Can your god make a boulder so big that he can't move it?

No one has confirmed that space-time is not a continuum. Discrete time-space is only proposed as an assumption in quantumized theories.

to paraphrase Terry's post (I could not "improve" on it);

If god were (conditional tense) omnipotent, there would be no point in its doing anything;
meaning, as defined by "believers", god is irrelevant.

The very question appearing in the title of the posting is an aporia, a kind of logical pun enabling someone to prove unprovable by means of verbal exercises. While the classical aporia of Xenon (about Hercules being unable to beat a turtle in the running raqce, or about a town of liars) contributed to development of calculus and mathematical logics, this particular one contributes to nothing except meaningless teasing the people that believe in God...

For many Christians and Muslims, the traditional/orthodox view is that something is wrong if and only if God commands people not to do it. If those who obeyed God went to hell and those who disobeyed God went to heaven, would you still do the things that you believe God has commanded you to do?

I realize this is another very unfair question--that's why I thought this was a good place to post it.

ohhhhh tuuuuwwwiiiiiiissstttteeeeddd

You know Monger; that is bordering on brilliance!

Do people not decide how they wish to ethically operate their lives, and then search out an institution(s) which will serve to justify their choice(s)?
Except, of course, for the unthinking; they absorb whatever dogmatic doctrines they happen, by absolute chance, to have been born into!

You know, BGW, your comments, IMHO, are 'bordering on brilliance!

Hell no, monger, heh heh...I think heaven would get overcrowded pretty quick...mind you, does heaven have some good Irish pubs in this scenario?

Here's a question: Just what does God do for fun? Boulder projects or tormenting his creations?

And then what would be the value in it?
MY P.O.W.
Misinformation about heaven. It's tragic. If you have not believed in Jesus Christ for your own eternal life it is because you have chosen not to. As awesome as heaven will be for those who trust in Christ the Savior, it gunna be terrible for the opposite.
In Revelation 21:8, John makes a number of points of people not going to heaven. "But for the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, and murders and sexually immoral, sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death."
1John 5:12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life


Remember - I said it's yer choice...........

That has little to do with the question though. Without quoting unrelated scripture, which do you think is more important...obeying what you believe God has commanded you, or being granted eternity in heaven? I realize that according to the Bible those 2 things are NOT mutually exclusive, but it could be an interesting excercise to try to sort out where your feelings really stand on this one.

BoGoWo, could an omnipotent god create a disease that it could not cure, a storm that it could not control, floods and earthquakes that it could not stop, or billions of people doomed to eternal torment because they could not be induced to love, honor and obey its commands? If an omnipotent being could alleviate any pain and suffering, would it be morally or ethically obliged to do so?


Monger, regrettably, history has shown us that those who believe in God will indeed commit atrocities that by all rights should earn them an eternity in hell, merely because they are convinced that God commanded them to do so. Examples: Joshua's genocidal conquests, the Crusades, inquisitions, wars, terrorist attacks, psychopaths ordered by the Voice of God to kill, and women who kill their children to save them from hell.

Terry; an omnipotent being controlling the universe is a logical fallacy;
as, if it is able to do all things, possible, or impossible; then the aspect of possibility becomes irrelevant, and there are no physical laws, or any other kind for that matter; all is chaos.
Therefore the "control" is meaningless.
One can only control something that has potential to operate in a diferent manner when controlled, from the way it functions without control; that is, it has characteristics, that can be subjected to external control.
When the controller has complete dominion over those characteristics, then any further control is meaningless.
What I am saying is that omnipotence negates everything.

And from this void of meaninglessness comes a constant stream of advice from antiquity, attempting to justify the complete abandonment of personal responsibility.
An infinite boulder; an infinite hill!

Now, there Bo, you've hit one nail squarely enough to drive it with a single stroke . . . theism is the abdication of every individual to make of their world what they can . . . morality is a religious shell game which tries to claim the force of universal law handed down from on high. An ethical approach to living in the world, with full recognition of personal responsibility for our own actions on and reactions to the world is adult behavior. Waitin' fer Big Daddy in the sky to come along an' make it all better is the height of childish irresponsibility . . .

Shall we dance?

Round and round and round we spin,
To weave a wall to hem us in,
It won't be long, it won't be long
How slow and slow and slow it goes,
To mend the tear that always shows.
It won't be long, it won't be long.

It's hard enough losin'
the paper illusion
you've hidden inside,
Without the confusion
of findin' you're usin'
the crutch of the lie
To shelter your pride when you cry.

to the tune of...........?

S'a song by Neil "the drugs ain't killed me yet" Young . . . i believe it's from one of two NY and Crazy Horse albums, either Everybody Knows this is Nowhere, or After the Goldrush . . .

Hmmm;
everybody around here is constantly hauling out song lyrics.

The music I listen to either doesn't have any, or they are virtually inaudible.

i have an inexplicable tendancy to think in song, which increases with age . . . it is often sufficient for someone to drop a random word, and lyrics (even if imperfectly recalled) will leap into my awareness . . . i like to speak to people in snatches of song, but it's hard on the one's who just don't get it . . .