Two Plus Two Newer Archives  

Go Back   Two Plus Two Newer Archives > Other Topics > Science, Math, and Philosophy
FAQ Community Calendar Today's Posts Search

View Poll Results: Would you rather push or fold without any read
Push!!!! 9 45.00%
Steady now! 11 55.00%
Voters: 20. You may not vote on this poll

 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
  #1  
Old 11-04-2006, 01:47 AM
thylacine thylacine is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,175
Default It is logically impossible for an omniscient, omnipotent god to ....

It is logically impossible for an omniscient, omnipotent god to create a universe in which any other being has free-will.

Here is the argument. (I came up with this a while back, but it may well be some standard argument known to philosophers. If it is, could some philosopher post a reference.)

An omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful) god has complete knowledge of everything that happens, everywhere, at all times (past present, future) in everything that exists, and moreover, fully comprehends instantly and permanently the entirety of all possible universes with comprehensive knowledge of every detail of everything in every possible universe. An omniscient (all-knowing) god, by definition, must know everything about everything, and in particular, they must know everything about anything they create and about any choice they make. When an omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful) god creates a universe they must know everything about it, and hence they exactly which of the posible universes it is. So for an omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful) god, creating a universe means simply choosing one from the list of all possible universes, which automatically means choosing every detail of that universe. Obviously that means for any other being that finds themselves living in such a universe, they never get to choose anything because the omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful) god already chose absolutely every detail of everything that happens in that universe.

Therefore it is logically impossible for an omniscient, omnipotent god to create a universe in which any other being has free-will. QED

What are the consequences of this. Well, for anyone who believes in omniscient, omnipotent god, such as the christian god, or anything remotely similar, the existence of such a god must logically imply that there is no free will, so that morality becomes meaningless, consciousness becomes pointless, and that generally the universe is utterly without purpose or meaning.

By contrast, as an atheist, I can logically choose to believe in free will, I can meaningfully contemplate moral questions and can explore consciousness and can find purpose and meaning to the universe.

Let's do a survey. Here are the options.
Reply With Quote
 


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 11:16 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.