Jonathan Robbins
(A little something to think about over the week end)
To me it seems quite obvious that indeed humans have a soul, yet to many it is a topic under debate. The main reason why it is a topic under debate is because the definition of the soul is constantly misunderstood, or under debate. I would like to share my conclusion about the human soul in hopes that this may help the argument.
I would first like to say that if humans have a soul, then it would be of a substance which can not be perceived by the human senses, I would say that it is the reason for our intense consciousness, in comparison to other animals. We must distinguish, however, the difference between our brain; a complex organ that does multiple complex tasks, and our soul; our conscious self that work the machine of the body. When we separate the two we realize that in essence there are things that affect ourselves dearly but are only part of the brain. For example, a memory is something which is recorded and stored by the brain, and in all reality it would affect us (our soul) dearly, however our memories are separate from our soul, meaning that in the occasion that our body and soul get separated (death), our soul will remember nothing, even though it has definite markings of the action upon the soul.
So just thought you might find that an interesting bit on the soul, if you have any questions, please leave them down below.
Friday, February 20, 2015
Jonathan Robbins
My trivial attempt to give a satisfactory explanation for why the “Paradox
of Omnipotence” might not be a paradox at all.
The
paradox of Omnipotence is a very intellectual argument that seems to be very
sound due to the fact that not too many theists have been able to combat the dispute
and defend their idea of God, and many philosophers give credit to this
argument for why they are not theists themselves.
The
paradox is as simple as this:
1. God
is omnipotent
2. Omnipotence
is the capability of doing and creating everything
3. This
means God can do anything and create anything
4. Anything
includes things which are in the mind of God
5. Humans
are made in the image and likeness of God, including the mind
6. Meaning
if a human thinks of something it would to be in the mind of God
7. Anything
that is in the mind of God can be created if God is omnipotent
8. A
rock so big that God can’t even lift it is in the mind of humans
9. Thus
it is too in the mind of God
10. If
God can make a rock so big that he cannot lift it, than he is not omnipotent,
since he now has a weakness
11. If
he cannot, than he is not truly omnipotent, since God cannot create everything.
I see this as a flawed argument and I will explain
why, but before I expound, allow me to give you the major topics of my argument.
Firstly, I would like to point out that the definition of omnipotence is
incorrect in this and many other arguments to prove God as inexistent, or weak.
Secondly we must realize that existence does have logical bounds, however these
bounds are still unfathomable to the human mind, and also God is the epitome of
existence. Thirdly, it is a logical contradiction to create something of more
substance than the creator if the creator is the medium. Finally God is
incapable of going against his nature, but this does not make him any less
powerful. These are my arguments in summary; however, you are lacking any
explanation of why these should even be conceived as sound, so now allow me to
elucidate in full my position.
Now
imagine if a God truly created a universe: the universe would be of this God,
by this God and controlled by him. God is in everything in existence and
everything in existence is a finite piece of an infinite being. If everything
is of God, and he is capable of doing things of his own will, than we can
easily deduce that, unless he said otherwise, he can control everything that is
in existence. Since all there, is only him and his creation, and since we’ve
deduced that he can control everything that exists, we can without a doubt say
that he is omnipotent, and just saying the very broad term of all powerful
without any further explanation can be very dangerous in the sense that we come
to misunderstanding of the truth behind certain aspects, not just of God, but
of the universe. Many might call me heretical by making such a claim, however
this is the only way omnipotence can work, for any other way is illogical if
you think about it. The idea that anything with God is possible has been abused
to claim that certain illogical feats would be possible by a being made of
logic. This too may sound like a heretical claim but if you follow my train of
thought, you may too come to the same conclusion that God and Logic are
interchangeable.
Now when people try to
talk about God, one way or another we come to someone who thinks that we are
incapable of comprehending such a God, or that “human” logic is incapable of
describing such a being. Now the reason I address these people is because they
assume that a being outside of our usual senses, must be outside of logic, in
which I question how they came to such a conclusion (But more of that later).
When many people think of logic, people think of some human made, dry,
unimaginative concept that brings us “from point A to point B”. However, if we
look at Logic and all of the subjects that wholly rely on it (Science, Mathematics,
most of Philosophy), you will see that even with the uses of Logic, there are
things which are unfathomable to the most knowledgeable of us. To a certain
extent, anything is possible in existence even if it does not and cannot exist
in the universe that we currently live in. Now if there is a God and all of
everything is of God, and we exist, than we could deduce that existence
comes from God, and indeed since he is the creator, and all creation contains
existence, it would make sense to say that God is the archetype, the essence,
or the epitome of existence. In fact I would even go as far as to conclude that
he is existence completely and existence is of him, in him, with him, through
him, and just outright him. Logic is of God, God is of Logic. Now, just because
something is confined to Logic does not mean that it is inferior or finite. A
good example of this would be by looking at the vast world of Mathematics:
Mathematics is the best embodiment of Logic that we have, as the philosopher
Pythagoras determined, meaning that all in Mathematics is true according to
Logic. However the deepest Mathematics is absolutely fascinating in the sense
that it is physically impossible to recreate, yet it is logical. Take for
example: you take four apples away from somewhere where there were only three;
you would have a negative apple left. If you were to say such a thing to an
average person, then they might suggest that you seek out a mental hospital,
for the idea itself within this universe is absolutely preposterous. There is
still quite a lot about mathematics that is yet to be discovered, and I have a
feeling that we will never truly discover the end of Mathematic studies because
I believe that our finite minds will never truly understand God.
Now that we have the
understanding that God is a Logical being, we may proceed to the third point
which is explaining how it is logical contradiction to think that God can
create a rock so big that he cannot lift it. We come to this conclusion because
God is infinite, and infinity in the technical sense is the eternal expansion
of something. However God had no beginning, and by being eternal, he will not
have an end, and since he is outside of time as it was it will always be, and
vice-versa thus our definition of infinite is an imperfect one, when pertaining
to something outside of time. This means that God is the biggest possible
infinity ever in the mathematical sense, and any other thing within existence
cannot be bigger than, or more powerful than him by definition. Now, with this
all being said, this still probably doesn’t convince you, for still God should
be able to create such an object, however if you think about it, if God creates
something, He is the Substance from which it was made. It would seem logical to
then say that by making a rock more than half of his size would be enough for
God not to lift, seeing as more than fifty percent of him is within the rock,
and less than fifty percent is still himself, however, this scenario would only
pertain to a finite being, since we are dealing with an infinite being no
matter how much of himself he would put into the rock, there would still be an
infinite amount of him left. But even then, there would still have to be a way
in which he could make a rock a bigger infinity than himself, however there
would not be enough God to make something bigger than himself, because in all
technicality, he is all that exists, and he is in all directions infinite,
there is no edge to him, no boundaries, for he is infinite, making him the biggest
being ever, and as it was before, it will always be (when outside of time) and
since there was never a bigger infinity than God there will never be. So, by
definition, a rock bigger than God is a logical fallacy.
So, God is incapable of
creating something because it goes against his nature, but that does not make
him any less powerful. Let’s take some other object in comparison to make this
point a little bit more obvious in meaning. Imagine an impossible object such
as the perfect circle that has all of the properties of a square. This is an
impossible shape to configure, even by the most intense mathematicians it is a
Ludacris idea, for the nature of a perfect square and the nature of a perfect
circle are contradicting natures, so naturally, there can never be a
circle-square. But imagine if people came up to some poor ignorant Christian
and said that God is not all powerful because he cannot make such a contradiction…that
would be by far, a most weak argument. So too is this Argument of omnipotence,
which I find to be a flawed argument at most.
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