Christians often face the question, “If something cannot come from nothing, where did God come from?”. This question rests on the premise that He has created all things we see and know today.
Christian answer to this question: God has always existed and never emerged from anything, which doesn’t sit well with some atheists.
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What is the definition of nothing?
Philosophically speaking, nothing is a term used to refer to nonexistence and its absence from our lives. This notion gains meaning by comparison with an opposing concept such as existence – in other words it refers to an empty space with nothing within it; however this does not imply there is no energy present, as that would violate thermodynamic laws.
However, nothing remains an important element of scientific debate surrounding the origins of our Universe. According to physics, there must have been a moment in time at which physical universe began existing; this event is known as the Big Bang. Unfortunately, scientists have yet to provide a logical explanation for where energy came from in order for our Cosmos to form itself.
Many have proposed the idea of a multiverse as an answer to where god comes from; in this theory there exist infinite numbers of universes with distinct laws and conditions, each capable of supporting life or not. Unfortunately this theory still fails to address where god originated as it would require an even greater amount of power to create multiple universes at once.
Another flaw with this theory is its failure to account for the incredible fine-tuning of our universe – a strong evidence for an intelligent creator outside of it – or address omnipotence issues: multiple gods must depend on creation for power while one god would likely possess limitless potential power.
Nothing originates in Latin as “noem,” while Hebrew’s word ayin – which translates as “not any (thing)” – became widely replaced with Elohim as Judaism evolved as an international religion. Today in English usage it can also refer to an extremely serious or severe situation.
What is the definition of existence?
Metaphysicians have provided much insight into the existence or nonexistence of certain entities such as God, souls, an independant world without mental control, abstract or ideal forms, possible but nonactual objects or worlds, individual essences and free will; yet less has been said regarding what exactly defines existence itself.
The concept of existence is at the core of metaphysics. As such, it raises numerous intractable problems in metaphysics, philosophy of language and philosophical logic – which philosophers who have discussed its meaning have attempted to address with various solutions that do not prove completely satisfactory.
Christian tradition understands existence primarily as something distinct from and distinct from nothing, nonbeing, possibility and ability of something coming into being; its definition can also be understood in terms of direct experience – an argument made by St Thomas Aquinas himself that existence should not be understood as an object but as something to experience directly.
Saint Thomas Aquinas asserted that an object’s essence differs from its existence, such as when considering humans or birds as individuals distinct from their physical reality. Therefore, he distinguished between essence and existence concepts, holding that existence is additional property of essence carrying with it an accidental connotation based on extrinsic participation.
Aristotelian thought, which drew heavily on Christian and Neoplatonic traditions, held that there are various kinds of existence which are distinguished by their respective contents. Experimental or sensible life can be divided into experimental existence (which could include anything sensible) as well as various kinds of artistic existence such as fictive, ideal, logical moral and legal concepts referred to as categories of being. Aristotle believed that possible could eventually transform into reality but this process must happen slowly or it would become identical with reality and therefore no longer differ from being. He believed this way of conceptualising existence made sense of everything in Aristotelian thought in general terms of conceptual differences versus existing within each category of being.
What is the definition of cause?
Cause is defined as anything that initiates or brings about an effect; it can also refer to reasons for doing something, like smoking being one major cause of lung cancer and numerous other ailments. When an individual develops health issues, it’s essential that they find out the source and take measures to treat or prevent them. When diagnosing illness it may take multiple attempts before knowing exactly why someone fell sick in the first place. A physician can advise various medications or lifestyle modifications as possible treatments while sometimes it can be difficult determining what has caused an illness in someone’s case – doctors often times prescribe certain medicines or lifestyle changes as means of treatment options when diagnosing conditions caused by causes unknown or unknown sources.
An atheist may ask a Christian, “Where did God come from?” They may respond that He has always existed – Christians believe He created the universe eternally and this can be difficult for atheists to grasp since nothing begins from nothing.
To understand this idea, it is useful to examine the definition of cause. According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, cause means to bring something about or produce it; hence if something occurs it must have been caused – for instance when cutting onions causes eyes to water; this act was needed for eye watering to occur and it needed to happen first for it to happen!
The Bible emphasizes the centrality of love to understanding who God truly is. If a person loves God fully, they will know Him better.
God is all-powerful and infinite in terms of power and creativity, acting as the ultimate authority behind creation of our universe. Furthermore, He exists outside time or space as He would be affected by events prior to it being made visible to humanity.
Judaism and Christianity recognize God under different names. Most commonly used is YHWH – likely deriving from an Edomite or Midianite deity name. Other names used include Allah, Yahweh and Jah.
What is the definition of eternity?
Eternity, as the concept of timelessness, is frequently confused with everlastingness – the idea that something exists forever and ever. But eternity should be understood separately from both, since its timelessness distinguishes it from both concepts: everlasting is in contrast with eternity which endures everything that arises and fades away whereas eternity precedes everything that appears and decays simultaneously.
Eternity has long been an area of debate in both theology and metaphysics. Both Platonist tradition, as well as Neoplatonist school of thought, highlighted its close relationship to time; these thinkers saw eternity not simply as durational experience but rather understood as divine life itself.
Anselm (1033-1109), one of the greatest theologians, articulated this idea in his Proslogion. He argued that since God is the greatest possible being, it makes sense to speak of Him without beginning or end. Anselm’s ideas influenced later Christian philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), who advocated an interpretation of eternity which differs significantly from Boethius and Augustine: His view held that timeless eternity of God was part of speaking about an ideal being; thus giving an appearance as though this eternal existence was somehow “timeless”.
Contemporary discussions of eternity have given it a modern spin by using concepts from special relativity, reference frames and special relativity as tools of interpretation. Brian Leftow of Harvard Theological Seminary asserts that since there can be only temporal intervals in space-time with respect to God, all events occur simultaneously for Him; which means in eternity all change supervenes upon motion (Leftow 1991: 239).
However, many philosophers have taken issue with this notion of eternity as being nonsensical and cannot support any relationship to time that does not involve simultaneity or precedence.
