What exactly, then, is the difference between religious faith and superstition? I fail to see how, "If I'm good and say my prayers and go to Church, God will bless me." is much different from, "If I step on a crack, I will break my mother's back."
Frost - Some people say that the universe is created by divine intervention, these same people also say that life is created by divine intervention. Other people say that the universe was created by the Big Bang Theory, and that life stems from it. I guess I'm trying to say that life is created everyday with/without divine intervention (we know that a sperm implants an egg and creates life). We can watch this process through microscopes, and if this process is due to divine intervention then I guess you can say that we have witnessed divine intervention as it took place. So, if the sperm implanting into an egg, creating life, is just a part of life and science (results of the Big Bang Theory) and is not divine intervention (since we can see this through microscopes), could it then be possible that gases swirling around in space exploded creating the universe? This is just simply something to think about. I am not challenging anyone or their beliefs.
Ah I see now. You raise good points here. Some would say the miracle lies not in existance itself, but in the spirit of life. What makes each of us different, and what makes each of us similar. That's what is said to be result of divine intervention, as opposed to the simple existance of life. Others would say that yes, we witness divine intervention everyday. Others again would say there's nothing divine to see. It's really quite subjective. At the same time, many people will try and disprove God, or at least blacken his name through holes in the Bible. Then when we say, 'what about this hole in the thoery? what about this missing link?' you say "we cannot know everything." Seems a little counterproductive to me. However, you are correct: a loophole in science doesn't prove a god. I have no doubt that the big bang is the scientific explanation for life. What's the explanation for the Big Bang? God. That's just how I see it. And don't worry, Im not weirdly religious. I'll never push my views down your throught. I don't even go to church most sundays. But I still believe.
See, the difference there is that science is evolving and changing based on new discoveries and information. We know we don't know everything, but we are working toward it. And we have come a long, long way. Less than twenty years ago, most scientists didn't think that we would find planets orbiting around other stars. Now we know that it is relatively easy for planets to form, and that they can be found in even the harshest environments. A century ago, there was no theory of general relativity. Now it's pretty much common knowledge. Black holes, pulsars, quasars. Things that up until fairly recently were science fiction. Now we know that they are there, and we are learning more about them all the time. The religious admit that they don't know, and they call it faith. Scientists admit that they don't know, but they'll get back to you with an answer later. That's the difference between moving forward and remaining stagnant.
And you think that one day we'll know everything? One day we'll be able to answer if every single plausable question with science? Do you think that one day, we'll be able to truly and 100% prove or disprove God, or any other theory of creation? I hope not, because that's more arrogant than anything I can imagine. Let's face it, we'll never know everything. We might think we know alot when in reality we might know very little. We don't know, we've got nothing to compare ourselves against. Take this for example. All matter is made up of atoms. All atoms are supposed to be made up of quarks and bosons. They're made up of what? Technically, everything must be made of something. The only thing that thing that simply exists is supposed to be God. But surely, you can't tell me that the big bang happened, and these things called quarks popped from nowhere, out of nothing, and formed everything around us.
The holy grail (pardon the metaphor) of science is a unifying theory of everything. It's possible, I think. Unfortunately, chances are that we will die out before we achieve anything like that. For now, it's only something we can work toward. Will we know absolutely everything one day? Probably not. Questions will continue to arise, and we will continue to look for answers. I personally think that God is the easy way out. Of course, why analyze a phenomenon or a process when we can just hold God responsible? Going to Christian school (yeah, believe it or not, I used to be a pretty hardcore Christian), I remember one of my teachers telling me that God has no beginning or end, He just is. We as humans have a hard time wrapping our minds around that because we are used to everything having a beginning and end. Birth and death, dawn and dusk, etc. I think that there is something to that, though not necessarily applying to God. We know (or we think we know) that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but that it exists in a cycle. No beginning or end. The same premise as god, with the actual being removed from the equation. Physics aside, proof aside, my point from the beginning of the discussion was simply this: Scientific theory is not all proven, but it is working on getting there. Religion is simply not proven, and no one seems to have a problem with that.
That's because it can't be proven, so it's a waste of time trying. You either have faith or you dont. But having faith doesn't denote being a hardline religion freak. It can be that, or it can be as simple as acknowledging the presence of God (as I do). Indeed, it's a little unfair that scientists have their every word analysed and cross-analysed and a priests is taken as truth, though...
I have a problem with "just acknowledging the presence of God," though. Do you know how many gods have come and gone over the millennia? What makes the Jewish/Christian/Muslim god any different?
Jewish/Christian/Muslim god is one of the oldest still being worshiped. Jewdisim can trace its roots back to the 2nd Millennia BC. Its older than Buddism, Taoism, Shinto and the only older religions I can find still in practice today are Hinduism and Zoroastrianism (Spelling, wrong). The Abrahamic god is also unique in the concept of personnal salvation through his grace. The only other non-abrahamic religion I can find with a similar concept is Zoroastrianism and several mystery religions that Christianity defeated by popular support in the days of Rome and their ideas of it are still slightly different. The Abrahamic god is also has numerous smaller differences. The Trinity is uniquely Christian and is unfound in any other religion. Baptism is an old tradition but takes a new meaning in Christianity. The concept of sin being "awayness from god" rather than a bad deed as it is often misconcieved (In a christian sense) is also unique. Those are some simple easy to go through differences. Sorry I only listed Christian ones. I'm still studying up on my Islam and Jewdism. I think many people treat "acknowledging the presence of god" to lightly. I think it goes a little bit furthur than simply saying "Ok god I believe in you." Each individual comes to their own conclusions about god and for those who choose to believe its oftne much more personal.
He's god. THe whole point of the cocnept is that he's all powerful. If he does exist and he created the entire universe I think it stands to reason he can make more room in heaven. Also If god exists it stands to reason that the laws of physics do not apply to him.
All power has its limits. Are we not gods. We create life... We created Dolly the sheep also... We have our limits.... Who created God? Why was God created? how was God created? Does God have a God? Is God alone? Does God have friends? What Does God do to entertain himself? What Form does God Have? Why did God Create life?
These are easy to answer (sarcastically) Q - Who created God? A - Ask God. Q - Why was God created? A - Ask God. Q - How was God created? A- Ask God. Q - Does God have a God? A - Ask God? Q - Is God alone? A - Ask God. Q - Does God have friends? A - Ask God. Q - What does God do to entertain himself? A - Ask God. Q - What form does God have? A - Ask God. Q - Why did God create life? A - Ask God. If and when you find the answers can you post them here for me?
Right. Me too. "If I'm good and say my prayers and go to Church, God will bless me," has nothing to do with my kind of faith. So if anyone else can explain how the two are different, I'm all ears.
If god is perfect, thus having every need fulfilled, why would god need create flawed beings, or any beings at all? If god is perfect, why wouldn't god's message have reached every part of the world; decreasing the possibility of war and suffering created from others believing in different ideologies?
Originally humans were not flawed. According to Christianity, Islam, and Jewdism human beings were without sin until Adam and Eve fouled it up.
