afdave
Posts: 1621
Joined: April 2006
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AFDAVE'S CREATOR GOD HYPOTHESIS
TESTABLE PREDICTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS FOR POINT 1
POINT 1: THERE IS A GOD
My hypothesis is that there is a Super Intelligent, Highly Moral [added], Incredibly Powerful Being -- I choose to call him God -- who has knowledge of scientific laws far more advanced than anything ever discovered by 21st Century humans. These scientific laws are so powerful that this Being can literally "speak" material things into existence and destroy things with a simple command. This Being lives "outside of time" and can view what we call "the future" and "the past" with equal ease.
TESTABLE PREDICTIONS FROM POINT 1
(a) A Super Intelligent Being would be expected to design highly sophisticated machines and systems. So we would expect to find a vast number of wonderful innovations in the universe which at least appear to be designed. Our expectation of this comes from our own experience ... i.e. "Airliners are complicated machines and we know they are designed. Our own bodies are much more complicated, so they appear designed, etc." (Dawkins, "Blind Watchmaker", p.3). Can we test this prediction? Absolutely. Even prior to the molecular biology revolution, we stood in awe of bird's wings, bat navigation, eyes, hands and other brilliant innovations. But since the opening of "Darwin's Black Box," our awe of the wonders of nature has increased exponentially. There are three absolute "must reads" on this topic--"Darwin's Black Box" by Michael Behe, "Evolution: A Theory in Crisis" and "Nature's Destiny" both by Michael Denton.
(b) An Incredibly Powerful Being would be expected to build systems of mind-numbing size and power, such as a power generation system to supply power to all His innovative machines, maybe a lighting system so his creatures can see to navigate on the planet, perhaps a water supply and filtration system to provide clean water to His little creations, and so on. Can we test this prediction? Again, yes. We find exactly what we predicted. The sun is a massive power generation and lighting system which has every appearance of engineering brilliance. Ditto for earth's hydrologic cycle which provides, filters and circulates water for all life on earth. The sheer size and power of these systems stagger the human mind and are precisely what we would expect if there were such a thing as an Incredibly Powerful Being, such as God.
© A Highly Moral or Ethical Being would be expected to "build in" some Laws of Right and Wrong into his universe. Can we test this prediction? Yes. This is precisely what we find in our experience. This is a truly fascinating study and my argument comes from "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis, the great Skeptic turned Christian Apologist, author of the books behind the current "Narnia" movie series. Basically, the argument is that we find this curious "Law of Right and Wrong" or "Law of Human Nature" at work in our every day experience. If you examine it, you find that it is quite real and applies to all humans regardless of religious upbringing or lack thereof. Lewis then argues that there necessarily has to be "Something Behind the Law" which caused it to be. I think he makes his point very well and I agree with him. Come on, guys, I read Dawkins' stuff, so you can read Lewis' stuff ... let's be fair.
(d) We would expect that IF there were such a thing as a Supernatural Being like my "God" persona, we would expect there to be many claims that people have received Written Messages from Him. Can we test this prediction? Again, yes. There are many ... the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Koran to name a few.
(e) We would expect to hear many claims of "Supernatural Experiences" such as people hearing voices, seeing visions of shining beings, out-of-body experiences, etc. Can we test this prediction? Yes. These reports are plentiful and have been reported since the dawn of history. No documentation needed for that. Note that with (d) and (e), I am not saying that any of these written messages or claims of supernatural experiences are necessarily true (we will examine the truth claims of the Bible separately). At this point, I am only predicting that IF there were such a thing as a Supernatural Being, that there would be many claims of "seeing Him, hearing from Him, etc."
(f) If there is such a thing as a Being who can "speak" things into existence using advanced scientific principles which humans have not yet discovered, then I would predict that there would be some sort of relationship among matter, energy and "nothingness." Do we find such a relationship? Well I do. Now I'm going to get lots of rotten eggs on this one, but hear me out. It has now been well established that matter can be converted into energy, and before that it was shown that matter is largely "nothingness." Now let's dig deeper. Take a neutron, just to pick a particle. Divide it in half, what do you get? Keep dividing and keep answering the question "What do you get?" Answer? I don't have a clue. But if you go far enough and really let your mind bend, you may find that it resembles NOTHING very closely. And a hundred years from now, we might just discover that all the matterin the universe is nothing more than "Fancily Arranged Nothingness", which would fit my hypothesis quite nicely, i.e. that God Created the World out of Nothing. I freely admit that this part of my hypothesis requires much further research and testing, but it appears to me that there has been significant progress toward supporting a crazy hypothesis like this in the 20th Century. Besides, what fun is a hypothesis anyway if it doesn't bend your mind a little? And remember, when I am done walking through the support for my complete hypothesis, there will be some unanswered questions. I will never be able to completely PROVE my entire hypothesis, but this is true of all hypotheses. What I can do, though, is make an informed "faith" decision on how to live my life based on what I DO know.
(g) If there is such a thing as a Being who "lives outside of time" viewing the future and the past with equal ease, then I would predict that Time is not an infinite concept, but is something which is not absolute and can be manipulated, possibly even a "created thing" with a beginning and an end. Can we test this prediction? Yes. Time Dilation has now been demonstrated in many laboratory studies which I am sure you are all familiar with. We now know that if our technology allowed us to travel at 90% of the speed of light, time would slow down a significant amount relative to our original location in the universe. (Did I get that right? ... it's been 20 years since physics class)
Various Questions: Hypothesis of what? Answer: A Hypothesis which attempts to explain the origin of the universe, planet earth and all life that we see here. Cain and Abel? Where did Cain get his wife? Etc. Answer: This is a fun one, and we will get to it. I have a very good answer. Why is it important to you that the bible be inerrant? Answer: I am not "married to" inerrancy. I am quite happy to discard my view of inerrancy the moment someone suggests a credible error that they can defend.
I have one request. I have told you about myself and a little about my background. I am curious to know your backgrounds as well. If every responder would tell me their educational background and current occupation (and anything else you want to disclose), I would enjoy hearing it.
OK ... let the games begin! You can be as mean and nasty or as polite as you like. I have very thick skin from Air Force barrooms, and I can dish it out with the best of them! I will point out, however, that in spite of my apparent irrational, lunatic, Creationist beliefs, I am a potential "convertee" such as those referred to by the 'Rev Dr' Lenny Flank. So if you want me to convert, you might try the calm, rational technique, rather than the "Rant/Rave/Rotten Tomato" technique.
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A DILEMMA FOR THE COMMITTED NATURALIST
A Hi-tech alien spaceship lands on earth ... DESIGNED.
A Hi-tech alien rotary motor found in a cell ... NOT DESIGNED.
http://afdave.wordpress.com/....ess.com
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