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What tuning are you referring to?Fine Tuning arguments are the best imo.
Even when people object that they don't think x or y should be a certain way, their criticisms are typically subjective, and unconvincing as counter arguments.
In fact, I haven't ever seen an objection to them that I thought was very good.
The best argument against the existence of God is probably the evidential argument from evil.
That doesn't work. To describe a being who has material traits and then try to claim hat he's immaterial is incoherent. I'm going to have to discard this candidate, but it made for interesting reading.Oh, he's immaterial, and his fire can do anything. He only appears as a dragon when he comes to me. That's the only way I can describe him.
Well let's not be too hasty (either way) until we evaluate the situation. Let's try to use some logic and see where it takes us.I understand and admit the universe most likely had beginning. That doesn't mean a god did it.
I really don't see where this is relevant. But if you mean to suggest that other universes exist without a beginning, I hope you remember that the BGV addressed multiple universes also. But we're beyond that now and discussing possible causes.And it doesn't mean this universe is the only thing there is.
After all this, now you say you don't need convincing that p2 was probably true? I'm wondering what evidence or argument you knew of that I didn't reference. Okay, well I guess the exercise did us good, eh?I don't need KCA to convince me the universe probably had a beginning.
You still move to fast for me. Let's see what we can figure anything out about the probable cause first. For example, if we feel that we can safely conclude that the cause had wings and looked like your dragon, then we could rule out the Abrahamic god, right?The part where your God comes in is where I need convincing. So you can stop arguing that the universe had a beginning. Get to the other part already, about how the thing in category 2 that didn't "begin to exist" created the universe. We can move on from the "basic KCA" now.
I really don't see where this is relevant. But if you mean to suggest that other universes exist without a beginning, I hope you remember that the BGV addressed multiple universes also. But we're beyond that now and discussing possible causes.
Yes, the KCA is a good argument for the existence God. But the basic KCA only addresses whether or not the universe had a cause for it beginning to exist. It is only after we consider the possible cause for the universe beginning to exist that we can begin to consider the Christian god as a possible candidate for that cause. For example, I've heard people suggest that the cause could have been the FSM or the "Eternal Flame". Fine, we can get to those after we hammer out the basic argument. Let not skip logical steps, but rather, let's go through the basic KCA logic and see where it leads us.
As discussed earlier:Mmmm. I'm finding this one unlikely. If there is such a thing as a dragon, he would have a body and might have wings. I'm also not seeing where he got the fire from. Fire requires some air, fuel, and an ignition source. If the universe had not been created yet, I don't see how all these material things could have existed. To submit that something material could have created the material universe is incoherent, since the material would have had to exist in order to create itself.
That's your understanding of how a flame works within the universe. Physical principles that describe how flames naturally form within the universe don't apply to the Divine Flame, which is beyond the universe. It's supernatural, and therefore doesn't need to satisfy the conditions for naturally forming flames (e.g., a source of fuel).
But if you think this objection to the Divine Flame has merit, then I can make the same objection to your personal creator God: my understanding of intelligence is that it has its roots in biology, that it is the product of living brains and therefore subject to their metabolic requirements, and that the components necessary to form intelligent life are all within our spacetime universe.
You can't dismiss the Divine Flame as incoherent on the basis of principles operant in the universe while also upholding your favoured theological proposal in spite of them.
Joshua, does intelligence begin to exist? Is intelligence uncaused and disembodied?So it seems to me that we could say that the cause of the universe beginning to exist could be space-less, timeless, uncaused, immaterial, very powerful, and even personal. When I consider all of the candidates that would fit that description, I could list the Jewish, Islamic, or Christian god, and even a mean god.
No it doesn't. It doesn't even rule out polytheism, aliens, or fairies.It is notable that this argument actually rules out all of the Greek and Roman gods, Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, and even the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
It means that time doesn't run in a straight line for God like it does for this universe. Our normal experience of time is that it runs in a straight line. This means we can always ask "what came before," etc. However, with God, time wouldn't run in a straight line, it would run much differently, possibly circular. More research is needed into this, obviously, but the point is that time doesn't run in a straight line for God like it does for us.
Even if you suggest that a multiverse or an inanimate, unintelligent "thing" gave birth to the universe, you still have the same problem with time because you can't have an infinite regress.
The point is about intelligence, not exactly who the designer is.
2. The universe began to exist.
The biggest problem with them is that we have no idea what the range and distribution are for various universal constants which were allegedly tuned. We're just supposed to take it on faith that certain things are very unlikely therefore Jesus died for our sins. That's skipping quite a bit of work.Fine Tuning arguments are the best imo.
Even when people object that they don't think x or y should be a certain way, their criticisms are typically subjective, and unconvincing as counter arguments.
In fact, I haven't ever seen an objection to them that I thought was very good.
P2 is more plausibly true than not. But nonbeliever314 has already conceded that the universe probably had a beginning and now we are considering the possible cause, so I've moved on from the basic KCA now.Just a few days ago you agreed that this premise was just that it was plausible that the universe began to exist, not that it did. Why the change?
P2 is more plausibly true than not. But nonbeliever314 has already conceded that the universe probably had a beginning and now we are considering the possible cause, so I've moved on from the basic KCA now.
Are you suggesting that an all-powerful, all-knowing "something" made a guess of how to put a universe together, and then was forced to fiddle with the "knobs" until we got what we observe today? How do you know it could have been different?The Fine-Tuning of the physical constants.
Then a "God" that walked and talked in a [hypothetical] Garden of Eden is struck from your list of potential candidates. Where does that leave you?That doesn't work. To describe a being who has material traits and then try to claim hat he's immaterial is incoherent. I'm going to have to discard this candidate, but it made for interesting reading.
His criteria for determining whether an entity is an eligible candidate for the "cause of the universe" is entirely arbitrary. A flame is ineligible apparently because it requires certain material components that are, to the best of our knowledge, only found within the universe. A similar argument would also render Joshua's preferred candidate (an intelligent designer) ineligible.Then a "God" that walked and talked in a [hypothetical] Garden of Eden is struck from your list of potential candidates. Where does that leave you?
More research? Is there any to begin with? So far this just sounds like something you've made up.
Proposing god(s) as the answer has the same problem, of course.
There no reason to think intelligence has to be involved in any way, much less one with a personality.
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