God is an Impossibility

Is there a God? If so, what is She like?

Moderators: AMod, iMod

Skepdick
Posts: 14364
Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:16 am

Re: God is an Impossibility

Post by Skepdick »

surreptitious57 wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:09 pm For me that word would be Universe because it is the greatest possible thing that actually exists
I limit my answer to knowledge rather than imagination because what I imagine may not be real
I could ask you the same question. For somebody not initiated into Cosmology, what would you replace the word "Universe" with?
User avatar
Immanuel Can
Posts: 22257
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 4:42 pm

Re: God is an Impossibility

Post by Immanuel Can »

surreptitious57 wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:09 pm what I imagine may not be real
Of course. That's true of anything we may "imagine."
Skepdick
Posts: 14364
Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:16 am

Re: God is an Impossibility

Post by Skepdick »

Immanuel Can wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:11 pm That's an odd question. Why would one "throw out" a perfectly serviceable word? :shock:

Or do you just mean, "What are the synonyms for 'God'?" But that seems far too easy a question to answer...a dictionary of synonyms would do it adequately, perhaps.
Well. Non-christians don't understand it - you can't explain it.

According to Andy Bannister that really seems like a good enough reason to throw it away.
User avatar
Immanuel Can
Posts: 22257
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 4:42 pm

Re: God is an Impossibility

Post by Immanuel Can »

Skepdick wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:13 pm
Immanuel Can wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:11 pm That's an odd question. Why would one "throw out" a perfectly serviceable word? :shock:

Or do you just mean, "What are the synonyms for 'God'?" But that seems far too easy a question to answer...a dictionary of synonyms would do it adequately, perhaps.
Well. Non-christians don't understand it - you can't explain it.
I don't suppose that's true at all...either statement.
Skepdick
Posts: 14364
Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:16 am

Re: God is an Impossibility

Post by Skepdick »

Immanuel Can wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:16 pm I don't suppose that's true at all...either statement.
Well, lets try this again.

If you were to throw away the word "true" what would you replace it with?

I'll keep going till I take away all your language, so you might as well answer it.
User avatar
Immanuel Can
Posts: 22257
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 4:42 pm

Re: God is an Impossibility

Post by Immanuel Can »

Skepdick wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:19 pm
Immanuel Can wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:16 pm I don't suppose that's true at all...either statement.
Well, lets try this again.

If you were to throw away the word "true" what would you replace it with?
I have no idea what you mean by "throw away" a word that marks a perfectly useful concept, whatever it might be. That just seems silly.

Consider this: you posed the question, right? Now, when you posed it, did you have anything in mind, or were you merely churning out nonsense you didn't even understand yourself?

But if you understood what you were asking, you did, in fact, have a conception of "God" or "truth" -- since otherwise, you could not have known the question you were posing was any more sensible than asking, say, "If you had to throw away the word mxtplx, what would you replace it with?"

The answer, in that event, would be, "I don't know what you're asking; and neither do you." :shock:
Skepdick
Posts: 14364
Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:16 am

Re: God is an Impossibility

Post by Skepdick »

Immanuel Can wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:25 pm But if you understood what you were asking, you did, in fact, have a conception of "God" or "truth" -- since otherwise, you could not have known the question you were posing was any more sensible than asking, say, "If you had to throw away the word mxtplx, what would you replace it with?"

The answer would be, "I don't know what you're asking; and neither do you." :shock:
Of course I understood what I was asking.

I was asking you to stop using words that make no sense to anybody but your in-group.

"mxtplx" is not a word in my vocabulary.
User avatar
Immanuel Can
Posts: 22257
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 4:42 pm

Re: God is an Impossibility

Post by Immanuel Can »

Skepdick wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:27 pm
Immanuel Can wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:25 pm But if you understood what you were asking, you did, in fact, have a conception of "God" or "truth" -- since otherwise, you could not have known the question you were posing was any more sensible than asking, say, "If you had to throw away the word mxtplx, what would you replace it with?"

The answer would be, "I don't know what you're asking; and neither do you." :shock:
Of course I understood what I was asking.
Then you had a concept of "God." If you had not, you could not have picked out that word from the over-one-million of others possible in the English language, and used it to mean anything. But you say you understood what you were asking.

So there was really no problem at all, if that's the case.

Maybe you need a different question?
surreptitious57
Posts: 4257
Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2013 6:09 am

Re: God is an Impossibility

Post by surreptitious57 »

Skepdick wrote:
For somebody not initiated into Cosmology what would you replace the word Universe with ?
I would not replace it with anything but instead explain what it means which is simply all that exists
The definition is what is important here not the word because it is that that gives the word validity

Also God and Universe cannot be compared because one is a metaphysical being and the other is everything there is
God may or may not exist whereas the Universe definitely exists and so conflating them is a bit of a false dichotomy
Skepdick
Posts: 14364
Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:16 am

Re: God is an Impossibility

Post by Skepdick »

surreptitious57 wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:32 pm I would not replace it with anything but instead explain what it means which is simply all that exists
Rinse repeat. What would you replace the word "exists" with?
Skepdick
Posts: 14364
Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:16 am

Re: God is an Impossibility

Post by Skepdick »

Immanuel Can wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:31 pm Then you had a concept of "God." If you had not, you could not have picked out that word from the over-one-million of others possible in the English language, and used it to mean anything. But you say you understood what you were asking.

So there was really no problem at all, if that's the case.

Maybe you need a different question?
No. I don't. I asked exactly the question I intended to ask.

What would you replace the word "God" with if you were to throw it away?

It's not like it's an outlandish idea. You recommended this guy to us: https://youtu.be/U2grC3IbfIg?t=316
surreptitious57
Posts: 4257
Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2013 6:09 am

Re: God is an Impossibility

Post by surreptitious57 »

Skepdick wrote:
I will keep going till I take away all your language
Then one will simply invent a new language from bottom up which is how they were originally created
Taking away ones ability to communicate is superfluous because another method will be found instead
Skepdick
Posts: 14364
Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 11:16 am

Re: God is an Impossibility

Post by Skepdick »

surreptitious57 wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:38 pm Then one will simply invent a new language from bottom up which is how they were originally created
Taking away ones ability to communicate is superfluous because another method will be found instead
That's a great idea! Why can't we just do that all the time?

Invent language/words in real-time!
User avatar
Immanuel Can
Posts: 22257
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 4:42 pm

Re: God is an Impossibility

Post by Immanuel Can »

Skepdick wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:35 pm
Immanuel Can wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 7:31 pm Then you had a concept of "God." If you had not, you could not have picked out that word from the over-one-million of others possible in the English language, and used it to mean anything. But you say you understood what you were asking.

So there was really no problem at all, if that's the case.

Maybe you need a different question?
No. I don't. I asked exactly the question I intended to ask.
Ah. So you had not only a meaning for the word "God" that you chose, but you were being "exact"?

If I believe you, then you weren't really in doubt about the meaning of the word all along. I have no idea why you expect that anyone else must needs be.
surreptitious57
Posts: 4257
Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2013 6:09 am

Re: God is an Impossibility

Post by surreptitious57 »

Skepdick wrote:
Why cannot we just do that all the time ?
We could but it would be a waste of time because we already have two universal languages : English and mathematics
Is there any reason why the world needs another one ? No as the demand is not there so no one is wasting time on one
Post Reply