philosophy of science: meaning and functions (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, September 24, 2018, 23:33 (2251 days ago) @ dhw

PART ONE

dhw: Don’t you find the material world interesting, with its vast variety of life forms, its ever changing nature, the extraordinary products of human consciousness? Anyway, do tell us why you think he created material life.

TONY: Saying that he did it purely for entertainment, amusement, or as a cure for boredom are all forms of capriciousness or frivolity, literally "not having any serious purpose or value".

dhw: You quoted me as saying: “….perhaps I should not use the word “entertainment”, as people do tend to associate it with amusement”. Let me then state with all seriousness that I regard the relief of isolation and boredom as an extremely serious purpose. Indeed loneliness and lack of any kind of occupation are a huge human problem in our day and age. I can well imagine that the prospect of eternity spent in isolation with nothing to do would be pretty unbearable. Can't you?

TONY: Yes, which is why I stated that I agreed with that as first cause, but not as an ongoing cause.

dhw: Why do you think eternity wouldn’t require an ongoing process to prevent the return of boring isolation?

DHW: And I really don’t see why you insist that Christ was his only direct creation, especially when Genesis tell us that it was God who dunnit!

Tony: Because you criticize what you have not bothered to study or learn. In reference to Christ:
Col 1:15-17 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for
Him etc. (No room!).

dhw: Why don’t you quote Genesis 1 and 2? No mention there of the Son. Plenty of God made this and that.

DHW:... Life as we know it contains as much pain as it does joy, and it is faith not reason which enables some people to believe in a loving, caring God.

TONY: Oh, life does indeed contain pain. I've never questioned that. I do question the source of that pain, however. What my observations show is a virtual paradise that has been decimated by people unwilling to follow directions. Why would I blame God for that?

dhw: I wasn’t asking you to blame God. I was pointing out that it requires faith to believe in a loving, caring God.

Yes it requires faith and He does not have to be loving or caring. And the New Testament has made assumptions not agreed to by those who interpret the OT as their primary Bible. Further unless God's personality and thought pattern are not viewed in the realm of pure purpose, the interpretation will not be accurate.