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Egor wrote
I’m not aware of it; I contemplate it.
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And how is that any different from imagining or guessing?
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Egor wrote
Well, let’s talk about that then. If we go all the way back to the singularity before the big bang, and even if we go back to before there was a physical singularity, why would anything come into existence if it were not willed in some way into existence? The simplest answer is that there must be some causative agent that wanted it to occur. It wouldn’t just happen for no reason at all. It wouldn’t just pop into existence for nothing out of nothing. To consider that so is magical thinking. It’s easier to suppose some kind of intelligent creator.
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There can be no cause and effect before the universe began; to even think of such a thing as "cause" before the beginning of the universe is gibberish. You are making the same mistake as every other theist who uses the cosmological argument, applying the laws of the universe before the universe existed.
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Egor wrote
Good point. Why does God get to be uncreated, but the universe has to be created by something. Simply put, the universe shows evidence of having had a beginning, or if it always existed, it has motion, and that requires a prime mover (something that is itself unmoved by anything else). This is all assumed because an infinite regress of causes results in nothing being caused. Assuming the existence of God, ultimately, keeps us from having to resort to magical thinking.
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You're avoiding the question. The question was, why should God be exempt from the illogical nature of an infinite regress? Why is it the case that an infinite God makes sense while an infinite universe doesn't?
You are basically making an exception of God, not applying the normal rules to him because he's a magical being that can avoid those rules.
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Egor wrote
The big question is, of course, how could God just “be” without ever having been created. I propose that God cannot even answer that question. Like a limit in calculus, that answer is eternally approached but never resolved. I propose that God does not know why He exists. It is, in fact, impossible knowledge.
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Then that's just an assumption. Basically, your position on this is pretty much summed up as "God exists without cause, but I don't know how", which is meaningless.
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Egor wrote
I definitely feel your pain on this one. Unfortunately, the physical universe doesn’t fit the bill. It apparently had a beginning or was set in motion by some prime mover. However, God can’t exist somewhere “outside” the universe; I agree. That is why I do not believe in the Christian revelation of God. I believe, instead, in a monistic concept of God. That is that all that exists is God. There is nothing but God. There is no universe apart from God. There is no separation. Just like in a dream.
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Equating existence with God is called pantheism, which most theists don't believe since it ultimately leads to atheism.