ElShamah - Reason & Science: Defending ID and the Christian Worldview
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ElShamah - Reason & Science: Defending ID and the Christian Worldview

Otangelo Grasso: This is my library, where I collect information and present arguments developed by myself that lead, in my view, to the Christian faith, creationism, and Intelligent Design as the best explanation for the origin of the physical world.


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The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible

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1The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible Empty The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible Wed Oct 23, 2019 5:25 am

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The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t2877-the-kalaam-leads-to-the-god-of-the-bible

The Kalaam leads to the God of the Bible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOcACl_tJ2c&t=142s

1:08 Properties of the first cause
5:11 Event causation or Agent causation?
8:00   How can a mind exist in a timeless dimension, trigger a  Transition from timelessness to time?
13:12 How can a mind exist without a body beyond the universe?
15:06 How could God have created the universe without time?
16:11 Is claiming that God is eternal,  special pleading?
18:06 Properties of the first cause
30:29 Philosophical and scientific considerations match with the biblical account  about the origin of the Universe
30:53 End notes

The universe had a beginning, therefore a cause
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9UMDiiE0kY&t=75s
1:15  The claim: Something cannot come from  nothing does not need to be proven
3:15  Virtual particles do not come from absolutely nothing but require a quantum vacuum
7:36  Premise two: The universe began to exist
9:35  Scientific reasons to conclude that the universe has a beginning
16:32 Further scientific evidence why the universe cannot be past eternal
18:35 Philosophical reasons why the universe nor quantum effect potentials cannot be past eternal

Aquinas showed us that the attributes of a true God are logically deduced. Properties of the first cause:

1. Supernatural in nature, (As it exists outside and beyond of the natural physical universe),
2. Uncaused, beginningless, and eternal (self-existent, as it exists without a cause, outside of time and space, besides the fact that infinite regress of causes is impossible. ),
3. Omnipresent & all-knowing (It created space and is not limited by it),
4. Changeless ( Change depends on physical being )
5. Timeless  ( Without physical events, there can be no time, and time began with the Big Bang  )
6. Immaterial (Because He transcends space and created matter),
7. Spaceless ( Since it created space)
8. Personal (The impersonal can’t create personality, and only a personal, free agent can cause a change from a changeless state )
9. Enormously Powerful ( Since it brought the entire universe, space-time and matter into existence )
10. Necessary (As everything else depends on it),
11. Absolutely independent and self-existent ( It does not depend on a higher causal agency to exist otherwise there would be infinite regress which is impossible )
12. Infinite and singular (As you cannot have two infinities),  
13. Diverse yet has unity (As all multiplicity implies a prior singularity),  
14. Intelligent (Supremely, to create everything, in special language, complexity, factories and machines),  
15. Purposeful (As it deliberately created everything with goals in mind),

An agent endowed with free will can have a determination in a timeless dimension to operate causally at a (first) moment of time and thereby to produce a temporally first effect

1. God is supernatural in nature Acts 17:24-25
2. God is uncaused, beginningless, and eternal  1 Timothy 1:17
3. God is omnipresent & all-knowing Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:24
4. God is unchanging Malachi 3:6
5. God is immaterial (spirit) John 4:24
6. God is personal John 4:24, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Isaiah 25:1,  Isaiah 63:7, Psalm 78:1, 1 Chronicles 16:8, Micah 4:12, Job 29:4, 2 Corinthians 13:14
7. God is enormously Powerful Genesis 17:1
8. God is timeless Revelation 1:8
9. God is necessary Genesis 1:1
10. God is omniscient ( All-knowing ) Psalm 147:4-5
11. God is absolutely independent and self-existent Isaiah 46:9
12. God is One, yet He exists in three persons Matthew 3:16-17
13. God is extraordinarily intelligent Jeremiah 32:17
14. God is all-understanding Psalm 147:5
15. God is purposeful

Each of the inferences based on the properties that the cause of the universe must have, match with the description of the God revealed in the Bible which offers solid support for the creation of the universe, distinguishing it from other religious texts.

Philosophical and scientific considerations match with the biblical account  about the origin of the Universe
Remarkably, science, contradicting the Bible hundred years ago, claiming the Universe was eternal, has shifted to the same conclusion: The universe had a beginning, a finite time ago:  

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Isaiah 45:18 “For this is what the LORD says – he who created the heavens, he is God.”
Proverbs 8:22 “The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was formed long ages ago,  at the very beginning, when the world came to be.”
Titus 1:2 “in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time…”
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
John 17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”
Colossians 1:15-16 “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”
1 Peter 1:20 “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”
2  Timothy 1:9 “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time…”

How is God the Creator? Starting at 5:37
APART FROM THE JUDEO CHRISTIAN ISLAMIC TRADITION, THERE REALLY IS NO DOCTRINE OF CREATION OUT OF NOTHING IN THE OTHER MAJOR WORLD RELIGIONS. THINK OF THE PANTHEISTIC RELIGIONS OF THE EAST -- HINDUISM, BUDDHISM, DAOISM, OR POLYTHEISTIC RELIGIONS OF ANCIENT ROME AND GREECE OR OTHER SOCIETIES. IN NONE OF THESE DO YOU HAVE A ROBUST DOCTRINE OF CREATION OUT OF NOTHING, SO THAT IF THE DOCTRINE OF CREATION OUT OF NOTHING IS TRUE, IT SERVES TO DISTINGUISH THE JUDEO CHRISTIAN TRADITION FROM ALL OF THE OTHER WORLD'S RELIGIONS, INCLUDING PANTHEISM.
>WHAT ELSE WOULD IT SAY ABOUT GOD'S OWN INTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS?
>>IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE ANY OTHER DOCTRINE THAT WOULD UNDERSCORE GOD'S OMNIPOTENCE, HIS SELF-EXISTENCE, HIS NECESSITY, HIS DISTINCTION FROM THE WORLD, IN A WAY THAT THE DOCTRINE OF CREATION OUT OF NOTHING DOES.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-Ti2wzASfg


The Kalaam leads to the God of the Bible

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t2877-the-kalaam-leads-to-the-god-of-the-bible

The Kalaam leads to the God of the Bible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOcACl_tJ2c&t=142s

1:08 Properties of the first cause
5:11 Event causation or Agent causation?
8:00   How can a mind exist in a timeless dimension, trigger a  Transition from timelessness to time?
13:12 How can a mind exist without a body beyond the universe?
15:06 How could God have created the universe without time? 
16:11 Is claiming that God is eternal,  special pleading? 
18:06 Properties of the first cause
30:29 Philosophical and scientific considerations match with the biblical account  about the origin of the Universe
30:53 End notes

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The Kalaam leads to the God of the Bible

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So, based on my previous video, we are granted to conclude that the premises one and two of the Kalaam Cosmological argument are rationally sound, that is, that everything that begins to exist, must have a cause. And that the universe, with high certainty, based on scientific and philosophical considerations, began to exist.

