S
stpurl
Guest
How is time infinite?
- Status
R
Reuben_J
Guest
Can someone enlighten us on this?
T
TheOldColonel
Guest
I really like where this is going 
S
semper_catholicus
Guest
Well, if it was an infinite regress, then it didn’t start anywhere, and it must have started somewhere.
C
catholic1seeks
Guest
(1) There is a solid philosophical answer to why God, in Himself, needs no cause (see posts from @Wesrock.)
(2) That aside, your attempt at an objection for God’s existence is really an objection against EXISTENCE itself, because what you imply is absurd: That there is no inherent reality that exists in itself, without cause.
Think about it. For anything to exist NOW, there must be some reality that has existence as part of its very nature. Go ahead and posit the Universe itself, or some physical reality, or some non-Godlike transphysical reality. (There are reasons why none of these can be the Ultimate, cause-less reality. But again, put that aside for now. You don’t have to make God the Ultimate Reality – for the moment.)
Whatever you choose, you will have to choose something to be ultimate reality – that is, the ultimate foundation of all else that exists. For if nothing exists in itself, then NOTHING could exist at all now. And so God is exempt from your objection, because whatever one wants to label as the Ultimate Reality, you will still have to identify this reality as NOT needing a designer or cause.
(3) So once we realize that there has to be SOME Ultimate Reality (some reality that is the foundation of all that participates in existence), the question then becomes what is the NATURE of this Ultimate Reality.
I recommend the book Five Proofs for the Existence of God by Ed Feser.
But basically, we can move from our experience of the world around us and use our own reason to conclude that anything that (1) has parts or (2) comes into being or (3) is contingent (dependent on something else for its existence) canNOT be the Ultimate Reality, for all these things require explanations outside of themselves. Hence, no physical reality — and definitely not the Universe as a whole — can be Ultimate Reality. Rather, its nature cannot have parts, or come into being, or have potential, or be contingent in any way. It must be purely Actuality, with no parts, and so Existence itself.
(4) Quick note on science. While scientific discoveries cannot directly prove God’s existence, they can provide evidence for a philosophical argument. Big Bang Cosmology and space-time geometry evidence has made a solid case that our Universe or a hypothetical multiverse must have a beginning in time. And therefore, it requires a cause or explanation outside of itself – outside space and time.
Now, philosophical arguments for God (as expressed in my #1 - #3 comments) don’t depend on a beginning of the Universe. In fact, Saint Thomas Aquinas didn’t think it could be proven philsophically that the Universe began in time. So these arguments relating to contingency, parts, etc. aren’t dependent on whether or not the Universe actually began to exist in time. HOWEVER, interestingly, science seems to indeed suggest the Universe DID begin in time, and therefore provides another way of showing that the Universe is contingent and not self-explanatory.
(2) That aside, your attempt at an objection for God’s existence is really an objection against EXISTENCE itself, because what you imply is absurd: That there is no inherent reality that exists in itself, without cause.
Think about it. For anything to exist NOW, there must be some reality that has existence as part of its very nature. Go ahead and posit the Universe itself, or some physical reality, or some non-Godlike transphysical reality. (There are reasons why none of these can be the Ultimate, cause-less reality. But again, put that aside for now. You don’t have to make God the Ultimate Reality – for the moment.)
Whatever you choose, you will have to choose something to be ultimate reality – that is, the ultimate foundation of all else that exists. For if nothing exists in itself, then NOTHING could exist at all now. And so God is exempt from your objection, because whatever one wants to label as the Ultimate Reality, you will still have to identify this reality as NOT needing a designer or cause.
(3) So once we realize that there has to be SOME Ultimate Reality (some reality that is the foundation of all that participates in existence), the question then becomes what is the NATURE of this Ultimate Reality.
I recommend the book Five Proofs for the Existence of God by Ed Feser.
But basically, we can move from our experience of the world around us and use our own reason to conclude that anything that (1) has parts or (2) comes into being or (3) is contingent (dependent on something else for its existence) canNOT be the Ultimate Reality, for all these things require explanations outside of themselves. Hence, no physical reality — and definitely not the Universe as a whole — can be Ultimate Reality. Rather, its nature cannot have parts, or come into being, or have potential, or be contingent in any way. It must be purely Actuality, with no parts, and so Existence itself.
(4) Quick note on science. While scientific discoveries cannot directly prove God’s existence, they can provide evidence for a philosophical argument. Big Bang Cosmology and space-time geometry evidence has made a solid case that our Universe or a hypothetical multiverse must have a beginning in time. And therefore, it requires a cause or explanation outside of itself – outside space and time.
Now, philosophical arguments for God (as expressed in my #1 - #3 comments) don’t depend on a beginning of the Universe. In fact, Saint Thomas Aquinas didn’t think it could be proven philsophically that the Universe began in time. So these arguments relating to contingency, parts, etc. aren’t dependent on whether or not the Universe actually began to exist in time. HOWEVER, interestingly, science seems to indeed suggest the Universe DID begin in time, and therefore provides another way of showing that the Universe is contingent and not self-explanatory.
Last edited:
C
CapitalistCatholic
Guest
I like to think that God is the concept of existence itself, but also lives separate from the existence we are all familiar with. He is the source of existence because he is existence.
C
catholic1seeks
Guest
I also recommend this book:
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
- Status