Why don't you believe in a god?

[Soleron]

trestres said:

Soleron said:

...

You are a positivist, that's evident now. Only science can explain things for you. You are completely denying human reason. Take a few philosophy courses before saying I'm inventing terms.

I'm using science and human reasoning to arrive to this conclusion. They are basically the conclusions you arrive to in philosophy. Read The Quinque Viae (5 Arguments for the existence of God) from St. Thomas. No, he is not basing his arguments in faith, he arrives to them by using reason, you can arrive to them as well, as can any human being. 

I'm prepared to accept the belief that something can exist outside of science. It's just that it then has little relevance because it couldn't be involved with the universe throughout, so it fits with none of the major religions and won't affect how you behave.

I just don't think you can combine science with God in the way you're doing: you used scientific terms and concepts to argue for a God. They're not compatible.

I'm familiar with Aquinas. 1 to 3 are very similar, and you could replace the word 'God' with 'Random quantum fluctuation' and be equally justified. Then I would use Occam's razor to decide that the latter is correct.

4 could be used to imply God is also the greatest video game of all time. Which is certainly a quality I would like in God. But he's also the greatest plague, and the greatest rubber chicken, and so on.

With 5 it's a case of intelligent design, which has been discussed enough elsewhere. If you want to address it specifically then say so and I'll write more.

The problem with ALL of his proofs, though, is that they do not prove God has the qualities one usually ascribes to a God: all-powerful, all-knowing, worthy of worship and so on. They just prove there is an entity we can label God. If you can't prove the rest, there's almost no point in asking whether there's a God or not.

 

Do you believe science and the Christian concept of God are compatible?