Christianity

Hi there Not sure how great I'll be at debating this, but you ask many questions here that I have pondered myself on this topic - and these are my current thoughts based on listening to both sides of the argument from various people: 1. How do you explain God's existence/who created God/what existed before God? This question is the easiest to approach, as it is simply logically flawed. If you understand the definition of God to be an infinite being, who exists outside of time, then the question doesn't make sense. Any more than asking the question "what would happen if an irresistible force pushed against an immovable object?" The simple fact is, both cannot exist - they are necessarily mutually exclusive. So it is with God. Either he/she/it just exists with no creator, or he/she/it doesn't exist - there is no logical alternate. God just is, always has been and always will be. I know many people dislike this logic, but as soon as anything exists you have this problem. Assuming you believe that this universe actually exists (which you can't actually be certain of, but that is a whole different debate!), and you say that God doesn't exist - then what created the universe? Or has the universe just always been and always will be? But then you have the same logical issue - you have merely replaced the issue of God just always existing with the notion that the universe just always existed. As soon as you believe that "something" exists - then there HAS to be some layer that is infinite, or has "just always" existed. Faced with this logical certainty, it makes significantly more sense to me that an infinite being or God has just always existed, rather than that the universe just always existed (or multiverse or whatever particular alternate stance you may take - it is the same). 2. If there has always been a God why didn't he create humans before? a) - how do you know that he didn't? b) - God exists outside of time, therefore to him/her/it there is no before - there just "is". It's a good question though. Another good question is why did God create humans? I dunno! 3. Why did God form the Earth out of rock? If anything Genesis 1:1 seems to suggest he/she/it created the Earth out of nothing. But then I'm not a Biblical literalist. God could have created the world in 6 literal days, or he could created the cosmos using a Big Bang or similar notion knowing the destiny of every single atom and that the Earth and stars could have formed over billions of years - making the 6 days of creation a metaphorical "storyline". To my knowledge, the Bible isn't meant to be read as a literal scientific manual. 4. What side should anyone believe? This is a profound question! The simplest form of this question is do you believe that you yourself exist? You can see things, hear things, touch things, but that doesn't prove you're really here. I maintain that nobody can actually prove anything. Take something simple: if you think you can prove that a table exists by examining it, walking all around it knocking against the wood or whatever, then you're ignoring the problem that you're relying 100% on your own brain being accurate in interpreted this universe for you. It is a farfetched notion, but to draw from popular culture, say you were in something like "The Matrix" - and your brain is just being manipulated into thinking you're here on Earth, and that you are walking round a table that you think exists, but in fact your brain is just plugged into a computer mainframe in space - how would you know?