The conclusion is: Therefore, the universe had a cause.

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The famed atheist Bertrand Russell notoriously said: “If everything must have a cause, then God must have a cause.”

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Note, that premise one does not claim that everything has a cause, but that EVERYTHING THAT BEGINS TO EXIST has a cause. And herein God is perched up in a category of his own. Something that exists eternally  without a
beginning does not need to have a cause.

 The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible Black_13
Properties of the first cause
So, what cause is the best explanation of the origin of the universe? Some claim that we do not know how to identify the cause of the universe


The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible 3a10


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A closer look will provide us with a number of striking properties which the cause of the universe must possess and, as we will see, these properties match strikingly with the description of the God of the Bible.  


The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible 3aa11
Existence can be divided into the following categories: physical ( energy/matter, space and time), and mind ( consciousness, intelligence ). or in other words, the Natural, and the supernatural. And furthermore, abstract numbers and objects. which exist independently if there is a physical universe, or not.


1. Since something can not come from nothing, being cannot come from non-being, but we exist, there is being, then something must be uncaused, and has always existed. That must have been either the mind, physical things, or both together. 


The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible 3aaa10

2. Since the universe had a beginning, therefore it is not eternal,  physical existence is not a candidate to explain the origin of the universe. 


The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible 3b10

3. Abstract objects, numbers and mathematical calculus do not stand in causal relations, and as such, cannot cause the universe into existence either. 


The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible 3c11

4. The cause of the universe cannot be a contingent being but must be eternal, otherwise, there would be eternal regress. The cause must be as well changeless, since, once more, an infinite temporal regress of changes cannot exist. That does not mean,  that it is not capable of change, but had to be changeless until causing the first physical event.  Since the first cause must be changeless, it follows that it was immaterial and spaceless. 


It follows, that the cause did also exist in a dimension of timelessness, since time requires change. 

The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible Black_13


Event causation or Agent causation?
There are two types of things that can cause an event to occur. One is a physical object triggering another physical object to change. That would be an event - event causation. One event causes another to occur.  If we posit that,  then another contingent physical cause would have had to trigger the Big Bang or further back, a cosmos, multiverses etc, leading to an infinite regress, which is impossible. The cause of the universe cannot  be physical, space, time, and matter, since that is what it caused into being.


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The State - State causation faces the same problem.  This causation is like a frozen pond where you have a stone resting on the top of that pond, and this stay is causing this other state of the stone, but that could not trigger a change from one state into another but would remain static, from eternity. And a state - state causation would also have to be physical. 

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And the second is state event causation by a free agent, which wills to do something which causes physical change. Decisions can have physical consequences. I can decide to touch a domino stone. That mental decision provokes a physical event, where I move my arm, my fingers, and trigger the domino chain reaction.  

I don't know HOW that occurs. Nobody knows how this mind-brain interaction can take place, but it does.  

This form of causation has to go from a state of timeless mental being to will an event of a transition, from a non-physical to a physical state of being, therefore the only explanation of what triggered the universe or cosmos is intelligent causation based on will and power.

Since that cause created matter, space, and time, it had to be immaterial and exist in a timeless dimension. The only immaterial things we know of being able to cause something into being are conscient minds which are able to make decisions. We know by experience that the mind can cause action solely based on will. Therefore an eternal & necessary first cause is the best explanation of our existence.


The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible Black_13
How could a mind exist in a timeless dimension, and trigger a transition from timelessness to time? 
Time is a huge topic in philosophy. What is time? We all know intuitively what it is, but when asked to formulate and define time, we soon perceive the difficulty. When we go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning, on average 6 to 8 hours did pass. But we did not perceive time passing.


If we were asked but had no watch to check, we would probably not know how much time we slept. If we have a very deep and good sleep, it's almost when we wake up as if we did not perceive any lapse of time. But during this time, we are conscient and dream, there are sequential events in a dream, there is action, but we do not perceive time like when we are awake. What does that mean? 

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Two things: Time is bound to physical action. That's why there cannot be time if there is no matter, energy, and space. Where there is no action and physical reality, there is no time. And secondly: Even IF there would be time, space, and matter, and action, but no mind and conscience, there is no entity to PERCEIVE it. 

So in order to have a sense and perception of time, the following is necessary: 



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Mental awareness and consciousness that can sensor external reality, space, matter and energy, physical action, and that the mind is in a relationship with external physical reality in action. Then time can be perceived. Some have questioned: How can God exist BEYOND the universe sans universe, and sans time?

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If we can dream and perceive a sequence of events in our mind but without EXPERIENCING time, while we can perceive that sequence in our mind, so can God exist timeless beyond the universe, have various mental states and experience sequential events consciously and be aware of, but not EXPERIENCING time.

Time is only something that MINDS EXPERIENCE, upon the perception of physical activity. In dreams, there are external actors. Often in a dream, we just passively OBSERVE events, and in many cases, we REACT. We want to do things during our dreams.


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For example, I often dream that do a mental effort and I float, rise and fly. When I stop the mental effort, I start to go down. So I can exercise will during my dream. 

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When we have nightmare dreams, we experience awfully horrific events, we are in real panic. What is the reaction? We try at all costs to flee that event and wake up in scared So there is an event occurring in the mind, which triggers a PHYSICAL EVENT. We wake up. 

