How do you think the world started?

[Tash.]

All I can really say on this is that I don't think it had anything to do with God or any other higher spirit. The whole concept of the universe actually makes me dizzy and feel rather claustrophobic but I do think it has more to do with an explosion of atoms etc.

[-:Undertaker:-]

While I think the whole thing was random chaos, I also want to believe in a God so I do. I really don't know whether or not one exists and I will never know until I die, so both I suppose.

[karter]

god created the atoms, materials and things ..
then who created god ??
sorry if i broke your religious sentiments

[Mentor]

And to quote 8Freak8...

"If a hurricane ripped through a junkyard, how likely is it that a machine as complex as a Boeing 747 could be put together? The universe being many times more complex is therefore even more unlikely to come together by random processes.

Technically thats a paraphrasing of stephen hawking's :p

On topic, nether.

You asked, how was the earth created. The big bang may have been involved in the creation of the universe? but earth, no involvement at all. Its like asking how bacon is fryed, and haveing the choices in answer "from a pig" or "god does it"
Where the materials came from is irrelevant to the question, and the god did it just sounds a bit daft.

Earth was created by gravity and matter. Some big old star went super nova, left lots of materal floating about, gravity slowly pulls it all together, friction creates heat, lots of heat equals nuclear fusion, then that the sun, the left over matter begins to clump together in to its orbit, and one of these clumps is the thing we now call earth.

So big bang and god are both wrong. Can i request the right answer, "Laws of phyisics + time + matter" be added to the poll?

[Bun]

Technically thats a paraphrasing of stephen hawking's :p

On topic, nether.

You asked, how was the earth created. The big bang may have been involved in the creation of the universe? but earth, no involvement at all. Its like asking how bacon is fryed, and haveing the choices in answer "from a pig" or "god does it"
Where the materials came from is irrelevant to the question, and the god did it just sounds a bit daft.

Earth was created by gravity and matter. Some big old star went super nova, left lots of materal floating about, gravity slowly pulls it all together, friction creates heat, lots of heat equals nuclear fusion, then that the sun, the left over matter begins to clump together in to its orbit, and one of these clumps is the thing we now call earth.

So big bang and god are both wrong. Can i request the right answer, "Laws of phyisics + time + matter" be added to the poll?

the big bang created the earth indirectly, ite? stop being so fussy.

[Mentor]

the big bang created the earth indirectly, ite? stop being so fussy.

And the evolution of mammals indirectly created my bacon sandwich. Oddly enough though, i'd say frying the bacan and placing it between slices of bread was the bit that created the bacon sandwich, not the evolution of mammals.

Secondly, its a key point to this debate. The universe could begin a million ways, big bang, god, aliens science experiment, etc. and the thing that creates the earth would be the same, gravity + time + matter. So debating the way the matter and laws of physic's got there does not have any bearing on the question of earth's creation. So my point still stands, and is an essential one. Not just me being fussy.

The question we are debating is the origin of earth itself, so that will be the subject i'll debate. Its meaningless to debate subjects off that point as they are irrelevant to it.

[Meree.]

And the evolution of mammals indirectly created my bacon sandwich. Oddly enough though, i'd say frying the bacan and placing it between slices of bread was the bit that created the bacon sandwich, not the evolution of mammals.

Secondly, its a key point to this debate. The universe could begin a million ways, big bang, god, aliens science experiment, etc. and the thing that creates the earth would be the same, gravity + time + matter. So debating the way the matter and laws of physic's got there does not have any bearing on the question of earth's creation. So my point still stands, and is an essential one. Not just me being fussy.

The question we are debating is the origin of earth itself, so that will be the subject i'll debate. Its meaningless to debate subjects off that point as they are irrelevant to it.

+rep darlin'

[Nixt]

I believe that God created the universe and thus created the earth, indirectly. I don't believe that the Book of Genesis is to be taken literally. I don't think God clicked his fingers and it was made - I do believe that he initiated the big bang and anything that ensued was His will. I think the Book of Genesis is an old way of explaining how God created the earth, made by those who were trying to explain something they could not easily explain.

I am not a literal Christian, as you can tell.

[Mentor]

I believe that God created the universe and thus created the earth, indirectly. I don't believe that the Book of Genesis is to be taken literally. I don't think God clicked his fingers and it was made - I do believe that he initiated the big bang and anything that ensued was His will.

I take it from this you are not a believer in freewill? As to say that all that happened after gods initial creation of the universe, was according to gods will, would imply?

Equally, would that not make god directly responsible for all the evil and suffering in the world? Along with the design flaws, i mean, as a peace of engineering the earth is a pretty shoddy bit of work as are the creatures on it. Were an engineer to redesign humans for instances there are a lot of improvements that could be made. Which is strange if a perfect, all known, all powerful being is said to have set all this in motion and willed things to turn out this way?

If god is to take credit for the earth after all, he should take responsibility for its shortcomings - which by proxy disprove's any god said to be omnipotent and omniscient as such a god could not have made such mistakes.

I think the Book of Genesis is an old way of explaining how God created the earth, made by those who were trying to explain something they could not easily explain.

I am not a literal Christian, as you can tell.

You believe the bible is an attempt for people to explain how something like the earth god here, which makes sense. but i don't see how the jump is made to say that this interpretation is based on any sort of truth? Especially since you'd then be saying are modern, much more accurate interpretation of how the universe came to be (which does not include a god) is not a better explanation?

At best you can get to an imperfect "higher power" creating a universe in so far that they set up the basic rules of physic's and left it to run its cause. At worst you have a perfect, but unimaginably evil god, who created the universe knowing exactly what would result "/

Personally i prefer the more likely solution to this, that there never was a god, and that the story's about one are simply myths? in the same way the Greek, Egyptian and other prehistoric gods are.

Summed up by:

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?"
- Epicurus

[galbabe]

Sergio this time I'm agreeing with you mate.

I believe God created the big bang therefore creating us and everything else.

If there was no God, who created the big bang and who created the atoms which made the big bang?

yh i also agree with this i reliese that big bang prob happened with all the eviedence to prove it but i also believe that god created the univese in my opinion, though no one really knows for a fact and we prob never will so i am just going to not say anything after this about it.