Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Billard Balls, God , the Universe, and Miracles

One thing that I did find extremely interesting is how he tries to make the statement that putting God in the world and using God as the explanation for all universal phenomenon would some how degrade either the event itself or its analysis. the reason he uses is that every time a deity is used as the cause or the reason for an event happening is that when such a statement is made, it usually implies that the natural phenomenon and the rules governing them are somehow suspended so that God can take part as the cause of the event. This analysis is something that is degrading for analysis itself. Humanity uses God as the excuse and reason for everything, and using God as an answer for all leads to a halting of analysis and thinking.
I don't necessarily agree with this statement. When Hume makes this conclusion he is implying that the reason that he uses for such a conclusion is itself the only possibility. Herein lies his problem. He assumes that whenever there is an event and God is used as an answer to the question "What was the cause of this event?" that the laws of nature are suspended so that God can come in to the picture and thus He/She/It can intervene and become the cause. This would also mean that all other human inquiries regarding the cause for an event come to a halt (Who caused event x? Answer:God). Who is to say that God does not work through the laws governing the universe. With the aforementioned statement, natural laws aren't stopped and human beings can look into the natural cause for such natural events.
Some might pose the question "What of miracles?" This person might ask aren't they the work of God, and aren't they the cessation of natural events. The answer to this is that first one must establish that miracles are the cessation of natural events and that they themselves aren't the extension of the natural will o God, if such a deity exists, in the form of something that we would call a miracle.

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