God CAN have existed in a timeless dimension without creation, and DECIDED to create the physical cosmos, and provoked its creation upon his mental power, will and decision. 

There is nothing absurd about it. I can decide to write the letter a, and in an instant, AT THE SAME TIME that I take the decision, type the letter a. So there has to be no time lapse between a decision process and a physical event. It occurs simultaneously. So God can have existed in an exclusively mental dimension with sequential events, but experiencing no time, then he took the decision to create the universe, and simultaneously to his decision, made it all start, and time begin with the advent of physical reality.

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How could God have created the universe without time? 

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The cause of the Big Bang operated simultaneously (or coincidentally) with the Big Bang. Philosophical discussions of causal directionality routinely treat simultaneous causation, the question being how to distinguish A as the cause and B as the effect when these occur together at the same time. Even on a mundane level, we regularly experience simultaneous causation 


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How can a mind exist without a body beyond the universe?

The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible Ljj10
Jon Lieff MD psychiatrist, with specialities in geriatric psychiatry and neuropsychiatry, writes :

The fact that OBE’s can be stimulated in the laboratory clearly demonstrates that the sense of “I”, the self-identity, can be separated from the body consciousness.  Studies of body maps are also consistent with this view because they show that body consciousness is constantly changing through neuroplasticity.

Therefore, ultimately, the sense of self is independent of the body sense, although normally extremely associated with it. The sense of “I,” or identity, is also ordinarily very attached to the self-perceptions involving our professions, families, and other strongly held beliefs and feelings.

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The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible Black_13

How could God create a material world out of nothing?
The short answer: I don't know.

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First of all, it is remarkable when Scientists like Lawrence Kraus make the claim that the universe was created out of nothing, there is immediately a herd of followers which are endorsing the assertions and repeating them without hesitation.

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Werner Karl Heisenberg 1901 –  1976 German theoretical physicist, key pioneers of quantum mechanics
Of course, we all know that our own reality depends on the structure of our consciousness; we can objectify no more than a small part of our world. But even when we try to probe into the subjective realm, we cannot ignore the central order…In the final analysis, the central order, or 'the one' as it used to be called and with which we commune in the language of religion, must win out.

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Is claiming that God is eternal,  special pleading? 

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What usually immediately follows, when we posit God must be eternal, is the objection of special pleading.  A Special Pleading fallacy is wherein people create a rule or apply an existing rule to a situation and then proceed to make someone or something exempt from this rule without providing real justification for that exemption. 

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Atheists claim that believers argue that the universe needs a cause, but not God. And that, supposedly, is special pleading. The author of this article in patheos says : The Special Pleading fallacy deserves to be called out more, especially because as far as I can tell it’s a fairly common one.


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Pointing out the obvious is not special pleading. Scientific evidence and philosophical considerations point to the fact that the natural universe had a beginning.  If logic does not account for justifiable special pleading then such logic is clearly flawed. Of course, an Infinite Creator who created everything would involve a justifiable special pleading.

Such Creator would not be like the rest of us. It is as simple as seeing the difference between an Infinite Being and billions of "finite beings." The One Infinite Being Who created all existence is quite different than those finite beings who are created by such Being. It is as easy as seeing the difference between "those who have a beginning" who are finite verses an "Infinite Creator" 

Properties of the first cause: 

1. Supernatural in nature, (As it exists outside and beyond of the natural physical universe),
2. Uncaused, beginningless, and eternal (self-existent, as it exists without a cause, outside of time and space, besides the fact that infinite regress of causes is impossible. ),
3. Omnipresent & all-knowing (It created space and is not limited by it),
4. Changeless ( Change depends on physical being )
5. Timeless  ( Without physical events, there can be no time, and time began with the Big Bang  ) 
6. Immaterial (Because He transcends space and created matter),
7. Spaceless ( Since it created space)
8. Personal (The impersonal can’t create personality, and only a personal, free agent can cause a change from a changeless state )
9. Enormously Powerful ( Since it brought the entire universe, space-time and matter into existence ) 
10. Necessary (As everything else depends on it),
11. Absolutely independent and self-existent ( It does not depend on a higher causal agency to exist otherwise there would be infinite regress which is impossible )
12. Infinite and singular (As you cannot have two infinities),  
13. Diverse yet has unity (As all multiplicity implies a prior singularity),  
14. Intelligent (Supremely, to create everything, in special language, complexity, factories and machines),  
15. Purposeful (As it deliberately created everything with goals in mind),

Only based on the two premises of the Kalaam Cosmological Argument, rather than confessing ignorance, and saying: We can't know about the nature of the cause of the universe, we can say  a supernatural, uncaused, beginningless, eternal, omnipresent and all-knowing, changeless, timeless, immaterial, spaceless, personal, enormously powerful, necessary, absolutely independent and self-existent, infinite and singular, diverse yet united, intelligent and purposeful creator is the best explanation as the cause of the universe and our existence.

An agent endowed with free will can have a determination in a timeless dimension to operate causally at a (first) moment of time and thereby to produce a temporally first effect


1. God is supernatural in nature Acts 17:24-25
2. God is uncaused, beginningless, and eternal  1 Timothy 1:17
3. God is omnipresent & all-knowing Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:24
4. God is unchanging Malachi 3:6
5. God is immaterial (spirit) John 4:24
6. God is personal John 4:24, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Isaiah 25:1,  Isaiah 63:7, Psalm 78:1, 1 Chronicles 16:8, Micah 4:12, Job 29:4, 2 Corinthians 13:14 
7. God is enormously Powerful Genesis 17:1 
8. God is timeless Revelation 1:8 
9. God is necessary Genesis 1:1
10. God is omniscient ( All-knowing ) Psalm 147:4-5
11. God is absolutely independent and self-existent Isaiah 46:9
12. God is One, yet He exists in three persons Matthew 3:16-17
13. God is extraordinarily intelligent Jeremiah 32:17
14. God is all-understanding Psalm 147:5
15. God is purposeful 


Remarkably, each of the inferences based on the properties that the cause of the universe must have, match with the description of the God revealed in the Bible which offers solid support for the creation of the universe, distinguishing it from other religious texts.

