Topic: Religion?

Ugh.

It goes a little something like this.

There are 3 spatial dimensions, then time, then lottery or probability if you prefer.

If god is omnipresent, he exists throughout all time and in every possible timeline.

If god is omnipotent, he must also be all-knowing.

Therefore, for god to have given us free will, he would have to not be omnipotent so that he doesn't already know every possible decision we can make, thereby nullifying the very concept of free will.

Going a little more in depth, if god created us and reality itself, and simultaneously is all-knowing then he knows how everything is going to play out from the moment he created it, regardless of which timeline, and if he knew what we were going to do, then we have no choice in the matter and no free will.

Regardless of the truest, deepest definition of right and wrong, without humanity's free will, even one undeniably evil act is directly god's doing, meaning that, without free will, god is not benevolent.

Therefore, god can either have given us free will (be benevolent), or be omnipotent, but not both.
Edited by Hymen [⊊] on 10/21/10 at 12:19:37 am

Duskbloom, your argument is not entirely correct. There still could be a god, it just doesn't have all 3 qualities. Also there may be a god with all 3 qualities, but it may have its reasons for acting in the way it does.

NB: please note I am not arguing that god exists, only that it is possible that one could.

An oldie but goodie:

"The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term paper.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.

Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."


THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+"

Lol never heard that story before.

And that, children, ends this thread.

:P