Is God's Existence Possible?

[Philip_B]

Existence is actually not a quality of anything. When we say that something exists, we are not describing the thing. Rather, we are describing the world.

"Nascar exists" does not describe Nascar. It describes the world.

That is correct. Existence in one of the qualities that Nascar has. I am far from convinced. To suggest that God exists in a physical world in the way that Nascar exists on the tangible plain does not take into account the words of scripture, and indeed Jesus himself God is Spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

It is like wanting to put a clear timestamp on the dawn of time.

 

[Uber Genius]

By "God" I mean a maximally great being. God would be the only necessary being upon whom everything else depends. The universe would be contingent and God alone would be necessary. God would be the cause of the universe, the source of moral values, the source of rationality, the source of beauty, and the source of personality. God would be "the good".

God would be all powerful and all knowing. His character would be the very standard of justice. Everything in creation would be related to him and it would be impossible to understand anything rightly without understanding its relation to him.

Is it possible that God exists? Or is it impossible? Explain your answer.

I smell an ontological argument coming soon.

 

[Uber Genius]

physical world

His claim is God exists in a world. Not a "Physical" world.
That was your addition.
In philosophy "a world" is a representation of all that exists.

God is immaterial (not physical) but he exists in the world as do numbers and concepts and heaven (which is not located in the physical world). So OP is just representing "world" as a fashion of speaking from a philosophical meaning.

 

[Tree of Life]

I smell an ontological argument coming soon.

Well nobody has bitten yet. Only believers have taken a position.

 

[Uber Genius]

God isn't actually necessary in this case after he starts the Creation

So is a deistic God the greatest conceivable being?
How about if we made this God personal, and made him loving? Well those attributes seem to be greater, more worthy of worship.

 

[Uber Genius]

Well nobody has bitten yet. Only believers have taken a position.

It can be tough out here as few have a historical understanding of Christianity, or any knowledge about the natural theology arguments. Anti-intellectualism has been with us since the second great awakening created the burned-over district.

 

[Tree of Life]

Are unbelievers and skeptics hesitant to take a position on the possibility of God's existence?

 

[Steve Petersen]

Why is 'I don't know' not an option in the poll?

 

[Tree of Life]

Why is 'I don't know' not an option in the poll?

"I don't know" is fair. Are you saying that you don't know if God's existence is possible? If so, please explain why you're hesitant to commit to a possibility.

Edit: I added it to the poll.

 

[Tree of Life]

I noticed that @gaara4158 voted "No. It's not possible that God exists." What makes God's existence impossible?

 

[Steve Petersen]

"I don't know" is fair. Are you saying that you don't know if God's existence is possible? If so, please explain why you're hesitant to commit to a possibility.

If you are speaking about God as defined in the Bible, his existence is not contingent on the material. I don't know how you could even say if he exists or not in any way that is meaningful. In the world of our imaginations, anything is 'possible.' Whether it is probable depends on our ability to measure in some way, and by definition, God is immaterial, therefore immeasurable.

 

[Tree of Life]

If you are speaking about God as defined in the Bible, his existence is not contingent on the material. I don't know how you could even say if he exists or not in any way that is meaningful. In the world of our imaginations, anything is 'possible.' Whether it is probable depends on our ability to measure in some way, and by definition, God is immaterial, therefore immeasurable.

Some things are impossible like a square circle. Why not just say that God's existence is possible but not probable?

 

[Steve Petersen]

Some things are impossible like a square circle. Why not just say that God's existence is possible but not probable?

Anything I can imagine and that is not probable has the same weight. What's the point of this exercise? It has no value.

 

[Tree of Life]

Anything I can imagine and that is not probable has the same weight. What's the point of this exercise? It has no value.

Am I paying you? You don't have to participate in this thread!

Ultimately I would like to demonstrate that if God's existence is possible then God exists. But so far no atheists have admitted that God's existence is possible.

 

[durangodawood]

Let's start with the concept of a necessary being. You might believe that the universe itself necessarily exists. Do you believe that the universe was created? If so, it's possible that the universe might not have existed. But if the universe is uncreated then it's impossible for the universe to not exist. It is therefore a necessary being which does not need any sort of cause.

I dont know anyone who's in a position to know that.

 

[Tree of Life]

I dont know anyone who's in a position to know that.

There is some necessary being.

That's to say, there's something upon which all other things depend and are contingent. This could be something like "the universe", "matter", "physical laws", etc. There's something at the bottom of everything. Otherwise there couldn't be anything.

Do you deny that the universe is necessary? Is the universe then contingent upon something greater than or prior to the universe?

 

[durangodawood]

....But so far no atheists have admitted that God's existence is possible.

I'm still trying to get my head around what youre asking.

Basically God as you described is just this utterly vague thing that satisfies a bunch of broad superlatives.

 

[Tree of Life]

I'm still trying to get my head around what youre asking.

Basically God as you described is just this utterly vague thing that satisfies a bunch of broad superlatives.

We can get more specific. Think in terms of the God of the Bible. He has very specifically made himself known in Jesus Christ. Is it possible that the God of the Bible exists?

 

[durangodawood]

...There's something at the bottom of everything. Otherwise there couldn't be anything....

I can see how we'd like to think so based on the intuitions we've developed from worldly experience.

We think we can run the clock backwards until we catch the hand of the builder making his final adjustments.

We want everything to reasonable, in all domains. I dont know that it is tho.

 

[durangodawood]

We can get more specific. Think in terms of the God of the Bible. He has very specifically made himself known in Jesus Christ. Is it possible that the God of the Bible exists?

I think its possible. Not sure tho, as I just cant really grasp the full implications, and whether those implications are possible. Its really too much to ask to be confident that its possible..