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1. God is supernatural in nature  (As it exists outside, above and beyond of the natural physical universe)
Acts 17:24-25 "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things,"

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2. God is uncaused, beginningless, and eternal (self-existent, as it exists without a cause, outside of time and space, besides the fact that infinite regress of causes is impossible. )
1 Timothy 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible 618
3. God is omnipresent & all-knowing (It created space and is not limited by it)
Psalm 139:7-12  Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there;  if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
Jeremiah 23:24  Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord.

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4. God is unchanging ( Change depends on physical being )
Malachi 3:6  For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

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5. God is immaterial ( spirit ) ( Since he created matter, he is not made of matter ) & Spaceless ( Since it created space and transcends space)
John 4:21-23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers
First Timothy 1:17  “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.”

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6. God is personal (The impersonal can’t create personality, and only a personal, free agent can cause a change from a changeless state )
God is Spirit (John 4:24)
1 Thessalonians 5:18 God's will
Isaiah 25:1 His plans
Isaiah 63:7 His compassion, goodness, and lovingkindness
Psalm 78:1 His words
1 Chronicles 16:8  His deeds
Micah 4:12  His thoughts and purposes
Job 29:4  God is capable of friendship
2 Corinthians 13:14  love, and fellowship  
Deuteronomy 1:11 makes promises
Deuteronomy 7:8  swears oaths
Genesis 6:6 God knows grief
Isaiah 42:21 pleasure
Nahum 1:2 wrath

God is Spirit, God wills, He plans, He is compassionate, good, and loving and kind, He uses words, His deeds, His thoughts and purposes, God is capable of friendship, love, and fellowship, he makes promises, swears oath,  God knows grief, pleasure, and wrath. 





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7. God is all powerful ( Since it brought the entire universe, space-time and matter into existence ) 
Genesis 17:1   “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty’...”
Jeremiah 32:17  “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”
Matthew 19:26  “Jesus looked at them and said. ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”

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8. God is timeless ( Without physical events, there can be no time, and time began with the Big Bang  ) 
Revelation 1:8 - “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was, and who is to come. The Almighty.”
Revelation 4:8d - “Even under his wings, Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.’”

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9. God is necessary (As everything else depends on it)
Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Colossians 1:16[/size] For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
Psalm 115:3   Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

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10. God is omniscient ( All-knowing ) (It created all contingent being, and is not limited by it)
Psalm 147:4-5  He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. 
Psalm 33:13  From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place, he watches all who live on earth… 
1 Chronicles 28:9 For the Lord searches every heart, and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, we will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 

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11. God is absolutely independent and self-existent ( It does not depend on a higher causal agency to exist )
Isaiah 46:9 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other I am God, and there is none like me.  I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.

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12. God is infinite and singular (As you cannot have two infinities)
God is diverse yet has unity (As all multiplicity implies a prior singularity) God is One, yet He exists in three persons
Matthew 3:16-17 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Matthew 28:19  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
2 Corinthians 13:14  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

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13. God is extraordinarily intelligent (Supremely, to create everything, in special language, complexity, factories and machines),

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14. God is all-understanding ( He created all contingent being, the universe, space, matter, and life )
Psalm 147:5 - “Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.”
Isaiah 40:28 - “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, He will not grow tired or weary and his understanding no one can fathom.”

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15. God is purposeful (As it deliberately created everything with goals in mind)
1 Peter 2:9  But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible 1919
Not only do philosophical inferences of the Kalaam point to a creator which must have 15 distinct characteristics which coincide with the description of the God revealed in the Bible, but the Bible does confirm in many ways God as the creator of the universe
 
Psalm 19:1“For the heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible Black_13

Philosophical and scientific considerations match with the biblical account  about the origin of the Universe
Remarkably, science, contradicting the Bible hundred years ago, claiming the Universe was eternal, has shifted to the same conclusion: The universe had a beginning, a finite time ago:  

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Isaiah 45:18 “For this is what the LORD says – he who created the heavens, he is God.”
Proverbs 8:22 “The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was formed long ages ago,  at the very beginning, when the world came to be.”
Titus 1:2 “in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time…”
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
John 17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”
Colossians 1:15-16 “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”
1 Peter 1:20 “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”
2  Timothy 1:9 “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time…”

The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible 3013
A continuous, universal cosmic expansion

Job 9:8 “He alone stretches out the heavens.”
Psalm 104:2 “The LORD wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent.
Isaiah 42:5 “This is what God the LORD says – the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out.”
Zechariah 12:1 “The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundations of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person…”

The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible Black_13

The claim that the Kalaam Cosmological Argument does not permit to infer a specific creator is not justified. Science, Philosophy and Biblical theology converge together to one clear direction:
The universe had a beginning, and therefore a cause. And that cause does staggeringly match with the description of the God that is revealed in the Bible. 

A common question follows when God is claimed to be the cause of the universe: Where did God come from?  Who created God? 
What caused the uncaused creator into being? God must be eternal, otherwise, we would have to ask: And what caused the cause of the creator into existence? Turtles all the way down. The first cause is necessary and uncaused.  

You might claim that the description of the nature of the creator is unproven, and can, therefore, be dismissed. Such assertions are the consequence of an unsophisticated epistemological framework, a philosophical framework based on scientism, or verificationism, where the claim is, that in order for a claim to be meaningful, it must be proven to be true. That is not the case. 

A solid epistemological framework in order to come to reliable conclusions about origins is based on science, philosophy, and theology. What we try, is to come up with, is the best explanation. Nobody has proofs either of Gods existence or that the natural world is all there is. 

What will you do with this evidence at hand? Are you an unbeliever? Then you have no rational excuses to keep being so. The Kalaam Cosmological Argument alone provides powerful evidence for the God of the Bible, and strong or positive atheism is an unjustified worldview and position.

Many atheists resist, to permit the evidence to lead wherever it is, no matter what. They want their preconceived worldview to be true at any cost. I can testify that the God which i am experiencing since i converted 35 years ago, 
to be loving, just, graceful, and caring, and he receives anyone that comes to him. He is far from that caricature which is often portrayed. If you seek him, be assured, you will find him, or better, he will find you.



