Rom. 1:20 Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Geremia
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
G

Geremia

Guest
Romans 1:20 says:[bibledrb]Romans 1:20[/bibledrb]How can this be because the universe could have been other than it is due to God’s freewill, viz., it is contingent and non-necessary, and God is the only necessary being? Is the world like a sign that points to God in which He has specified the convention of the sign like we use red octagons to signify “stop”? How can one understand necessary being (i.e., God) through non-necessary, contingent beings, i.e., creatures of the world? Thanks
 
Geremia said:
Romans 1:20 says:[bibledrb]Romans 1:20[/bibledrb]How can this be because the universe could have been other than it is due to God’s freewill, viz., it is contingent and non-necessary, and God is the only necessary being? Is the world like a sign that points to God in which He has specified the convention of the sign like we use red octagons to signify “stop”? How can one understand necessary being (i.e., God) through non-necessary, contingent beings, i.e., creatures of the world? Thanks
Click to expand...
We cannot** understand** “Necessary Being” because we have no experience of such a phenomenon. What we can understand is that nothing in the universe is necessary - and that there must be a Necessary Being. As you point out, everything we know is contingent. So the explanation of the universe is not to be found** in the universe **.

That does not mean that the universe could not have been other than as it is. God could have created a different universe but now that this one exists it obviously cannot be other than as it is!
 
tonyrey said:
So the explanation of the universe is not to be found** in the universe **.
Click to expand...
Good point. All the known laws of the universe show that it is running down, losing energy and diminishing. How can these same laws be responsible for it’s origin. The philosophy of Naturalism is self refuting.
 
Geremia said:
Is the world like a sign that points to God in which He has specified the convention of the sign like we use red octagons to signify “stop”?
Click to expand...
Yes. Although I think the analogy you chose is a bit limited in this case. God certainly has more to tell us through his universe than that single word. 🙂 Although, in essence, that’s it. God created the universe and uses it to communicate something about himself. His existence, His power, His wisdom, His beauty, His goodness, His rationality, etc.

Even in the simplest terms, as St. Paul says: “from the things that are made”. We can start with human beings and recognize indications of our creator within ourselves.

As for recognizing the necessary being, or the first cause – tonyre explained that very well already so I won’t take away from it.

But I can add that we recognize a hierarchy of values, and this also points to the necessary being, through reflection on contingent beings.
 
redneck22 said:
Good point. All the known laws of the universe show that it is running down, losing energy and diminishing. How can these same laws be responsible for it’s origin. The philosophy of Naturalism is self refuting.
Click to expand...
No.

The net energy of the Universe at it’s beginning and at it’s end must be exactly equal to zero according to physical laws.
 
Moonstruck888 said:
No.

The net energy of the Universe at it’s beginning and at it’s end must be exactly equal to zero according to physical laws.
Click to expand...
It still begs the question, “How can these same laws be responsible for its origin?.”
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top