Post by The Doctor on Jan 20, 2007 18:02:22 GMT -5
The Existence of God and the God Conclusion
By The Doctor, aka The Thinker
An essay of sorts I guess...
By The Doctor, aka The Thinker
An essay of sorts I guess...
Earlier on today I was thinking about God and other philisophical matters, when a small and random thought struck me. Now someone (I know not who) supposedly said this on Atheists:
If someone believes in God, and God does not exist, he has nothing to lose. If someone does not, and God does exist, he has all to lose.
Now I can see what he means there, but whilst thinking away like my former display name suggested, that statement may not necessarily ring true as such. What I mean is that God, well his "existence" depends mainly on faith if you see what I mean. Many major world religiond have a central "god" of sorts: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and such, and "he" is the basis of their respective followers' faith. However the more athiest and agnostic types require more solid evidence and so comes this little "Faith verses Proof" dillemna of sorts. This of course has been poked fun at by many, including the late Douglas Adams (1949-2001), author of the book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", and he brings this point up in the most humourous fashion or so to speak. The Babel Fish Story I present to you:
"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves that you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. Q.E.D."
"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.
"Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.
"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves that you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. Q.E.D."
"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.
"Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.
Now I think you can see the issue there. So, if we should prove that God exists, by very definition as highlighted above, we are proving he doesn't. Thus, the proof of God's existence in itself is highly anomalous and paradoxial if studied carefully and with a clear mind.
So, what is meant by that is:
If we prove that God exists, we are removing any element of faith. Now God cannot as such exist without a solid foundation of faith, as shown by world religions. So, if we prove he exists, we are simulataneously proving that he does not, as proof technically denies faith, which God needs. Thus shown is the paradox if one expands on this even more, a variation of the infamous "Liar Paradox" or so to speak in terms of how it works et cetera.
Now you can see the problems that may arise in regards to the existence of God and Ultimate Proof. In any series of experiments and research seeking out the existence of God, we must assume that logic to be applied in some way shape or form.
Looking at this, we could apply similar principles to other fundamental and philisophical questions that man has asked through the ages, most notably the most boggling of all: "The Meaning of Life".
Now you ask what has this got to do with God other than it too has been parodied by Adams. Simply, it's a case of if one finds the answer, will it no longer apply and thus be obsolete upon discovery? Read through the texts of Adams and you'll gain more insight as to what I mean but now it is not impotant.
Back to the God debate. Now, as has been shown above, the debate on the existence on God by Scientists, Philosophers, Theolurgians and Thinkers alike is "if we prove he exists, will he cease to exist through lack of faith?" or something similar. What we must consider here now is that "is God just some form of anthropomorphism?", or such. Another thing, where did the concept of God come from in the first place?
Now many of the things written in various religious texts, especially those of the Abrahamic Religions, they state that the world began in "such a fashion". Now looking at the current level of scientific knowledge and the climate of the scientific world, the religious beginnings seem even more improbable as we go along, so, Where did God come from?
The most widely accepted explination is that God is a byproduct of early man trying to explain things that happened, as then he had little scientific knowledge. Over time this grew into organised religion and some even went so far as to adopt several Gods (like Hinduism), at the same time warfare took a new direction but that's another story. From that, until we know for sure, IF we ever do, we must assume that God is a purely man made concept derived from man's own curiosity and lack of knowledge in his dawn.
Now, before we come to the conclusion here's another thing we must consider. Now, breaking down all these barriers of logic, should we ever discover "God" in his crowning glory in heaven, we can quite easily tag on a few plausable scientific explantions to explain things.
First, Heaven, now this has the potential to be not heaven itself as described in the Bible, Torah and Quran, but instead an alternate and parallel plain of existence that had been previously inaccessible. So basically, a parallel dimension/universe as explored in many works of Science-Fiction so to speak.
Secondly, God himself. The explanation here is that God may not be God in the biblical sense, but instead a super powerful, hyper intelligent alien being with God-like powers. So really, the biblical God, God as described in the Bible and whatnot, can never be reached, as logically, he's just a fictional character in the mind of the believer.
So, we come to the conclusion. We may never be able to reach God as he may just be in our minds, or if he does exist in physical form, he may not be exactly as we originally thought him out to be. In the end I must conclude that although there may be something out there, God is still a mystery that may never be solved and this,
If someone believes in God, and God does not exist, he has nothing to lose. If someone does not, and God does exist, he has all to lose.
is just the musings of a devout believer trying to cope the increasing number of athiests in the world.
God is still is mystery and a debatable topic to this day...