Last edited by Otangelo on Thu Dec 24, 2020 7:41 am; edited 5 times in total

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Atheist: There is no evidence for Gods existence.
Reply: There is no alternative to God. The alternative to God is not luck or chance. They are not a causal agency. The alternative to God is nothing. The universe is not eternal, but began to exist. Since nothing cant do something, as for example cause a universe into existence, the cause of the universe must have been God.

Atheist: Or farting pixies
Reply: If they are not physical, that would be a hypothesis. Unfortunately, we have no revelation of them. What can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.

Atheist: Which God? There are thousands of religions.
Reply: The only religions describing God and matching with the same characteristics, as the creator of the universe must have, are based on the Bible.

Atheist: We replace God with honesty by saying "we don't know" and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.. The fact that we don't currently know does not mean we will never know because we have science, the best method we have for answering questions about things we don't know. Simply saying "God did it" is making up an answer because we are too lazy to try to figure out the real truth.
Reply: There are just two options. Either God exists, or not.
Eliminative inductions argue for the truth of a proposition by arguing that competitors to that proposition are false. Provided the proposition, together with its competitors, form a mutually exclusive and exhaustive class, eliminating all the competitors entails that the proposition is true. Since either there is a God, or not, either one or the other is true. As Sherlock Holmes famous dictum says: when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however not fully comprehensible, but logically possible, must be the truth. Eliminative inductions, in fact, become deductions.

We have a convergence of science, philosophy, and theology into the same direction and coming to the same conclusion.

A theist believing in the God of the Bible is rationally justified based on:

1. The scientific evidence that the universe had a beginning,

2. Philosophical rationale that absolutely something cannot come from nothing, and that causal agency of the universe must have distinguished characteristics above and beyond the physical universe, and

3. Theology, where God reveals Himself in the Bible as the great I AM,. Supernatural in nature, (As HE exists outside and beyond of the natural physical universe),Uncaused, beginningless, and eternal, Omnipresent & all-knowing, Changeless ( Change depends on physical being ), Timeless, Immaterial, Spaceless, and Personal, Enormously Powerful, Necessary, Absolutely independent and self-existent, purposeful, intelligent and infinte.

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1. Something cannot come into existence from absolutely nothing. Being cannot come from non-being.
2. The universe had a beginning, therefore, it had a cause.
3. The present moment cannot be reached by adding individual events together from eternity.
4. The second law of thermodynamics refutes the hypothesis of an eternal universe.
5. Therefore an eternal & necessary first cause is the best explanation of our existence.
6. An agent endowed with free will can have a determination in a timeless dimension to operate causally at a (first) moment of time and thereby to produce a temporally first effect.

Aquinas showed us that the attributes of a true God are logically deduced. Properties of the first cause:

1. Supernatural in nature, (As it exists outside and beyond of the natural physical universe),
2. Uncaused, beginningless, and eternal (self-existent, as it exists without a cause, outside of time and space, besides the fact that infinite regress of causes is impossible. ),
3. Omnipresent & all-knowing (It created space and is not limited by it),
4. Changeless ( Change depends on physical being )
5. Timeless ( Without physical events, there can be no time, and time began with the Big Bang )
6. Immaterial (Because He transcends space and created matter),
7. Spaceless ( Since it created space)
8. Personal (The impersonal can’t create personality, and only a personal, free agent can cause a change from a changeless state )
9. Enormously Powerful ( Since it brought the entire universe, space-time and matter into existence )
10. Necessary (As everything else depends on it),
11. Absolutely independent and self-existent ( It does not depend on a higher causal agency to exist otherwise there would be infinite regress which is impossible )
12. Infinite and singular (As you cannot have two infinities),
13. Diverse yet has unity (As all multiplicity implies a prior singularity),
14. Intelligent (Supremely, to create everything, in special language, complexity, factories and machines),
15. Purposeful (As it deliberately created everything with goals in mind),

An agent endowed with free will can have a determination in a timeless dimension to operate causally at a (first) moment of time and thereby to produce a temporally first effect

1. God is supernatural in nature Acts 17:24-25
2. God is uncaused, beginningless, and eternal 1 Timothy 1:17
3. God is omnipresent & all-knowing Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:24
4. God is unchanging Malachi 3:6
5. God is immaterial (spirit) John 4:24
6. God is personal John 4:24, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Isaiah 25:1, Isaiah 63:7, Psalm 78:1, 1 Chronicles 16:8, Micah 4:12, Job 29:4, 2 Corinthians 13:14
7. God is enormously Powerful Genesis 17:1
8. God is timeless Revelation 1:8
9. God is necessary Genesis 1:1
10. God is omniscient ( All-knowing ) Psalm 147:4-5
11. God is absolutely independent and self-existent Isaiah 46:9
12. God is One, yet He exists in three persons Matthew 3:16-17
13. God is extraordinarily intelligent Jeremiah 32:17
14. God is all-understanding Psalm 147:5
15. God is purposeful

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Admin

The Kalaam leads to the God of the Bible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOcACl_tJ2c&t=142s

1:08 Properties of the first cause
5:11 Event causation or Agent causation?
8:00   How can a mind exist in a timeless dimension, trigger a  Transition from timelessness to time?
13:12 How can a mind exist without a body beyond the universe?
15:06 How could God have created the universe without time?
16:11 Is claiming that God is eternal,  special pleading?
18:06 Properties of the first cause
30:29 Philosophical and scientific considerations match with the biblical account  about the origin of the Universe
30:53 End notes

The universe had a beginning, therefore a cause
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9UMDiiE0kY&t=75s
1:15  The claim: Something cannot come from  nothing does not need to be proven
3:15  Virtual particles do not come from absolutely nothing but require a quantum vacuum
7:36  Premise two: The universe began to exist
9:35  Scientific reasons to conclude that the universe has a beginning
16:32 Further scientific evidence why the universe cannot be past eternal
18:35 Philosophical reasons why the universe nor quantum effect potentials cannot be past eternal

Aquinas showed us that the attributes of a true God are logically deduced. Properties of the first cause:

