Unanswered questions (General)

by dhw, Friday, May 10, 2019, 11:57 (2022 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: And still you refuse to tell us why it is so important for you to tell us that God’s only purpose was to produce H. sapiens. What is your point?

DAVID: I don't have a point. I have a conclusion, based on the realization that evolution appears driven, not at random. Aquatic mammals show that point. Humans are a totally unexpected result with their consciousness- bearing giant brains. Design is required. Only a reasoning brain can design the living complexities we observe. Therefore there is a God who runs the show. All logical for me to accept.

dhw: A sequence of non sequiturs. I agree that evolution is driven and not random, and aquatic animals do indeed show that point, since all their restructuring is clearly driven by the need to make adjustments to life in the water. I agree that human consciousness is special, though I have no idea who you think was around to “expect” or not “expect” this outcome.

DAVID: I'm just following Davies' analysis that the arrival of folks with consciousness, who can study their own universe, is an extremely significant event, although he carries the point no further, but I do.

We would all agree that it is a remarkable event. What is at issue is your insistence that only the divine preprogramming or dabbling of every single non-human life form can have produced that event, and in particular your outright rejection of the possibility that your God might have given cells/cell communities the intelligence to do their own designing.

DAVID: I've answered the issue of self-invention. God is too purposeful and in charge to allow freedom of action. That is my concept of God, but not yours, which allows Him to relinquish control.

Just as according to you he has relinquished control over the human will. Producing humans is hardly a purpose in itself unless there is a purpose for producing humans! But you don’t want to discuss God’s possible purposes on the grounds that this “humanizes” him! So we are left with the same old scenario: he only wanted to produce humans (don’t ask why) and he did this by not producing humans until he had produced loads and loads of non-humans to keep eating each other.