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Re: If god exists, what created god?
Shrisha Rao (Shrisha.Rao@launchpad.unc.edu)
30 Apr 1995 23:48:53 GMT
In article <AX9ovQ9zBgoQ083yn@mantra.com>,
Dr. Jai Maharaj <jai@mantra.com> wrote:
>On Sun, 30 Apr 1995 15:59:50 UTC, in article
><D7uv3q.Dw1@crash.cts.com>, roosen@crash.cts.com (Robert Roosen)
>wrote:
> > Ken Smith (kensmith@rahul.net) wrote:
> >> In article <D7u59H.8rF@crash.cts.com>, Robert Roosen
> >> <roosen@crash.cts.com> wrote:
> >>> What I want to know is, if God can do anything, can he make
> >>> a rock so big that he can't lift it?
> >> Yes.
> > OK How big is the rock?
>
>Define "big."
It is not very often that I find myself in the same boat as Jai Maharaj,
but that is exactly the case here; I had the same thought as he did. When
someone asks "how do you know the universe won't be half as big tomorrow
as it is today?" or "how do you know the world is not really an illusion
created by some virtual-reality machine?" one is daunted; yet, when one
asks in return, "define 'universe,' ' half,' and 'tomorrow,'" or "define
'world,' 'illusion,' and 'virtual-reality machine,'" the questioner is
suddenly short of fresh ideas.
Thus, I find this whole discussion to be without basis. What use
is our asking all these questions about 'God' -- an undefined word? And
even if the word were to be defined, how would we know that the entity
corresponding to it really existed? For example, 'unicorn' is a
well-defined word, and yet there is no such thing as a unicorn.
If we accept a certain source as proof of God's existence, then the
questions become meaningful, and the correct thing to do is to approach
that source itself for the answers to these questions. However, it turns
out that finding such a source is not a trivial exercise -- each faith
claims to have found the source, and damns all other claimed sources as
bogus. Deciding which source is right is, indeed, the purpose of all
philosophical logic, and the aim of every seeker.
Regards,
Shrisha Rao
>
>*-=Om Shanti=-* Jai Maharaj <jai@mantra.com>
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