1. Supernatural in nature, (As it exists outside and beyond of the natural physical universe),
2. Uncaused, beginningless, and eternal (self-existent, as it exists without a cause, outside of time and space, besides the fact that infinite regress of causes is impossible. ),
3. Omnipresent & all-knowing (It created space and is not limited by it),
4. Changeless ( Change depends on physical being )
5. Timeless  ( Without physical events, there can be no time, and time began with the Big Bang  )
6. Immaterial (Because He transcends space and created matter),
7. Spaceless ( Since it created space)
8. Personal (The impersonal can’t create personality, and only a personal, free agent can cause a change from a changeless state )
9. Enormously Powerful ( Since it brought the entire universe, space-time and matter into existence )
10. Necessary (As everything else depends on it),
11. Absolutely independent and self-existent ( It does not depend on a higher causal agency to exist otherwise there would be infinite regress which is impossible )
12. Infinite and singular (As you cannot have two infinities),  
13. Diverse yet has unity (As all multiplicity implies a prior singularity),  
14. Intelligent (Supremely, to create everything, in special language, complexity, factories and machines),  
15. Purposeful (As it deliberately created everything with goals in mind),

An agent endowed with free will can have a determination in a timeless dimension to operate causally at a (first) moment of time and thereby to produce a temporally first effect

1. God is supernatural in nature Acts 17:24-25
2. God is uncaused, beginningless, and eternal  1 Timothy 1:17
3. God is omnipresent & all-knowing Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:24
4. God is unchanging Malachi 3:6
5. God is immaterial (spirit) John 4:24
6. God is personal John 4:24, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Isaiah 25:1,  Isaiah 63:7, Psalm 78:1, 1 Chronicles 16:8, Micah 4:12, Job 29:4, 2 Corinthians 13:14
7. God is enormously Powerful Genesis 17:1
8. God is timeless Revelation 1:8
9. God is necessary Genesis 1:1
10. God is omniscient ( All-knowing ) Psalm 147:4-5
11. God is absolutely independent and self-existent Isaiah 46:9
12. God is One, yet He exists in three persons Matthew 3:16-17
13. God is extraordinarily intelligent Jeremiah 32:17
14. God is all-understanding Psalm 147:5
15. God is purposeful

Each of the inferences based on the properties that the cause of the universe must have, match with the description of the God revealed in the Bible which offers solid support for the creation of the universe, distinguishing it from other religious texts.

Philosophical and scientific considerations match with the biblical account  about the origin of the Universe
Remarkably, science, contradicting the Bible hundred years ago, claiming the Universe was eternal, has shifted to the same conclusion: The universe had a beginning, a finite time ago:  

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Isaiah 45:18 “For this is what the LORD says – he who created the heavens, he is God.”
Proverbs 8:22 “The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was formed long ages ago,  at the very beginning, when the world came to be.”
Titus 1:2 “in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time…”
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
John 17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”
Colossians 1:15-16 “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”
1 Peter 1:20 “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”
2  Timothy 1:9 “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time…”

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Admin

How is a worldview without a necessary cause rational?

1. Contingent (dependent) beings exist.
2. Contingent beings require a necessary, self-existent being in order to exist.
3. Therefore, an eternal, non-created, self-existent being must exist ( modus ponens: The rule of logic stating that if a conditional statement (“if p then q ”) is accepted, and the antecedent ( p ) holds, then the consequent ( q ) may be inferred. ) Dependent beings cannot exist independently. Since the universe had a beginning, it is dependent on an external necessary cause. Aquinas showed us that the attributes of a true God are logically deduced.

Properties of the first cause:

Aquinas showed us that the attributes of a true God are logically deduced. Properties of the first cause:

1. Supernatural in nature, (As it exists outside and beyond of the natural physical universe),
2. Uncaused, beginningless, and eternal (self-existent, as it exists without a cause, outside of time and space, besides the fact that infinite regress of causes is impossible. ),
3. Omnipresent & all-knowing (It created space and is not limited by it),
4. Changeless ( Change depends on physical being )
5. Timeless ( Without physical events, there can be no time, and time began with the Big Bang )
6. Immaterial (Because He transcends space and created matter),
7. Spaceless ( Since it created space)
8. Personal (The impersonal can’t create personality, and only a personal, free agent can cause a change from a changeless state )
9. Enormously Powerful ( Since it brought the entire universe, space-time and matter into existence )
10. Necessary (As everything else depends on it),
11. Absolutely independent and self-existent ( It does not depend on a higher causal agency to exist otherwise there would be infinite regress which is impossible )
12. Infinite and singular (As you cannot have two infinities),
13. Diverse yet has unity (As all multiplicity implies a prior singularity),
14. Intelligent (Supremely, to create everything, in special language, complexity, factories and machines),
15. Purposeful (As it deliberately created everything with goals in mind),

An agent endowed with free will can have a determination in a timeless dimension to operate causally at a (first) moment of time and thereby to produce a temporally first effect

1. God is supernatural in nature Acts 17:24-25
2. God is uncaused, beginningless, and eternal 1 Timothy 1:17
3. God is omnipresent & all-knowing Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:24
4. God is unchanging Malachi 3:6
5. God is immaterial (spirit) John 4:24
6. God is personal John 4:24, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Isaiah 25:1, Isaiah 63:7, Psalm 78:1, 1 Chronicles 16:8, Micah 4:12, Job 29:4, 2 Corinthians 13:14
7. God is enormously Powerful Genesis 17:1
8. God is timeless Revelation 1:8
9. God is necessary Genesis 1:1
10. God is omniscient ( All-knowing ) Psalm 147:4-5
11. God is absolutely independent and self-existent Isaiah 46:9
12. God is One, yet He exists in three persons Matthew 3:16-17
13. God is extraordinarily intelligent Jeremiah 32:17
14. God is all-understanding Psalm 147:5
15. God is purposeful

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Otangelo


Admin

How is a worldview without a necessary cause rational?

1. Contingent (dependent) beings exist.
2. Contingent beings require a necessary, self-existent being in order to exist.
3. Therefore, an eternal, non-created, self-existent being must exist ( modus ponens: The rule of logic stating that if a conditional statement (“if p then q ”) is accepted, and the antecedent ( p ) holds, then the consequent ( q ) may be inferred. ) Dependent beings cannot exist independently. Since the universe had a beginning, it is dependent on an external necessary cause. Aquinas showed us that the attributes of a true God are logically deduced.

