The immensity of the universe (The nature of a \'Creator\')

by dhw, Monday, January 25, 2016, 21:57 (3011 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: So let me get this right (please correct where necessary). In order to fulfil his purpose to produce humans, your God had to create billions of solar systems containing trillions of stars, millions of which had to blow themselves up (by chance) or be blown up (by God) so that the critical elements could form (by chance) or be created (by God) and travel higgledy-piggledy to Earth (by chance) or be directed to Earth (by God). (Or perhaps he programmed the millions of explosions and the journey to Earth of the critical elements.) Once they had arrived, God put them together to make the first cells, which he preprogrammed with the weaverbird's nest and every other innovation, lifestyle and natural wonder extant and extinct, so that life could continue until humans evolved (though they are so “different” that he may have created them separately). And humans are here, so the above must be right.-DAVID: That is how I view it! -dhw: Incidentally, you will have noted that the above supernova scenario has your God possibly leaving an ENORMOUS amount to chance.-DAVID: Not so. The exploding supernovas and all other exploding stars bathed the universe in life-giving elements, which could work toward life only after the proper planet appeared to offer a stabilizing platform, about 9.3 billion years after the Big Bang. It can be seen as a progressive well-thought-out plan.-The language is becoming interesting: the elements could “work toward life”? I thought your God planned and did all the work. “The proper planet appeared”? I thought your God specially planned and created it. In my summary, I indicated other factors that your God might have left to chance (now in bold). So just to clarify again: are you now eliminating the chance alternatives and saying: 1) God organized (and presumably still organizes) all the billions of solar systems and all the colossal explosions of giant stars? And 2) this was his method of creating a relatively tiny collection of “life-giving elements” which he directed (not sure about the timing here) to land on a specially created Earth? And 3) once he'd prepared Earth, he assembled these products of millions of explosions into the first minute cells, which he preprogrammed (apart from when he dabbled) to produce the weaverbird's nest and the rest of evolutionary history, with us the final goal? Sorry about the interrogation, but as you know, I do like a bit of clarity!