Why is there anything at all? (Introduction)

by Mark , Thursday, June 19, 2008, 20:22 (5999 days ago) @ dhw

Review Part 1 - I have been asked to review this thread, so for what it's worth, here goes. - A lot of the discussion is around Stenger's idea that something can come from nothing. I have read the article referenced by George. It may be a fair account of the science, but it is philosophical nonsense. His nothing is not nothing. It is a quantum mechanical void with quantum fields at zero energy states which obey the laws of physics of our universe. That simply is not nothing. It may be the nearest to nothing that is describable with our physics, but it still leaves us asking where the physics and the fields came from. I think this is fairly obvious, but it's worth noting that John Polkinghorne is in agreement with me. - Like dhw, I can accept premises 1 and 2 of the original post of Curtis, but do not accept that premise 3 ("the cause for the beginning event was personal") can be demonstrated by either logic or science. - Even though I am a Christian, I am not a fan of philosophical arguments for the existence of God. The fact that their validity is disputed is not, I believe, due to wilfulness on the part of atheists not to think rationally. It is because they genuinely are not entirely convincing logically. I don't think they are as easily dismissed as someone like Richard Dawkins would suggest, but at the same time I think they are a shaky ladder to use to climb to faith. Even if you accept them you are certainly not left anywhere near the Christian God.