Minimum Attributes of God

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ThatGirlAgain
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Minimum Attributes of God

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Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance.
- Bertrand Russell

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EduChris
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Re: Minimum Attributes of God

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Janx wrote:...If God valued his choice to actualize our world there would need to be a reason and motive for such an inclination...The attributes of your God make volition impossible.
If part of God's nature involves creativity, then it would seem that God would find a way to be creative. Initiating a universe which could take an active role in creating its own future would seem to be a highly creative endeavor.

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JoeyKnothead
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Post #260

Post by JoeyKnothead »

From Post 259:
EduChris wrote: If...it would seem...
That doesn't build confidence in the notion you propose.
EduChris wrote: Initiating a universe which could take an active role in creating its own future would seem to be a highly creative endeavor.
The only creativity I see on display is one's ability to "if" nigh on any scenario into 'existence'.

Why the need to "if" these scenarios? Because the god concept is built on that which we do not know.
I might be Teddy Roosevelt, but I ain't.
-Punkinhead Martin

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Janx
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Re: Minimum Attributes of God

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Post by Janx »

EduChris wrote:
Janx wrote:...If God valued his choice to actualize our world there would need to be a reason and motive for such an inclination...The attributes of your God make volition impossible.
If part of God's nature involves creativity, then it would seem that God would find a way to be creative. Initiating a universe which could take an active role in creating its own future would seem to be a highly creative endeavor.
Thus, it is God's nature to value a universe which could take an active role in creating its own future over other options. To choose any other universe would be irrational for such a being. Therefore the nature of God is causing Him to act in a singular way. Therefore God's decision to make the world as we know it is not arbitrary.

What makes God hold creativity in high esteem? If there is a reason then there is a cause. If there is no cause then our world was created on a random whim.

Your description of God as, "the simplest possible non-contingent reality possessing no arbitrary limitations regarding causal efficacy" would require God to be irrational and therefore lacking a key component of what we know as volition.

Cheers sir

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Post #262

Post by TheJackelantern »

What makes God hold creativity in high esteem? If there is a reason then there is a cause. If there is no cause then our world was created on a random whim.
There is no such thing as random though :).. Random is only reference to our ability to predict an outcome, action, or event. In actuality, even in chaos theory, random doesn't exist. Snow flakes do not form at random as an example. THe argument that the Universe would randomly form at a whim is as nonsensical as claiming a ball falls randomly when dropped here on Earth in light of gravity.. :)

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Re: Minimum Attributes of God

Post #263

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Janx wrote:...What makes God hold creativity in high esteem?...
Does a master artist paint because she must? Or is she a master painter because she chooses to invest herself in her creative endeavor? Is this an either-or question, or a both-and?

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Janx
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Re: Minimum Attributes of God

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Post by Janx »

EduChris wrote:
Janx wrote:...What makes God hold creativity in high esteem?...
Does a master artist paint because she must? Or is she a master painter because she chooses to invest herself in her creative endeavor? Is this an either-or question, or a both-and?
She is a master painter because of choice yet that choice has a reason and a cause. If she is a master painter because she must then it is not her will. If she is a master painter without reason then she is acting irrationally.

Choice is meaningless without cause. If an artist paints without arbitrary restraints by causality she would be acting without necessity and there would be no reason for a painting to exist.

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