God

Hello Nathanael, my name is Dillon and I believe in God because it seems most logical to me. Over the course of this discussion I will attempt to make a case for why it is logical to believe in the divine. Whether or not there is a God is entirely dependent on whether or not the universe has purpose. An easy way to think of it is simply that an ordered thing must have been ordered by a thing capable of ordering. Perhaps a redundant way to say a simple truth, but I'm sure it is easily grasped. So, if there is order in the universe, then there must be one who ordered it. So then, in order to prove that it is logical to think that there is a God, I must prove that there is order in the universe. Now, this task is much easier than it may seem. One can easily tell from observing organisms that they are ordered and serve specific functions, down to their smallest part. For example, a bird's wing is for the purpose of flying and its beak is for the purpose of eating, and these two parts of the bird combined with all it's other parts, form the entire bird, who's purpose is to survive. This purpose is shared by all beasts. Another simple truth, but a necessary one. Now, Man also is purposed to survive, but analysis of his body reveals that he is made for more than only surviving. It is very obvious that in many ways, Man is unlike any other animal. A few of the most important traits are: - Man's upright posture - Man's unparalleled comprehension - Man's unparalleled linguistic skills From Man's body, one can discern what each implies about his purpose. I will go through these three traits and unpack what each reveals. Man's upright posture causes Man to be more naturally inclined to gaze upward, unlike beasts which naturally have their faces towards the ground, and it causes his hands to be free from the earth, while animals must tread with their paws. Man's inclination to look upward reflects his mind's ability to ponder higher things, things not pertaining to his survival. Beasts are not rational, and therefore are incapable of reasoning and pondering higher things, which is reflected in their faces being positioned towards the ground. Man's hands being freed from the ground is also extremely important, because his intellect and free hands allows him to make art. Man is the only animal capable of making and appreciating art. Thirdly, Man's linguistic skills reveal that he is meant to live in community with other men. Language is essential to society, and without it, Man would likely live as a nomad. While other animals seem to have things akin to society, none have society as complex and necessary for health as Man. This reveals that Men are meant to live in society with one another. I could go on, but I fear already I've spent too much time on the foundation of my argument. So, it has been demonstrated that Man is unique among the animals, and has a higher purpose than the others. His purpose is to survive, like the beasts, but also to ponder higher truths and make art in society. This makes the existence of God seem more logical, because why would nature simply choose one animal to be intellectually capable, and curious about higher things (things like God), if it had no reason for doing so? It makes sense that God would give Man these intellectual tools, so that Man could ponder truth, and eventually discover God. Now, some take Man's complex and noble nature as proof of God in itself, like you said: "humans are so complicated that they must have a maker," but you bring up the very naturally rising response: "who made the maker?" This idea is complicated, but not unintelligible. I say that the "Prime Mover," (that thing which has caused everything in the universe but is not in itself caused by anything) is the most logical explanation for the origin of the universe. Now, without getting too scientific, I say that Divine Agency is the most logical cause of the universe because entropy in a system always naturally increases, effect always follows from a cause, and matter cannot be created or destroyed. And so it was unnatural (supernatural if you will) for the big bang to have happened. The big bang is theorized to have been a great explosion of order in an instant, where there previous was little to no order, with great amounts of matter being created, with seemingly no cause for doing so. This big bang is completely unreasonable apart from being the work of a God. To put it in bullet point: - The big bang is supernatural because entropy decreased in the system - The big bang is supernatural because effect came from no cause - The big bang is supernatural because matter was created So simply naturally, this big bang is quite impossible. And yet, there seems to be a great amount of evidence suggesting that it happened. It is more logical to think that this event was caused by a supernatural being than to think that the universe for some reason acted completely against it's nature this one time. To your third question, God cannot simply "make himself or just appear," he never appeared, he always has been. Now this makes sense because time is only the measure of change, and God never changes, therefore he is outside of time. And Man does change, so he is inside of time. Note, Man only shares some of the characteristics of God, those are what set him apart from the beasts. So then, in short recap and conclusion, I have said: Firstly, that it is most logical to think there is a God because of Man's nature, Secondly, that it is most logical to think there is a God because it is the most logical explanation for the universe, Briefly and thirdly, that God's having been forever is not impossible, but logical. I hope my attempt to write my argument in the most understandable way was successful, and I look forward to your response. Please respond to each point clearly and individually.