain the instantaneous, unforced creation of the universe.

-Why are there these forces rather than nothing?

-Why are these forces the way they are (able to create a universe) rather than some other way?

30 posted on 09/04/2010 10:15:05 AM PDT by mjp ((pro-{God, reality, reason, egoism, individualism, natural rights, limited government, capitalism}))
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To: mjp
The fact is we dont understand gravity. Hawking is a liar as usual.
31 posted on 09/04/2010 10:20:22 AM PDT by allmost
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To: allmost
It's all sarcasm when they ask of course...


32 posted on 09/04/2010 10:26:00 AM PDT by allmost
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To: allmost

Be thankul to God you don’t run into me peewee.
Stay safe. And yes I am an ogre. Not a troll.


33 posted on 09/04/2010 12:52:26 PM PDT by celtictomcat
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To: allmost
Dear Allmost:

Did you read the full article? The focus, at the end, reveals how despite all the layers and layers of facts to explain scientific "miracles", not one of them answers the essential question: Why? What is it all for?

In short, there will always be room for God, not matter how much science tries to squeeze Him out.

34 posted on 09/04/2010 3:08:48 PM PDT by TheWriterTX (Buy Ammo Often)
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metaphysical:
"incorporeal; supernatural; having the form of an empirical hypothesis, but in fact immune from empirical testing"

"In matters of religion, the problem of validating metaphysical claims is most readily seen in all of the "proofs" for the existence of God. Like trying to prove the existence of a "soul" or "spirit" in the human, attempts to scientifically prove the existence of God and other nonobjective, nonhuman realities is seemingly impossible. The difficulty arises out of the attempt to scientifically study and objectify something which, by its very nature, cannot become an object of our scientific studies. This reigning belief that everything can be explained scientifically in terms of natural causes - referred to as naturalism - compels many to think that only what is seen or sensed, only what can be hypothesized and tested can be true, and therefore, meaningful to us as humans."
"Many scientists do believe in both science and God, the God of revelation, in a perfectly consistent way" - Feynman.

"You could feel the presence of nineteenth-century museum directors engaged, in their frock coats, in goniometrie and cranilogie, busily collecting and measuring everything, the the pious hope that mere quantification would lead to understanding. - Sagan.
35 posted on 09/05/2010 1:44:55 PM PDT by Milhous (Confusion to our enemies.)
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in the year 2525 duplicates are still gonna ba alive. Additional: some totally irrelevant sidebars:
36 posted on 09/06/2010 6:15:11 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Democratic Underground... matters are worse, as their latest fund drive has come up short...)
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To: celtictomcat

Interesting. You make big claims.


37 posted on 09/09/2010 9:35:55 PM PDT by allmost
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To: allmost

Define “claims” in your view.


38 posted on 09/10/2010 8:15:40 PM PDT by celtictomcat
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To: mattstat

Stephen Hawking’s Universe Implodes

http://xwalk.ca/y3nf.html

Only the God of the Bible tells the future with accuracy and specificity.


39 posted on 09/18/2010 10:45:31 PM PDT by ROTB (Without a Christian revival, we are government slaves, or nuked by China/Russia during armed revolt.)
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