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The Science that led me away from Atheism.

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redleghunter

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Are you rejecting the current and prevalent cosmology that the universe had a beginning? Just want to get that straight as you avoided answering that question.

Thank you in advance.
 
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Speedwell

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Are you rejecting the current and prevalent cosmology that the universe had a beginning? Just want to get that straight as you avoided answering that question.

Thank you in advance.
It depends on what you specify as existing before that beginning. Current and prevalent cosmology does not advance any opinion on the subject.
 
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redleghunter

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It depends on what you specify as existing before that beginning. Current and prevalent cosmology does not advance any opinion on the subject.
I didn't say "before" but the prevalent view is the universe had a beginning.
 
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Bugeyedcreepy

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your statement was also an argument. I and others contested the premise you put forward in support of your position, which all on its own ought to tell you it qualifies as an argument.

lol!
 
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redleghunter

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This is very true.
 
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mark kennedy

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I didn't say "before" but the prevalent view is the universe had a beginning.
When Einstein was doing his thing he projected that the universe was expanding, based solely on the equations he was working on. He got so much criticism that he decided to rework the equations, then Hubble discovered through observation that everything was moving away from everything else, he was completely humiliated. Based on projections backward we get the Big Bang, Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître was the Jesuit that came up with the model. The theory goes that the universe began with what he really don't know but it effectively exploded on the scene and has been expanding ever since. When people ask me if I believe in the Big Bang I simple respond, sure, God spoke and BANG! there it was.

The naturalistic assumptions behind Darwinian natural history isn't anything new, the eternity of the universe was a belief among the Epicureans:

In regard to the making of the universe and the creation of all things there have been various opinions, and each person has propounded the theory that suited his own taste. For instance, some say that all things are self-originated and, so to speak, haphazard. The Epicureans are among these; they deny that there is any Mind behind the universe at all. This view is contrary to all the facts of experience, their own existence included. (On the Incarnation, by St. Athanasius)
Cosmology is always trying to estimate the age of the universe, the earth being considerably younger. There is no question in the sciences that the universe had a beginning, opinions do vary with regards to when that was and what the actual cause had to be.
 
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Bugeyedcreepy

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Are you rejecting the current and prevalent cosmology that the universe had a beginning? Just want to get that straight as you avoided answering that question.

Thank you in advance.
Not at all. I agree that this universe appears to have a beginning. Do you know what caused it? If so, do you have any evidence?

Thank you in advance.
 
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redleghunter

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This above, the denial of a historical Jesus. Even former professed Christian and now agnostic Bart Ehrman is astonished at this notion in atheist circles. He even wrote an entire book on it (Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth)

Ehrman is no advocate for Christianity and constantly debates NT theologians on the Biblical account of Jesus vs. what external sources provide. Here's a video of him explaining this to a majority atheist audience:


Even Richard Dawkins concedes there was a historical Jesus but as would be expected he denies the Jesus of Deity:


it entails discrediting all historical sources of antiquity
Not only the historical evidence of Jesus but also the overwhelming manuscript evidence of the NT.
 
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Speedwell

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Yes.

"In the beginning God..."
So let us suppose that there was an historical Jesus. As you point out, there are few who would disagree, even among atheists.

What is the next premise in your argument?
 
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Ophiolite

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Give up mate. It's not worth your time. Lurkers have more than enough evidence in place to see logic lies with your position. Leave him to bathe in complacency. Life for me has been much more peaceful since I activated Ignore.
 
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redleghunter

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Speedwell

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redleghunter

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Those are articles of faith and, as such, are unfalsifiable propositions. I thought you were making a scientific argument.
The conversation in general addressed two issues:

1. The universe had a beginning

2. Jesus of Nazareth was a historical figure

I asked #1 above as one poster seemed to offer there was alternative views or science supporting other than the universe having a beginning.

Another poster asked #2 in which I responded to. Beyond that we were trying to get clarification if said poster held to the extreme views or not.

That is all that was proposed and #1 was answered.
 
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Bugeyedcreepy

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I asked #1 above as one poster seemed to offer there was alternative views or science supporting other than the universe having a beginning.
Hmmm, perhaps you misunderstood my post? This universe does indeed look like it has a beginning, but what did this universe come from? Did it come from another state (i.e. this universe might be eternal and the 'beginning' is just this universe changing states somehow)? Or is it the result of some process in some other universe (i.e. a black hole in some other universe causing a singularity in spacetime from which our universe is created)? I've already asked you for scientific evidence of any sort that your posited reason even exists, and you just reasserted your belief without any evidence.

If you read through the science these ideas are based on, you'll understand why these are far, far more plausible than an implausible eternally existing deity creating everything from nothing.

Eternal Universe info:

Black Hole Universe:

I still agree though that this universe Appears to have a beginning.
 
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Sanoy

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your statement was also an argument. I and others contested the premise you put forward in support of your position, which all on its own ought to tell you it qualifies as an argument.

lol!
0 people have contested a premise or even identified a premise. My position has only ever been the state of my belief, which doesn't require a premise or an argument. Such things are merely transmitted by statements, to a normally behaving person anyway.

Lol? Did you find yourself funny? I was hoping for a better concoction from you but instead you withdrew from trying to make a factual claim to simply making an assertion. I hope to receive better from you next time - I know you have it in you for at least one more contrived attempt. If I were a betting man I'd say you could contrive all day to avoid admitting you are mistaken so why quit now?
 
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redleghunter

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Eternal has no beginning. Beginning means just that...there was nothing physically before.
 
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Bugeyedcreepy

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Eternal has no beginning. Beginning means just that...there was nothing physically before.
which is why most people speaking on the topic say it "appears" to have a beginning. Again, if something like the multiverse spawned our universe, then the multiverse could be eternal. Do you need me to link the scientific propositions for a multiverse too? There's so many ways for a universe to come about (or to be eternal, depending on your outlook) other than an enchanted ethereal mind - the God proposition is at a very distant bottom of that list.
 
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Bugeyedcreepy

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lol!
If I wasn't a Christian i'd be a deist or something close. There just isn't enough to carry me over the extreme improbability that all existence came about naturally. It's too big of a pill to swallow unless it's medication.
^^ There it is!! ^^ Argument from Ignorance - Highlights and italics free of charge.
no, no - it's you, you are funny, not me - I'm laughing at you. As @Ophiolite mentioned, you're carving out a pithy defence in rock for all to see, my friend. It's an argument whether you intended to defend it vigorously or leave it rhetorical. Our work was done quite some time ago - everything else after is just entertainment now...
 
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