XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm   
      
   On Wed, 4 Jun 2014 16:13:50 -0700, John wrote:   
   >   
   > But I also have to add that if Lewis "feels"   
   > that God does not exist (and who am I to _prove_  otherwise), how does he   
   > explain or feel about the existance of the Universe? The existance of the   
   > Universe is a fact - the quandry then lies in explaining what is it?   
      
   I'm not sure what you mean by "what is it?" The universe is the   
   universe; that's just a matter of definition and not anything to be   
   "explained".  Perhaps you meant "how it came to be?" Certainly that   
   does need explanation, and in fact science has been making giant   
   strides in explaining it.   
      
   The problem with using the existence of the universe as any kind of   
   proof of action by a deity, is that you're just pushing the problem   
   back one level. Then you have to explain the existence of that deity,   
   and you're on the horns of a dilemma. If the deity existed forever,   
   or came into existence spontaneously, then you have to explain why   
   your deity could do that but the universe can't. And of course   
   there's no possible way out of that. You can't really get away with   
   the "turtles all the way down" explanation.   
      
   Science doesn't have that problem, because it has been able to   
   explain the origin of the universe. The explanation is not definitive   
   yet, but it's getting there.   
      
   --   
   Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA   
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