Moral Revelation
A fourth argument for the existence of God in the area of general revelation is the moral argument. The moral argument is any argument that seeks to show the existence of God based on the moral compass with in humanity. The very sense of right and wrong points to the foundation of a law giver who has placed that sense within them. Words such as ought and should that are in the minds and lips of humanity find their origin in God who made a standard that one ought and should follow. Even those who would claim a relativistic approach to right and truth and claim that there is no right or wrong and truth does not exist believe that their statement is truth and they are right about their assertions. This standard of right and wrong and existence of truth is not isolated in one given society but expands internationally beyond national borders. Perhaps the applications are different but the idea of right and truth remains the same.
Showing posts with label Apologetics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apologetics. Show all posts
Friday, August 8, 2008
Cosmological Revelation
Cosmological Revelation
First I will start with cosmological revelation, or the Cosmological argument for the existence of the God. Cosmological revelation is used by God to show his existence based on the creation of the universe. The main form of the cosmological argument is the Kalam cosmological argument. This argument seeks to show that God exists based on sufficient evidence for the universe having a beginning. God has revealed His existence based on the evidence He has placed in the universe to show that it had a beginning and thus had a creator.
The argument goes something like this: The universe came into existence at some point in the finite past. The existence of the universe was caused by a personal external being. There are three stages or questions that are answered. As each question is answered it movies into the next stage. The three questions are:
I like to use the example of people standing in a classroom. If we were in a classroom of 20 people seated in rows of 5 people per row, and the last row was asked to stand and then each sit one after the other, there would be some time elapsed before the last person sit down. Howbeit that it was a short elapse of time. Now what about the last two rows going through the same process? A little more time would then elapse before the last man standing sat down. Now increase the amount of people standing by the next row, and the next and so on till all 20 people are standing. Now the time has increased a lot. Suppose there was enough people to stand to expand the boards of California and they began the process, it would take a huge amount of time before the last person standing at the other border to finally sit down. Why? Because there is a lot of people that need to set down in front of him before he or she sat down. With this in mind, what if we had an infinite amount of people that were standing and if we could somehow find the first person to set down, how long would it take the last man standing to set down? The answer: He would never sit down, because there would always be another person in the line ahead of him that needed to set down first. In fact you could move up the line to the 5th person till the end and the same thing would occur. He would never sit down. Thus the exhaustion of my point. If the universe had no beginning, there would always be another event/moment that would have to take place before we got to this present event/moment. Since we are here then there must have only been a finite amount of events/moments that took place before us, thus pointing to the beginning of the universe.
Now from this we can establish that since the universe had a beginning or came into existence some finite time ago, and reality states that everything that comes into existence at some point had a cause. Even down to the molecular level such as quantum physics have a cause even if it cannot be determined immediately or it seems to be random.
Finally since the universe had a beginning or came into existence at some finite time ago, and that beginning was caused, the only solution for the final question is that cause was personal. For all that exists within the universe could not have caused by impersonal things.
The other law that God placed within His creation as a revelation of His existence is the 2nd law of thermodynamics. This law states roughly that energy in a closed system will move to equilibrium. In other words the energy in the universe will run down to a equal spread. The idea of this law is that God has placed energy within the universe at its beginning and it is running down to an end. Just like a cup of hot coffee that is placed in a room with the lid removed. Eventually the cup of coffee will no longer have the heat it started out with but the heat will dissipate throughout the room and thus the coffee becomes cold. If the universe always existed and the 2nd law of thermodynamics is correct, then we would have died a infinite time ago and the universe would have lost all of its energy an infinite time ago as well, resulting in a heat death or a black hole somewhere. Since the universe had not lost its energy or experiencing heat death and we are still here, suggests that the universe only existed for a short finite time thus pointing to a beginning once again.
First I will start with cosmological revelation, or the Cosmological argument for the existence of the God. Cosmological revelation is used by God to show his existence based on the creation of the universe. The main form of the cosmological argument is the Kalam cosmological argument. This argument seeks to show that God exists based on sufficient evidence for the universe having a beginning. God has revealed His existence based on the evidence He has placed in the universe to show that it had a beginning and thus had a creator.
The argument goes something like this: The universe came into existence at some point in the finite past. The existence of the universe was caused by a personal external being. There are three stages or questions that are answered. As each question is answered it movies into the next stage. The three questions are:
- Did the universe have a beginning?
- Was that beginning caused?
- Was that cause personal?