Properties of the first cause:

Aquinas showed us that the attributes of a true God are logically deduced. Properties of the first cause:

1. Supernatural in nature, (As it exists outside and beyond of the natural physical universe),
2. Uncaused, beginningless, and eternal (self-existent, as it exists without a cause, outside of time and space, besides the fact that infinite regress of causes is impossible. ),
3. Omnipresent & all-knowing (It created space and is not limited by it),
4. Changeless ( Change depends on physical being )
5. Timeless ( Without physical events, there can be no time, and time began with the Big Bang )
6. Immaterial (Because He transcends space and created matter),
7. Spaceless ( Since it created space)
8. Personal (The impersonal can’t create personality, and only a personal, free agent can cause a change from a changeless state )
9. Enormously Powerful ( Since it brought the entire universe, space-time and matter into existence )
10. Necessary (As everything else depends on it),
11. Absolutely independent and self-existent ( It does not depend on a higher causal agency to exist otherwise there would be infinite regress which is impossible )
12. Infinite and singular (As you cannot have two infinities),
13. Diverse yet has unity (As all multiplicity implies a prior singularity),
14. Intelligent (Supremely, to create everything, in special language, complexity, factories and machines),
15. Purposeful (As it deliberately created everything with goals in mind),

An agent endowed with free will can have a determination in a timeless dimension to operate causally at a (first) moment of time and thereby to produce a temporally first effect

1. God is supernatural in nature Acts 17:24-25
2. God is uncaused, beginningless, and eternal 1 Timothy 1:17
3. God is omnipresent & all-knowing Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:24
4. God is unchanging Malachi 3:6
5. God is immaterial (spirit) John 4:24
6. God is personal John 4:24, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Isaiah 25:1, Isaiah 63:7, Psalm 78:1, 1 Chronicles 16:8, Micah 4:12, Job 29:4, 2 Corinthians 13:14
7. God is enormously Powerful Genesis 17:1
8. God is timeless Revelation 1:8
9. God is necessary Genesis 1:1
10. God is omniscient ( All-knowing ) Psalm 147:4-5
11. God is absolutely independent and self-existent Isaiah 46:9
12. God is One, yet He exists in three persons Matthew 3:16-17
13. God is extraordinarily intelligent Jeremiah 32:17
14. God is all-understanding Psalm 147:5
15. God is purposeful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPCzEP0oD7I&t=8s

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Otangelo


Admin

The universe Is either eternal, Self created, or created by God.
Creation by something eternal with power of creation is logically necessary.
Logical and ontological necessity; If something exists now something must exists eternally
Something exists; causes, and options:
The Cause of the universe must be either:
- Internal cause from nothing Eternal (unscientific, ilogic)
- Self created univ. (illogical)
- Creation by an external Cause
The universe is not eternal, because nothing material is eternal.
Self creation was always and always wil be impossible ilogical,and irrational as long as Logic exists!
The external power must have the attributes required to create the universe.
Only one eternal being (God) can logically exist, and be the ultimate cause.
The impossibility of God's nonexistence.
The impossibility of God's nonexistence is a logically sufficient condition of God's existence. (This is a matter of pure logic.)
God as a necessary being contains within itself all the sufficient condition of its own existence.
Van Inwagen
The cause of the universe must be transcendent and supernatural. It must be uncaused, because there cannot be an infinite regress of causes. It must be eternal, because it created time. It must be non-physical, because it created space.
There are only two possibilities for such a cause. It could be an abstract object or an agent. Abstract objects cannot cause effects. Therefore, the cause of the universe is a personal agent

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Paul Davies: The God who is outside time is regarded as ‘creating’ the universe in the more powerful sense of ‘holding it in being at every instant’. The God who is outside time is regarded as ‘creating’ the universe in the more powerful sense of ‘holding it in being at every instant’. Instead of God simply starting the universe of (a belief known as deism rather than theism), a timeless God acts at all moments. The remote cosmic creator is thus given a greater sense of immediacy — he is acting here and now.

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Many atheists are skeptics towards God, but not naturalism

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t2877-the-kalam-leads-to-the-god-of-the-bible#9473

Many atheists are so focused on criticizing Religion, theism, and God-belief, that they are completely missing to analyze and use the same degree of skepticism to the No-God world hypothesis. They rarely realize how limited their alternative options are. Once, provided and demonstrated that to them, their common cop-out and attempt to flee the consequences are to claim: We don't know what replaces God. That is a great method of self-delusion, and simply wearing blinkers, and ignoring the ontological fact, that once you remove agency at the bottom of reality, it is immediately a dead end. There is no alternative besides either a) nothing having caused the physical world into existence, or b) the physical having always existed. End of story. There are no further alternatives. The dichotomy of God, or no God, is true. And if the No-God position is adopted, it is indeed either a or b aforementioned.

And both alternatives are rational HARAKIRI. A universe from nothing is impossible since nothing has no causal powers. And an eternal universe is not possible either, based on Big bang cosmology, the 2nd law of thermodynamics, and the fact that you cannot reach this present moment in time from an infinite past period of time. It has to be finite starting from an actualized starting point.

The universe is not past eternal but had a beginning
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1333-kalaam-the-cosmological-argument-for-gods-existence#5124

If we add to the first main problem that refutes a no-God world, namely the fact that the universe MUST have had a beginning, therefore a cause, the fact that it is governed by laws based on 6 mathematically based laws, which permit it to be orderly, and predictable, and fine-tuning, we have an irrefutable case for theism.

Furthermore, this analysis does not lead us just to a generic deity, but precisely and unmistakably to the God that has revealed himself in the Bible.

