The God Question.

[Theland]

In our usual spirit of mutual respect and friendliness, would you like to address the whole, "God Question?"

Is there a God? Proof?

There is no God? "Proof?"

Any general comments?

[naomi24]

Theland, Ravi Zacharias isn't a member here and takes almost an hour to tell us what he wants to tell us. If he's saying what you want to say why don't you say it?

[beso]

The "six minute" one doesn't work and the other one is nearly an hour and starts out very boring.

I can tell you now that any argument against Evolution is rubbish dreamed up people with no comprehension because Evolution has already been confirmed by millions of pieces of evidence.

Even the Vatican has accepted it. Took a long time but not quite as long as admitting they were wrong about the Sun going around the Earth.

[SparklyKid]

Even if there is a god, so what, bl00 dy useless. Look at Ken Bigley.

[naomi24]

Theland, how do you expect to generate conversation when only those who have the time and the inclination to waste an hour watching your video are equipped to join the discussion? They are few, if not non-existent, at the best of times.

[Theland]

You could watch the first eleven minutes.
But OK I take your point.
The first video is only about ten minutes. But yes, I shall try to pick out the bullet points.
Thank you for your continued interest.

[Theland]

Your own logic and reason dictates that there was a first Uncaused cause, otherwise we have infinite regression of what caused the cause, caused the cause, caused the cause, ad infinitum.
Do we at least agree on that?

[naomi24]

//Your own logic and reason dictates that there was a first Uncaused cause//

I'm not sure who you're talking to Theland, but if it's to me, no, it doesn't. My own logic dictates what any other rational person's logic dictates. I don't know.

[Theland]

Is that the limit of your enquiringly mind? "I don't know," without even formulating an opinion?

[naomi24]

Theland, an enquiring mind continues to enquire until such time as proof is forthcoming.

[webbo3]

t=0

[drmorgans]

My "belief" is that the idea of a god (or God, if you prefer) is man-made to try to explain our existence and also to create groupings on that basis of; setting out rules on how to live together (a moral code) and the promise of living forever, but not in the physical sense that we understand life (Heaven, Nirvana, reincarnation).

Evidence? None, but the notion of a g/God is in Man's mind. We have existed for maybe 50,000 years and the idea of gods for 5,000. Prior to that (as far as we know), the idea of a god did not exist in any other beings' mind. Our planet is one of billions. It is not at the centre of the universe. What makes us, Man, so special that all of this was created for us?

[Khandro]

The oldest evidence that humankind worshipped a supernatural deity & the oldest known sculptural depiction of a god is the Löwenmensch (lionman) figurine, a half-human, half-lion sculpture made approximately 40,000 years ago, excavated in 1939 from a cave in the German Alps (Alb), only 20 miles from where I am living.
It resides in the Tuebingen Museum, but was part of an exhibition in the British Museum about 10 years ago.

[Atheist]

Khandro, how do they know it's meant to be a god?

[Khandro]

^ He's the second square in the top row on here;
https://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/ice_age_art.aspx

[vulcan42]

Khandro, how do we know a half human, half lion figurine made 40,000 years ago was worshipped as a God?

[vulcan42]

Sorry Atheist and Khandro your posts weren't there when I started, must learn to type quicker.

[Zacs-Master]

This may answer your question:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b099xhmj

[Khandro]

Thank you Zacs; a great series of talks (& book) by a great & learned educator. Well worth listening to them all - but will they? :0)

[vulcan42]

Thank you Zacs-Master, the programme was certainly interesting but there were far too many if's, possibly's, might be's and especially suppositions to make it believable. They placed great importance on a substance found in the mouth of the statue especially when they thought it was blood, neither put forward the simpler theory that the carver could have just as likely cut his hand whilst carving. Because the broken fragments were found in a small cave within a larger one they say this was a shrine, again, an imaginative and unproven theory. I see no evidence from the statue, the British Museum or this programme, that this item was ever worshipped as a God.
I do agree with one statement, they said imagination and story telling would have played their parts if the statue was worshipped; I would suggest they still play a very important part in all religions, especially imagination.

[drmorgans]

So, is this "lion man" that cave dwellers worshipped the same god that, say, Abrahamic religions worship?