Then why is God so? Where did God come from? If he always existed, why can't we say the same of the universe?"For every fact there is a reason why it is so or why it is not so."
If there can be one god, can there be more?
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It would be like saying Perfection are two (depending on how many gods youre talking about) different things.
If for example there are two gods, and one of them is perfect, than the other must not be perfect if it is to be a seperate, distinct being. Something must be different about the two beings, and that difference would distinguish which one is perfect and the other not; therefore showing that one of them is not god.
This line of thinking is from Aquinas' Summa; and obviously it only makes sense if you assert that god must be perfect.
I think if there were a plethora of "gods" it would be much more apporiate to call them supernatural beings or something, but of course i am in no way familiar with satisfactory definitions of god outside of the judeo-christian-muslim conception.
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Since everybody is talking about Aquinas, I will give you an answer that goes along with that mindset.
God can be its own reason why it is so. That is why God is sometimes called the "First Mover." God is responsible for everything else that exists. Think of the causal example given above in the cosmological argument. God would be at the very end of the line of causation (although there's debate about placing God at the end of the line vs. outside of the line, and outside of time in general. But that is beyond this topic).
That is why we can say that God always existed, but we cannot say the same about the universe, because the universe could not have caused itself like God does. I hope that clears things up slightly.
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If God can be its own reason why "it" is so, why not the Universe?God can be its own reason why it is so. That is why God is sometimes called the "First Mover." God is responsible for everything else that exists.
You have not explained WHY. Why is it that God can be considered a first cause but the Big Bang cannot?the universe could not have caused itself like God does.
Not at all.I hope that clears things up slightly.
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The argument does not explicitly state a justification for the "First Cause" to not have a cause itself. There is no explanation in the argument against this, and this "justification" has only been added by people in attempts to support the argument without justification.
Also, most modern scientific theories involve an eternal, cyclical universe with no beginning.
The cosmological argument has been ripped to pieces by Philosophers since Descartes used the Causa Sui version, to Leibniz and Aquinas, and it absolutely amazes me that attempts are STILL made to this very day to justify this argument.
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If there were more than one gods we would have heard them by now. Well, the thumping anyway.
"Im first and the best."
"No, I was the best and first."
"Are you calling me a liar."
"Yes, you're delusional."
"Not Im not.
"Yes you are"
"I know more than you."
"Thats blasphemy."
"So what, who do you think you are!"
"Im god, you are nothing."
"Thats it. Its war."
Thump!!
So I guess its either none or one.
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Also, titles like "LORD", are somewhat meaningless when refering to God. A lord was orionally a feudal superior, these days it refers merely to peerage of the United Kingdom. So unless the universe is god's feudal system, which would imply that he is a totalitarian ruler, nor has god received the title by any hereditry right for that would imply he has ancestors...all in all, the title is meaningless. As are titles like "father", again, god never procreated, unless you count his impregnation of the virgin mary & the birth of Jesus that is, which I have a bit of a problem with actually. Was Jesus the "son" of god, or "god"? Because the holy trinity says that he was both. But that's a contradiction in terms! You can't be your own son because a "son" has "half" of your genetic code, and you don't have "half" you have "all" otherwise you wouldn't exist. But I guess god didn't pay attension in biology.
Now a lot of people will say "oh Simon your being silly, these things arn't meant to be taken literally", great, i agree, so why DO YOU???!
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There are still many Hindu gods.There are even modern Pagans sects who believe in yet other gods.The Christian and Muslim gods break down into the very different gods of various sects . For instance the Muslim Allah of the suicide bombers is a different version of Allah from the merciful and rational Allah of the more progressive Muslims.
The progressive Christian God is different from the supernatural and frequently superstitiouos god of many Baptists or RC's.
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They would be Gods, if they were not created but 'generated' and therefore are his children.Tingle mind wrote:i beieve n one god and one god alone. if he created managers of certain areas which he wouldnt need, but if he did they wouldnt be consired gods
Hesiod
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that depends on your definition of a child. gods has a son jesus who is god but is also deemed as a literall part of god. some things we cannot comprehend about god. men cant even understand women let alone GOD. the bible does say god is king of kings and lord of lords. from that one could believe there are smaller gods beneath God but i dont. even if there were several smaller gods, god is still at the top leaving one god in control. besides god has never created other beings to help him but only to worship him and illustrate his gloryTherapon wrote:They would be Gods, if they were not created but 'generated' and therefore are his children.Tingle mind wrote:i beieve n one god and one god alone. if he created managers of certain areas which he wouldnt need, but if he did they wouldnt be consired gods
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Re: If there can be one god, can there be more?
For such people religion isn't nearly so much about the after-life, but this life, and Taoists are famous for promoting healthy lifestyles, longevity practices, etc.
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