I like to use the example of people standing in a classroom. If we were in a classroom of 20 people seated in rows of 5 people per row, and the last row was asked to stand and then each sit one after the other, there would be some time elapsed before the last person sit down. Howbeit that it was a short elapse of time. Now what about the last two rows going through the same process? A little more time would then elapse before the last man standing sat down. Now increase the amount of people standing by the next row, and the next and so on till all 20 people are standing. Now the time has increased a lot. Suppose there was enough people to stand to expand the boards of California and they began the process, it would take a huge amount of time before the last person standing at the other border to finally sit down. Why? Because there is a lot of people that need to set down in front of him before he or she sat down. With this in mind, what if we had an infinite amount of people that were standing and if we could somehow find the first person to set down, how long would it take the last man standing to set down? The answer: He would never sit down, because there would always be another person in the line ahead of him that needed to set down first. In fact you could move up the line to the 5th person till the end and the same thing would occur. He would never sit down. Thus the exhaustion of my point. If the universe had no beginning, there would always be another event/moment that would have to take place before we got to this present event/moment. Since we are here then there must have only been a finite amount of events/moments that took place before us, thus pointing to the beginning of the universe.
Now from this we can establish that since the universe had a beginning or came into existence some finite time ago, and reality states that everything that comes into existence at some point had a cause. Even down to the molecular level such as quantum physics have a cause even if it cannot be determined immediately or it seems to be random.
Finally since the universe had a beginning or came into existence at some finite time ago, and that beginning was caused, the only solution for the final question is that cause was personal. For all that exists within the universe could not have caused by impersonal things.
The other law that God placed within His creation as a revelation of His existence is the 2nd law of thermodynamics. This law states roughly that energy in a closed system will move to equilibrium. In other words the energy in the universe will run down to a equal spread. The idea of this law is that God has placed energy within the universe at its beginning and it is running down to an end. Just like a cup of hot coffee that is placed in a room with the lid removed. Eventually the cup of coffee will no longer have the heat it started out with but the heat will dissipate throughout the room and thus the coffee becomes cold. If the universe always existed and the 2nd law of thermodynamics is correct, then we would have died a infinite time ago and the universe would have lost all of its energy an infinite time ago as well, resulting in a heat death or a black hole somewhere. Since the universe had not lost its energy or experiencing heat death and we are still here, suggests that the universe only existed for a short finite time thus pointing to a beginning once again.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Theology Proper
The Study of God’s Revelation
Although this heading can apply to all of the systematic theological categories, specifically this section will deal with God’s self revelation, namely Theology Proper and His written revelation, namely Bibliology.
Theology Proper – General Revelation
Before we get into Systematic theology as seen in the revelation of God’s word and His nature as revealed in that Word, I guess I can start with the revelation of His existence outside of the Bible. Is the critic and Atheist right when they say that there is no revelation of God’s existence in the world? This topic is answered in Apologetic theology and the concept of General Revelation; that is revelation of God seen in the world apart from the bible. In other words I would say that God has revealed himself in the creation. Now I can go to the first book of the bible and declare that the universe was created by God, but I can also look at the universe itself and discover evidence for reality of the claim in the first book of the Bible.
Apologetic Theology – Existence of God
Within this topic of General Revelation is the Apologetic theology of the different arguments for the existence of God, namely the Cosmological, anthropological, moral, ontological, and the teleological. These arguments or elements of General revelation are not designed to give an exhaustive understanding of Theology Proper. They are simply designed to get us to the reality that God exists based on His revelation in the world. A different post will address each argument.
Although this heading can apply to all of the systematic theological categories, specifically this section will deal with God’s self revelation, namely Theology Proper and His written revelation, namely Bibliology.
Theology Proper – General Revelation
Before we get into Systematic theology as seen in the revelation of God’s word and His nature as revealed in that Word, I guess I can start with the revelation of His existence outside of the Bible. Is the critic and Atheist right when they say that there is no revelation of God’s existence in the world? This topic is answered in Apologetic theology and the concept of General Revelation; that is revelation of God seen in the world apart from the bible. In other words I would say that God has revealed himself in the creation. Now I can go to the first book of the bible and declare that the universe was created by God, but I can also look at the universe itself and discover evidence for reality of the claim in the first book of the Bible.
Apologetic Theology – Existence of God
Within this topic of General Revelation is the Apologetic theology of the different arguments for the existence of God, namely the Cosmological, anthropological, moral, ontological, and the teleological. These arguments or elements of General revelation are not designed to give an exhaustive understanding of Theology Proper. They are simply designed to get us to the reality that God exists based on His revelation in the world. A different post will address each argument.
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