Aquinas showed us that the attributes of a true God are logically deduced. Properties of the first cause:

1. Supernatural in nature, (As it exists outside and beyond of the natural physical universe),
2. Uncaused, beginningless, and eternal (self-existent, as it exists without a cause, outside of time and space, besides the fact that infinite regress of causes is impossible. ),
3. Omnipresent & all-knowing (It created space and is not limited by it),
4. Changeless ( Change depends on physical being )
5. Timeless  ( Without physical events, there can be no time, and time began with the Big Bang  )
6. Immaterial (Because He transcends space and created matter),
7. Spaceless ( Since it created space)
8. Personal (The impersonal can’t create personality, and only a personal, free agent can cause a change from a changeless state )
9. Enormously Powerful ( Since it brought the entire universe, space-time and matter into existence )
10. Necessary (As everything else depends on it),
11. Absolutely independent and self-existent ( It does not depend on a higher causal agency to exist otherwise there would be infinite regress which is impossible )
12. Infinite and singular (As you cannot have two infinities),  
13. Diverse yet has unity (As all multiplicity implies a prior singularity),  
14. Intelligent (Supremely, to create everything, in special language, complexity, factories and machines),  
15. Purposeful (As it deliberately created everything with goals in mind),

An agent endowed with free will can have a determination in a timeless dimension to operate causally at a (first) moment of time and thereby to produce a temporally first effect

1. God is supernatural in nature Acts 17:24-25
2. God is uncaused, beginningless, and eternal  1 Timothy 1:17
3. God is omnipresent & all-knowing Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:24
4. God is unchanging Malachi 3:6
5. God is immaterial (spirit) John 4:24
6. God is personal John 4:24, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Isaiah 25:1,  Isaiah 63:7, Psalm 78:1, 1 Chronicles 16:8, Micah 4:12, Job 29:4, 2 Corinthians 13:14
7. God is enormously Powerful Genesis 17:1
8. God is timeless Revelation 1:8
9. God is necessary Genesis 1:1
10. God is omniscient ( All-knowing ) Psalm 147:4-5
11. God is absolutely independent and self-existent Isaiah 46:9
12. God is One, yet He exists in three persons Matthew 3:16-17
13. God is extraordinarily intelligent Jeremiah 32:17
14. God is all-understanding Psalm 147:5
15. God is purposeful

The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t2877-the-kalaam-leads-to-the-god-of-the-bible

The Kalaam leads to the God of the Bible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOcACl_tJ2c&t=142s

Romans 1.19 - 22:  Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools

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10The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible Empty Re: The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible Mon Mar 25, 2024 10:17 am

Otangelo


Admin

The Kalam leads to the God of the Bible

Aquinas argued for the existence of God by deducing attributes of the first cause or true God logically. 

In the Bible, God is portrayed as a being that:

Transcends Physical Reality: The concept of God in the Bible as existing outside the physical universe resonates with the philosophical requirement for a supernatural creator that is not bounded by the limitations of the material world (Acts 17:24-25).

Exists Eternally: The notion of God being uncaused and eternal (1 Timothy 1:17) supports the philosophical argument against an infinite regress of causes, positing a necessary being that is the unoriginated origin of all things.


Omnipresent and Omniscient: Biblical verses affirming God's omnipresence and omniscience (Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:24) underscore a creator that is all-knowing and present within all of creation, yet not confined by the spatial dimensions it created.

Immutable: God's unchanging nature (Malachi 3:6) coincides with the philosophical view that a perfect being cannot change because any change would imply an imperfection.

Timeless: The Bible presents God as timeless (Revelation 1:Cool, which aligns with the philosophical understanding that time began with the physical universe at the Big Bang, and thus the cause of the universe must exist outside of time.

Immaterial: The portrayal of God as spirit (John 4:24) supports the notion that the creator is not composed of matter and is, therefore, not subject to physical constraints.

Spaceless: Biblical scripture presenting God as the creator of space (Acts 17:24-25) is consistent with the understanding that the creator must be non-spatial.

Personal: The personal nature of God (seen through various interactions with individuals in the Bible) supports the philosophical argument that an impersonal force cannot account for the existence of personal beings.

All-Powerful: God's ability to create the universe (Genesis 17:1) mirrors the philosophical requirement for a creator with immense power.

Necessary: As everything else is contingent, the Bible's depiction of God as necessary (Genesis 1:1) aligns with the philosophical view that there must be a being whose existence is not dependent on anything else.

Self-Existent: The Bible's representation of God as self-existent and independent (Isaiah 46:9) parallels the philosophical understanding that the first cause cannot be contingent upon any other entity.

Unique and Singular: The uniqueness of God in the Bible (Matthew 3:16-17) fits the philosophical stance that there cannot be multiple infinite beings.

Unified yet Diverse: The concept of the Trinity (Matthew 3:16-17) can be seen as reflecting a unity with diversity that is philosophically plausible as the source of all complex diversity in the universe.

Supremely Intelligent: The intricacy and order of creation (Jeremiah 32:17) as depicted in the Bible suggest a creator of supreme intelligence, as would be necessary to design such a universe.

Intentional: The purposeful act of creation (seen throughout the Bible) indicates an intentional first cause, as required by philosophical arguments that posit a meaningful universe.

The Bible stands out because it not only describes these attributes in a religious context but also integrates them in a way that is consistent with philosophical arguments for a first cause or a prime mover. This consistency is a validation of the Bible's divine inspiration and the truthfulness of its depiction of God. The Bible provides a narrative that corroborates and converges with philosophical concepts, demonstrating that it is not merely another book of myths or legends, but one that contains deep philosophical insights that have been debated and celebrated throughout the centuries. The concept of creation ex nihilo, or creation out of nothing, is a distinctive feature of the Judeo-Christian tradition, setting it apart from other major world religions. Eastern pantheistic religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism, as well as the polytheistic belief systems of ancient Rome and Greece, typically do not embrace this notion. The doctrine of creation out of nothing speaks profoundly to several aspects of God's nature:

Omnipotence: The ability to create without pre-existing materials showcases an unparalleled level of power and capability.
Self-Existence: God's act of creation from nothing suggests that He exists independently of the universe and its material conditions.
Necessity: The creation event points to God as the ultimate, non-contingent ground of being upon which everything else relies for existence.
Distinction from Creation: Creating out of nothing establishes a clear demarcation between the Creator and the created, highlighting God's transcendence.

Thus, this doctrine emphasizes the extraordinary power, autonomous existence, essential nature, and supreme distinction of the Creator in a way that few other doctrines can.

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