What do you believe was the nature of “The beginning”? Was it temporary, in flux or constant? Any information you can provide about your understanding of the beginning would be appreciated.
When you place “The beginning” with a capital ‘T’ in quotes like that, it implies that you don’t mean the beginning in the usual sense, but instead you are using the term as a euphemism for the Christian God. It implies that you don’t mean “beginning” at all, but instead you mean “cause”. I can’t see why you wouldn’t just ask what I think is the cause of the Big Bang.
Anyway, the currently well established beginning of the universe was the Big Bang. There is currently no putative
cause for the Big Bang. There are only speculative hypotheses.
Ok so you’re not a materialistic monist. Are you a dualist or immaterialist? If you have room in your model of the universe for things that are at rest/immaterial, why not consider the beginning act/actor displaying that same nature. What exactly is outside of time in your understanding of the universe?
I don’t apply labels to myself. As soon as we apply labels to people, we have a tendency to pigeonhole them and assume characteristics about them they may or may not possess. At the moment, I can’t think of anything physical that is outside time. There may be physical things outside time that I have no knowledge of, but that is irrelevant to this discussion. This discussion is about your claims that the Christian God is outside time and that it is constant and unchanging. I asked you to establish the validity or truth of those claims. You keep failing to do that. However, before you can argue that the Christian God is outside time, you first need to prove that it even exists at all. You’ve failed to do that as well. In fact, you haven’t even attempted to do that.
Because that is what you should believe if you don’t believe in a God/Beginning. Instead of asking for proof of others understanding of God you should be explaining your understanding of the beginning.
I thought you weren’t a material monist? Now you believe that all there is in the universe is matter?
You are exhibiting the common tendency of religious believers towards false dichotomies. Just because I don’t believe the Christian God is real it doesn’t mean I have to believe the universe has existed forever. Just because the Big Bang occurred is no sound reason to believe that the Christian God is real. Are you one of those Christians who just assume “God did it” whenever they are presented with something for which there is currently no explanation?
I didn’t say I believe that all there is in the universe is matter. You are either misinterpreting or misrepresenting my comments.
Yes there is a beginning.
That isn’t what I asked. I asked do you believe the Christian God
had a beginning. I ask because you claimed it is irrational to think the universe had no beginning. However, if you think the Christian God had no beginning then how is that not also irrational. If you think the Christian God did have a beginning then what do you think created the Christian God?
We both believe it existed but what was the nature of the beginning and what happened to it; along with why you are so certain it isn’t still active, is what we need to discuss.
What on Earth are you talking about? You haven’t made any sense since the beginning of this conversation, but now your comments are degenerating into nonsense. I
don’t believe the Christian God
ever existed. I won’t believe it is real until someone provides enough sound evidence and sound arguments to prove that.
If Christians want to argue that the Christian God exists outside time or created the universe (or performs miracles or answers prayers or had a son or did anything at all), someone first needs to prove that the Christian God is real. In all of human history, that has
never happened.