particles and connections (General)

by David Turell , Tuesday, February 14, 2017, 14:22 (2841 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: He may have. My point is we cannot know that, so why presume it. I don't think discussing it adds anything to our knowledge. I think God can have goals or purposes without self-gratification.

dhw: It is not a presumption, and you may well say that discussing the unknowable adds nothing to our knowledge since it is impossible to “know” whether God exists, and if he does exist, what are his purposes and his nature. The same applies to the origin of life and to what happened before the Big Bang (if it happened). All we have are theories based on our inadequate “knowledge” of all that is. But you have your beliefs, and have written two brilliant books to explain them, so I’m afraid your dismissal of any theories that contradict your own because they do not “add anything to our knowledge” rings a little hollow. You are just as much an explorer of the unknowable as I am.

You are correct in that we both are explorers, each in our own way and yet so very different. That is what makes us reach so very different conclusions. I feel I am much more 'evidence' oriented than you are, especially in the recognition of the importance of complexity. We may not know God exists, but He is required by the complex designs we see

DAVID: You are again making religious assumptions about the description of God's powers. I've said he probably had to make Earth this way. His powers may be limited.

dhw: I make no assumptions. I simply object when you tell me that my approach limits my vision of what capacities God might have when your own approach suggests explicitly that his powers might be limited.

Your vision of God is not limited. I try to limit mine for the simple reason that we cannot fully understand His person.